1998 Tacoma 5.3L Vortec (LS) Engine Swap Thread

This build thread is filling a void that we’ve all needed filled for quite some time. Thank you.

 

Checking to make sure I'm clearing everything.








The stock truck oil pan will not fit in there. My plan at this point was to cut a section out of the back end of the oil pan to shorten it and then weld it back together.

 

Before deciding on the final position of the engine, I attached the intake and also wanted to see if I could keep the stock Tacoma radiator.




There was about an inch of clearance to the radiator. And it also looked like the intake would be able to clear the hood at this engine height. I was planning to shave some nubs off the top of the intake if there was interference.

 

Once I was happy with the engine position, I measured the distance from the center of the poly mount to the stock Tacoma engine mounts on the frame.


The engine mount is pushed as far back as possible shown below (there are slots in the plate to allow adjusting forward and back). Ideally it needed to go about back another inch to line up with the stock Tacoma frame mounts. I planned to bolt a longer plate to the Tacoma frame mounts and then weld the two tabs to the plate.

 

So here is my solution, cut out the longer plates out of ~ 3/8" steel, use the engine mounts pulled from the 5VZ-FE as a template.



Test fit on frame mounts




Drill thru holes and use stock fasteners to hold in place.


This image roughly shows where the cut tabs will sit on the plates.


I don't have any pictures but what I did next was remove all the scale from the steel until shiny metal was showing, bolt the plates to the frame mounts, install the poly mounts to the engine, re-position the engine back in the engine bay until the tabs were sitting on the plates and then tack weld into place. Then unbolt the plates from the frame mounts, take the engine out, and remove mounts for final welding. Here are the final welded mounts:



Not the prettiest of welds but it will hold.

 

Check out Project Firebolt on youtube. He uses an oil pan from Canton racing

 

Next step was to fabricate a transmission mount. I bolted this poly mount to the 4L60E tail housing:

$41 Energy Suspension- 3.1108G GM TRANSMISSION MOUNT

https://www.amazon.com/Energy-Suspension-3-1108G-Transmission-Mount/dp/B000CN956K

I welded a simple bracket to the stock Tacoma transmission cross member. A thru hole at the top of the bracket allows me to bolt to the poly transmission mount.

 

At this point I was able to let the Tacoma support the full weight of the engine and transmission.







It's going to be fun snaking exhaust through there.

 

OK now lets test fit the radiator, intake, and hood.



It closes! Now I just need to get all that ugly hanging insulation off the hood.

 

Actually fits really well.

 

Nice

 

Awesome project....subbed

 

This is beautiful

 

I was initially looking at Canton and CXracing front sump oil pans. But I got lucky and found someone selling an oil pan pulled from a 2003 Z06 Corvette for only $50. Its looks like their engine blew up as there were bits and pieces of piston/rod all throughout the pan.



It's known as the batwing oil pan and looks kinda ugly, but is extremely low profile.




Another test fit in the engine bay and it cleared everything. A plus is I can just screw on an oil filter, no need for a remote one.




I think I should name the truck the bat mobile?

 

Your probably wondering if I'm just going to leave the CV axles dangling in the air. It turns out I need the CV axle nut torqued to the wheel hub (174 ft-lbs) in order to keep the wheel bearing properly pre-loaded. The front wheels would eventually just fall apart if I would run the truck without CV axles. Manual hubs don't have this problem. So I cut up the axles and just kept the end that goes through the wheel hub. I welded a cap on the back to keep water and debris out.

 

Actually, I figured you had plans for them. Just hadn't gotten to it yet. This is obviously not your first swap and/or you've really done your homework

 

I decided to beef up the stock Tacoma engine frame mounts. The pictures below show the pieces of steel plate being test fit at the top and bottom of the mount. I also used Naval Jelly rust dissolver on the patches of surface rust.





Welded and painted