Bandido's Bad at Taking Pictures '03 DC Build

Oh wait you have the 2GR swapped in there now??

 

Made a very small YouTube video today.
https://youtube.com/shorts/xLuFxrCISHI?feature=share3

Truck is running and driving better than ever.

 

That thing sounds great! Love the dual stainless exhaust.
How was all the wiring and getting things hooked up like the gauge cluster and A/C?

 

Thanks!! Pretty easy actually, cruise control is the only punchlist item really, I can get it to work, but it creates a bunch of throttle faults, possibly an issue with my wiring...05+ Taco 1GR power steering and AC bolt right in. Factory Sienna Alternator for more power than I'll ever need (280a). It actually sounds pretty obnoxious in current trim right around 4k rpm, which is seen often when keeping up with modern traffic stoplight to stoplight.

 

small audio update.... trying to pictures more

6.5 speakers need mods to fit both front and rear doors


its been covered a few times, only this thread was really helpful for me tho.... and only for the Front doors, fortunately the rear doors needed basically the same thing done.


theres not quite enough material in the rear speaker mount to modify it to fit the 6.5 speaker, so I 3d printed a new one.



Modified with Dremel tool to clear the new speaker.



I also decided to paint the speaker grills just for a little flair.



I used Amazon brand butyl sound deadener (best mass/$) and Siless Foam. I recently pulled the door card on my Fiancee's '23 Sequoia, and it has NO mass on the door, just 3 braces and TONS of foam-like sound absorbtion material on the door card, so I may end up adding more foam in the future. I also used XTC Baffles here.


Install Pic, for some reason one of the foam liners I used wouldn't stick to the speaker, so its a combined placement. I also lubed the Window slides with teflon before sealing it up. Finally I mounted the passive Filter to the door card with some of the foam.


Front doors still need a lot of work, painting was easy at least....

 

Got a surprise visit from my mother for labor day weekend, so all my plans got sent awry.
I still managed to address some much needed maintenance on the double cab, the steering rack bushings are already worn, so it has been making loud pop and bang sounds in cornering and large changes in wheel position at low speeds.

I also decided to try out an alternative to the rag joint as I have a .5 inch body lift, and no corresponding steering shaft extension. This bushing is 1.25 in thick, and has 2 different bolt circles and 2 different bolt sleeves, for the 1st gen, the larger diameter pattern and smaller boot sleeve are the right combo.

And since the clamp bushing is the one that always goes bad the fastest, I got the 333-fab HD clamp just to try it out.


By far the most annoying part of this swap is getting these little studs out of the rag joint assembly.


All finished, assembled with a bit of white lithium grease... even tho the kit didn't come with any! Only took 3 hours including a quick tape measure alignment!


Really trying to take more pictures lol.

 

Still trying to chase out some play in the steering wheel, I've tightened the slide bushing as much as I can, which helped a lot... and that's a bit concerning, maybe I need a new spring on this.... brand new rack?? I also put a tack weld on the slip shaft to try to tighten things up.


I also got the passenger door all buttoned up. Driver side still to go. Bass still needs to be figured out, I'm thinking of a 6.5 subwoofer firing towards the C pillar behind the rear seat.



Took a quick trip on some local trails Sunday, they are getting more and more beat up, apparently my locker needs a little TLC as it wouldn't engage, but momentum was all I needed fortunately. I did have a bit of a moment on an off camber step down that has eroded more than before, got on 3 wheels in a sketchy way and that gave me a hell of an adrenaline kick...

I also convinced the fiancee to mountain bike a bit, we managed to do a mild 5 mile out and back with the dogs, which was AWESOME.

 

Been a minute since I have updated this thread...
I've been using the taco as my daily, the MPG is actually quite good when not revving out to 7k every chance I get, the speedo does appear to read 3-4 mph high at 75, so its reporting a little optimistically. I am ever to clear 300mi on the tank pretty easily in daily conditions however.

Hitting some trails as spring was springing.

