MunkeyWrench's 2nd Gen LS swap

NorCal or SoCal? I was born in NorCal (Navy brat) and there are certain areas of the state where I wouldn't want to be without a heater!

 

SoCal. NorCal would definitely be a different story lol

 

In SoCal I feel like you’d need A/C; The house we rented in Malibu back in July 2016 didn’t have air-conditioning and it not a whole hell of a lot of fun!

This was a family reunion where everyone contributed to the rental fee; We literally did not know the house lacked central air until the day we showed up for our vacation!

 

Fuck yeah! Nice job dude! How do you get around smog rules? Register out of state?

I’m not understanding why you went with the stock ECU when you ditched all the emissions crap anyway?

Also, what did you do for the instrument cluster?

 

Yeah it’ll easily make much more power with upgrades and tuning and has so much aftermarket support! Also more reliable and better power to weight ratio than Toyota engines.

That said, even stock it’s got some 325lb-ft torque but importantly a much fatter torque curve down low too so I bet it’ll roast a stock Tacoma and sound sooo much better!!

 

I am still registered in California but I might make it out of state in the future. Smog laws are ridiculous in California but where there is a will there's a way

I kept the stock ECU specifically for smog reasons. It still has to log the miles so it doesn't trigger anything at the DMV the next time its at a smog station - To be clear, the engine is not running off the stock ECU.

 

Did you use the stock manifolds? Any fitment issues with those?

 

Yes, the aftermarket support for the LS engine is awesome. Definitely reliable also. I have 8,000 on the swap so far and shes been running great.

 

Yeah unless you flash some extra green backs that ain’t gonna fly when you get your next smog check because they will look under the hood and it won’t pass the OBDII check either. Simply installing a motor of higher vintage than the chassis is a hard stop for some stupid reason (if detected).
I know some tricks from my time in San Diego. PM me and we can discuss further.

 

Stock Manifolds for now but will actually be putting in a set of shortys this weekend. They fit in with a little bit of modification to them. I cut the 3 bolt flange they come with and used V bands which made them fit in nice.

 

I'll just refer to you as Mr. Taco like always haha

 

Does your truck have 4WD? I would love to LS swap my tacoma and down the road throw a LSA blower on top! I hate the engine bay in my 02 camaro, zero room.

 

It was 2wd from the factory and I kept it that way. Blown LS would definitely be fun but Im more a turbo guy

 

Sub’d.

Great work here. How did you make this smog compliant??!

 

Its no where near smog compliant but there's ways to "pass" smog.

 

Update on Wheels and Suspension.

I recently upgraded my suspension with something a little different. I went with a QA1 coilover adapted to fit in the stock location. I got the idea from an x runner I saw on xr underground and decided to give it a try. With the extra weight from the iron block in the front I wanted some sort of adjustability and these helped out a lot. Its a 15" compressed and 23" extended coilover with a 12" 550lb QA1 spring. I may go with a 14" spring in the future for a little more lift but for now the 12" are perfect. The coilovers are set to give me about a 1.5-1.75" lift right now with room for to go about another inch or so. I have them set to the 5th click and the ride is super smooth.



Mounted up




The wheels I went with are from Summit Off-road and they are 17x9 -25mm offset and are wrapped in 275/70R17 Toyo Open Country AT3's

 

What is your exhaust setup, did you reuse the y pipe from a silverado?

 

Exhaust set up is really simple. Shorty headers with 2.5" stainless pipe through a Magnaflow Rumbler muffler dumped after the axle. I did not use any piping from a silverado. I bough a Y pipe collector and welded it in. This is what it looks like.

 

Thank you.

 

Ok,
I listened to your start up & rev up video and your “Magnaflow Rumbler Muffer” (what’s that?) sounds really nice and mellow. Hell I have the little 2.7L supercharged, LCE header, OEM primary cat, removed the cleanup cat and replaced it with a Magnaflow 5x8x14 w/ another Magnaflow 5x11x22 with 2.5” all the way out the tip in the OEM location but it’s been raised up about 4”. And my exhaust note is about the same volume. I swear 4 bangers are louder then V8’s.