Sneak Peek at the 2JZ (Lexus Inline 6 Motor) I am Cramming into my Ex-Girlfriend's Engine Bay

Yes, from a 2002.

 

These came in today! As most of you know I've been doing this on a super tight budget not to mention about to 4x4 Swap my regular cab on top of all this. Ever since I got blue colored SAW Racerunners on my front end its hard to go back to Bilsteins. So found these at a decent price for my girlfriend. I'm still stuck with Bilsteins in my rear though and she's stuck with Bilsteins in her front how'd that happen to work out?!

 

Cleaned up more wires along the doorway. Geeeeting there slowly but surely. Had to take a break for a bit because I got so tired of this. Worked on my truck instead for a while...but I'm back on this. Some interior shots!

 

Stoked you started working on this again. I have a complete running/driving 2005 is300 that i am thinking about using as my donor for my 2001 Tacoma double cab. I think the only thing im lacking at this moment is the motor mounts, but easy enough to fab some up. Since i plan on swapping entire ECU and BCU, i'm hoping it will be easier to extend wires instead of creating new harnesses. I'm also thinking about attempting to use all of the Lexus door/window switches and modifying or making new trim pieces to accommodate the Lexus switches. Keep up the good work and i may be hitting you up if i come across anything crazy that stumps me!

 

It's a fun swap without a doubt. If anything, I'd say at bare minim do the motor side of things first. Doing this interior swap and actually integrating the steering column and other things suddenly became a massive pain. Especially cleaning all the other wires up. If you can take my advice, just try motor first and see how it goes!

 

2 hrs and 18 pages of pure excitement!!!

 

It would be great if someone could come up with a turn key kit for this. I’d like to know exactly what I need to run a 2JZ.

Could someone confirm and add to this list for a prerunner with the A340E?

2JZ
2JZComputer
Custom A340E mounts
Custom engine wiring harness
Bell housing from 2JZ to A340E
Custom driveshaft

Is that it?

EDIT: wording.

 

Where's the fun in that? This install you learn more.

 

Guys! I got so tired of this thing and am getting back on it soon. Got a Ranger for the time being and it keeps breaking on me. My girl has been driving my taco which has recently had a bunch of new great additions to it which I'll post in my dead build thread.

Stay tuned for the 2jz taco! It ain't dead yet. I'm determined to finish it and bring it back to a daily driver.

 

What rear end did you use for your swap ?

 

I feel you, take a break every once in a while. I did the same thing when I got my 1st gen, damn thing kept snapping bolts to the point I got tired of it.

 

Didn’t know if it was covered yet in my skimming. Fantastic build(s), BTW.

Did these seats mount up fairly easily or were there some modifications to the rails?

 

Just the stock 8" differential. It has 4:10s in it right and it's great, but when I regear my regular cab I'm going to put the 4:30s in this truck and it should really pop!

 

Thanks!! I am dying to finish this truck, but things like changing jobs and stuff keep coming up. I'm aaaalllllmost going to get back on this and finish...

All I did for the rear of the seat brackets is just weld an "L" bracket, for the front I slightly bent a flat piece of stock downward and welded it to the seat bracket.

Most amazing seats ever. I honestly can't describe how comfy they are. It's like sitting in a plush yet supportive couch that hugs you just right, but doesn't feel cheap or sloppy. It's amazing!!

 

CXracing makes motor mounts for 2jzs now for our trucks. So this is pretty close to a turn key swap. Other than the job of wiring which is a huge and not something most would want to tackle.

 

nice swap so far, I am about to do drop a 2jz na-t in mine but going to approach it a bit differently, at least wiring wise and leaving all the cab wiring as it came, just ecu and body plug stuff/starter harness etc..

Had a question though, did you go to hydroboost just as a choice or did the upper intake manifold also interfere with the smaller IS brake booster setup?
I had a hydroboost setup on my corvette and it was way too sensitive for my taste, there were alot of variables so yours may go differently but I ended up going back to a vacuum booster.
I would like to keep the vacuum booster or go to an electronic one if absolutely necessary, so was just wondering what happened to the IS setup as it looked like it would work initially.

Thanks and good luck, would never dream of putting the whole GS harness into a tacoma but looks like you are making good progress.

 

Right on!! And great question- I went hydroboost because I found the steering pump for a killer price, liked the adjustable output, and wanted to try something new for myself. Before I knew all very much, I was just looking what fit with what. IS had disc all the way around unlike the Taco. If I recall, a 1997 Toyota Camry has disc front drum rear so I picked that master cylinder up and bolted it to the IS booster. If only I knew more and knew they made all sorts of different master cylinder sizes at the time....issue was the Camry master cylinder bore was too small for the larger Tacoma brakes and the petal would go to the floor for usual stopping and it was a bit sketchy.

That being said, IS booster will fit (very tightly). A hair wider and it would not fit. Mind you, this is with my own motor brackets. If I had to do it again, I'd go with the CX Racing brackets as @Blackdawg mentioned.

The interior wiring situation is a nightmare but going fine so far. I haven't touched the truck in a while. But if you're doing just the motor, don't fret too much. Once you have the basic understanding on how all that stuff works in the Tacoma, wiring just the motor in really isn't too bad at all! It is mainly just communication with the key and transmission electronics with the ecu.

Also, huge news guys. I hate to blast it out on the internet, but had gone different ways with my girlfriend (now ex) a few weeks ago. Not to leave her screwed out of money from the truck, I gave her more than what it is worth and she's happy. So I have all the time in the world now on the weekends. Been working hard on building my regular cab lately. It is almost done. Then the 2jz Taco!

 

Thanks for the detailed response! that makes sense on the camry one, but good to know the IS one fits well and I will use that if I need more clearance.
I haven't had too much trouble in the past with master cylinders being disc/disc vs disc/drum, it seems like the bore size plays a bigger impact like you said.
I would think just adjusting the rear drums and the height sensing valve thing in the back would dial in the rear brakes if they have issues with the disc/disc master.
I do have a hydroboost setup sitting in a box that already has the fittings for AN lines, just didn't want to ditch the vacuum setup unless I have to.

I got the CX racing engine mounts to make things easier, and might just be my eyes but I think they placed the engine a hair to the passenger side.
Will find out when I start to drop it in and let you know. I think I got the wiring side down as I am pretty familiar with the toyota ecu's but we will see how that goes lol.
Thanks again and glad you are keeping the 2J tacoma, and the pics of those GS seats are really making me want to pick up a set of lexus seats now

 

That's awesome! Keep everyone posted on how it goes. Heck at the rate I'm going, you'll probably be done with your build before me...

 

Damn sucks, but at least you get to keep the truck, sucks you paid more out of pocket but I hope you didn't burn any bridges.