Much needed maintenance over MLK long weekend, shocks rebuilt with fresh seals, also changed the first flutter shim from .008 to .012. Also Front Right Wheel bearing.... again



then disaster! the Rear end shit some teeth of the pinion on the way to work.

I pulled the rear driveshaft, but it was still very crunchy, so I opted to trailer that boi home, Fiancee to the rescue (as usual)

The Diff had around 12k miles on it... I think I was probably running too thin of fluid 85-90w for the amount of power and beatings I put it thru 90-140w at leas from now on!


I picked up a 06 sequoia axle and am prepping that, as well as getting a full ECGS 3rd, and a set of chevy 63in springs as the clock ACTUALLY ticks down on the "LT" install.

 

Good to see the beast out and running around. And you breaking it.


I broke the mr2 yesterday. That’s was fun

 

Ive mostly just been driving it, front diff actuators have been seizing up quickly with the 4.10 front diff...
Winter project is going well, excited for aome progress.

 

New 1st gen Taco owner here, I just came from an '09 Avalon (2GR, of course) and before that a 1st gen (2001) 2UZ V8 Tundra. Avalon got totaled in a sideswipe, but the Tundra is still alive and kicking through the 275k mile marker a few towns over with my sister now.

I'd love to do a 2GR swap on my V6 Taco some day as a project. Last few owners didn't do a good job keeping up with maintenance, so I expect to have some engine troubles in the mid-far future, and since I'm heading into trade school in a few weeks to start in their automotive program, I should be fully ready to do at least build up a temporary 5VZ swap to hold me over while I start compiling the materials and experience to put in a 2GR.

Spent the last few hours scrolling through this thread too, and I love the progress!

 

That would be a great Donor Motor! the Exhaust and FMW tune really give it some pep!

While I managed to do the swap for "very" cheap ~$2800 all in I think? I did a ton of fab work that made it take a while and several of my solutions are very "1-off" unique, specifically the Intake Manifold mods.

I am planning to do this swap again on my lowbody next winter assuming I get the Double cab frame done... at that point I may have a bit more of a standard solution that I could offer more guidance and possibly parts!

 

I just wanted to thank you for directing me to this thread from the YouTube comment! There are probably several in the 2GR-FE community wanting to do a similar swap.

 

Actually, that was me! YouTube's comment system filters out links, even if it's to another video on the platform, let alone outside links. It's stupid.

 

That'd be great! I'd love to have a basic parts list to work with. I'd probably do another automatic transmission on mine, so my biggest project in my swap will be finding which autos pair well for the slightly chonkier application of a Tacoma vs an Avalon or Sienna, and also the electrical systems oughta be a pain in the ass to work out, but i don't mind too much! Who knows, maybe i can find a nearly 1:1 swap (minus fabrication of course) if i do enough research

 

Well, Thank YOU!

I think some of the questions we get a lot in that group are about converting FSE engines to FE engines. This gives you a starter boss for your transmission, since the FE doesn't have one. Then you deal with direct injection delete, but I think that can be done by swapping the head onto an FSE block. However, that opens a whole new set of issues with the upper oil pan, pickup, and timing chain cover. To be honest, the way @Bandido did it seems to be the easiest way; fabricating some custom engine mount brackets is fairly easy if you have your own welder.

 

uh I think he was referring to me posting a link to my build thread on my youtube video?

I'll check out this FB group tho...

The earlier A304F with 5VZ bellhousing should work as an auto following similar steps to what I did, the later electronically controlled trans would leave you with new control problems to solve.

I have the answer to this block/head compatability somewhere... I think they checked this in FMW discord.

 

Approved! ✔️

 

Did you put a link in your YouTube video description? I didn't check there, if you did. I always forget the description exists! I'm Potato #200 if you scroll the replies; iirc there was a comment from a few months ago asking how and where to find your build, so I gave them the title of your build thread recently, so they could search it up. Honestly, it might be a different guy, the timing lined up so i just assumed he was the same guy i replied to¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯
Happy to help guide anyone here that's looking for it tho, it's a cool build that a few of us are probably still scouring the web for help on!