My Bigglebuild

So this just happened...

I recently sold my samurai to help pay for a truck I found on cl recently.




Its a 2000 Tacoma extended cab. It has fj40 sas with trail gear 5" kit and 4 link rear with fox air shocks as well as a 2" body lift to clear the 4 link mount. It has a Detroit locker in the front and a non-functioning e locker In the rear and rear disc brakes. I purchased it with no engine, tranny, t-case or drive shafts. It was just dropped off about an hour ago and I cant stop smiling! It doesn't have a spec of rust on it and it looks almost mint condition, other then the interior.
The previous owner built it and had an ls1 motor in it, drove it for about a month and decided he didn't like how it rode and decided to pull the motor to put in a muscle car and sell the truck to help pay for his new baby. all the suspension and everything on it is practically new!
Here it is beside a normal height taco for reference

This thing is massive and I can barely get inside it. Its crazy to think how high its gonna be when it gets some proper tires
Here is the new power plant for it

Its a vw 1.9td AAZ motor I rebuilt last year and had in my samurai. It has a holset he211w turbo, a giles performance injection pump and arp head and main studs. Its got maybe 50km on it and was boosting around 27psi on my test drives. I figure its around 150hp and anywhere from 200-250ft-lbs of torque. I need to track down the rest of the drivetrain but I'm thinking a w56 and running 5.29 gears on 35" or 36" tires. I'll probably end up swapping the air shocks for some coil springs and get some shorter springs for the front as well.
I'll keep this updated as I gather parts and start working on it. I'm new to Toyota's and I'm sure I'll be needing help and advice along the way!

 

Good luck with the build.
Welcome to TW.

 

Have been gathering parts the last month or so. Have practically everything to start building now. Havnt done too much on it but heres the progress so far
Lowered the front with some 3" tg springs and got a black grill


Got my hid retrofit 90% complete. Just gotta glue and assemble them together

Got a 22 gallon fuel tank from an 85 ford e150 van installed

Got started on the motor mounts. Got the one side finished but was trying to rush the other side before work and ended up welding the tube on the wrong side of the mount 😢 but the one side turned out pretty well. Was easier then i expected. Will add an arm to come off of the plate with a gusset to catch the motor mount but that wont happen until i start installing the motor and know what height it needs to be at


Thats all for now. Hopefully get the other mount made tomorrow and maybe throw the tranny on the motor. Should start installing it pretty soon hopefully.

 

Got the motor mounts finished today. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. This is the first time I've ever made anything like this and it went a lot smoother and easier then I thought it would. My welding is also starting to get a lot better. Still have a long way to go but at least they are starting to look like actual welds now.




I decided it would be easier to use the mounts upside down. For one the solid metal body of it is on the part near the motor so I wont have to worry about rubber flexing and rubbing on the motor. The main reason is it will be so much easier to make the frame side mounts this way. All I will need to do is weld some flat bar with a gusset and drill a hole then drop the mount in.
Here's the motor ready for the tranny and to be dropped in!

I've got the tranny almost 1/2 clean. Another 30min or so with the wire wheel and it should be ready to mount.

Plan is to install the motor on Monday and Tuesday weather permitting

 

Damn, that is tall. I'd try to ditch the body lift if you can, I don't have a body lift and am using the trail gear 3" springs and It is still a little too tall for me. I might have to take a leaf out, clearance the oil pan more, and get softer bump stops than the shit trail gear included with their kit.

Or... I've been told OME springs for the rear of an 84-88 pickup I believe are a little bit longer (helping with shackle angle) and would move the front axle forward a little. I might give it a go eventually to get a little bit longer wheelbase.

 

Im alright with the height at this point. I would have to cut up the fender wells in the bed to take out the body lift and i dont really want to do that.

Got the motor in. Was a huge pain in the ass and took 2 days but its sitting under its own weight. I still have to do some finishing touches to the tranny mount/cross member but the hard part is done. I really wish the previous owner didn't hack off the original tranny cross member, would have made it way easier to get everything lined up.


Also noticed this when we were lifting it in


I think my friends 3 year old was trying to "fix" it and jammed a screw driver in or something. I've only put like 50km on the turbo and don't remember it being broken when I pulled the motor.

Should be relatively smooth sailing to get it done. I bought a boat and tickets to Costa Rica this weekend and with the turbo being pooched its definitely going to put a financial delay on getting it finished. I should be able to get most of it done but getting custom driveshafts made, diff gears and tires are going to have to wait a bit.

 

Quoted for clarity
I just ordered these OME springs, part number CS010R, the spring rate is slightly softer than the stiff ass trail gear 3" HD pack I have now, and these will move the front axle forward 1.5", helping eliminate the necessity of severe tubbing.


1979-1988 Toyota Pickup | 1984-1989 4Runner Rear Leaf Spring - Heavy 2.25" Lift by Old Man Emu (CS010R) Weight: 52.8000 lbs 285 lb/in 445 lb/in once overload leaves kick in
5 + 2 leaves, remove the third leaf down from the top if too much lift

Trail Gear springs are 320 lbs/inch and notoriously too short on most all of the Tacoma swaps I've seen.

The longer and softer springs should really make the ride much more bearable. I'll be installing mine in about a month.

 

The trail gear hd springs are 320lbs/inch or their regular ones? Right now i have their 3" regular duty springs with one of the leafs removed.

Also when the previous owner installed the sas kit. For whatever reason he centered the axle in the wheel well and drilled out the leaf pack about an inch or so further back. When i installed the 3" springs i ended up just installing them backwards and the axle fits perfectly below the shock hoop. In their forward position the shock was on a really stupid angle. For me to move the axle forward i would have to cut off and redo the shock hoops. I know my current setup will lead to spring wrap, bump steer and lowered approach angle but im hoping it rides alright. Fixing the front axle position is literally the last thing i will even think about. After its on the road and driving coil overs for the rear will be the first upgrade.

 

The HD springs. That's what they recommend for the Tacos.

 

Hows the build going? Super interested to see this completed and some real-world performance numbers (especially MPG, even with those giant tires)

 

Its almost done I just stopped posting here because there didn't seem to be much interest. All that's really left is to hang my exhaust and put my front end back together and glue my headlights together.

My active build log is on my old samurai forum if you want to check it out https://bbs.zuwharrie.com/content?topic=135592.0#gsc.tab=0

I picked up an alh recently that im going to build over the winter. plan is compound turbos and 250hp or more ideally. If everything goes well I should be swapping that in for the aaz in the spring. I'm expecting around 23+mpg with the aaz and probably around 30mpg with the tdi.