Rokehi

So im going to start a build thread, this truck is nearly complete already, but id like to document it and get feedback from a more active group than toyota minis. That site is a ghost town. it might take me a day or two to get everything posted so bear with me.

I was originally into the crawler world, but building crawlers only got me so far, gotta load it onto a trailer, can only drive it on weekends, etc. I wanted to build something I could drive all the time, and I ran across this diesel title hilux. (Im in California so this was important for smog exemption) Ive always wanted to drop a nasty motor into a lightweight vehicle, and ive always like minitrucks, so i figured why not? I got the truck itself for around 1K and Ive put around 6k into it so far, including the cost of the motor, trans and rear axle.

The motor is an LM4, aluminum block 5.3 out of a 2004 trailblazer SS, surprisingly enough it weighs less than the motor that was in the truck factory. It had around 100k miles on it when i got it from pick n pull. Still lots of life left. It was super ****** dirty though, had to clean the whole thing with purple power. I ended up doing headstuds, and BTR's stage 2 LS3 cam. (225/238 .612"/.585" 113+3) This cam was recommended to me by them due to the weight of the truck and the application. I also did dual valve springs and chrome-moly pushrods.

Rokehi

For fuel management, I went through a bunch of options, I know alot of people have people cut their harnesses down, and their ECUs flashed. But i wanted something more, i debated doing the holley sniper 600hp kit, because it came with power adder options on it and nitrous ports already on the unit. But i ended up going with the Edelbrock Pro-Flo 4 kit, because it came with a harness, fuel rails, ecu, intake, throttle body, tablet, basically everything i needed for $1500 shipped from JEGs. I dont regret buying it and id buy it again. absolutely amazing kit. Motor fired up in 2 cranks when i loaded a base tune.

Rokehi

So the first thing i had to figure out was my motor mounts, because the little to no aftermarket support for these trucks. I couldnt just go buy some dirty dingo mounts and toss it in. I just ended up getting some universal ebay **** and welding them in, I plated where they were going first, (probably should have done the whole inner framerail but whatever) and burned the bitches in. The welds are probably wayyyy more than i needed, but i didnt want the **** to come out. It was kind of a pain in the *** getting the motor square in the engine bay by myself. Thing kept moving on me when i was trying to make cardboard templates for the motor mount ears.

Rokehi

One of the shittiest things on this build was figuring out what the **** to do about an oil pan. I didnt want to **** with my steering at all, but the steering on these trucks is behind the axle, and the crossmember in towards the front of the truck, not further back. So i didnt have that much room to put an oil pan anywhere. Ive seen a few people put V8s in these trucks and they always raise the motor to make the pan clear, and it looks stupid as **** to me. I wanted the motor as low as i could get it, better center of gravity and just plain looks more natural to me. I ended up getting a rear sump off of JEGs, it was a steel 6 quart pan rear sump pan, cheapest one they had. But even at the cheapest it was still $200 and hurt me when i took a grinder to it lol. I cut the sump off and moved it forward about 3.5in to clear the steering, and it barely clears. But clearance is clearance. I had a buddy that is really good with tig weld it all back up for me so i didnt have any leaks. i shortened the pickup tube at the same time. It all went rather smooth considering,

Rokehi

There were quite a few options i had to consider when I was choosing a trans as im sure you all know. I really wanted a T56 but i just simply didnt have the money to drop on one at the time. I knew for sure i wanted a manual though, so I went back and forth between a WC T5 and a NV3500. I had heard from alot of people that NV3500s were pretty weak, but then i started to talk to people about the 98+ versions that came in the S10s. Internal slave (same unit as a T56) and stronger internals than the previous versions. Lots of stories of guys running them behind an NA build no problem. and i also heard that they were stronger than the WC T5, which people seemed to be having trouble with unless it was well built. I found a S10 at pick n pull with low miles and pulled the trans from it. fluid looked good inside it so i went with it. fortunately i was able to use the factory crossmember and just modify it a bit to accommodate the new trans. I did have to cut the trans tunnel out quite a bit though. I opened it up a bit more than necessary because i wanted easy access to the trans bolts from under the truck. While i built the new tunnel, i also replaced the rusted out floor pans. I did add a couple pieces of angle iron underneath for structure because i wasnt able to get the panels stamped. Also, the spot welds on the tunnel look really porous and bad because i ran out of gas for the welder and just want to get everything tacked together, i retacked, ground out the porosity and tig welded the entire tunnel together.

Rokehi

When I had originally planned this build, i really didnt want to have to cut the core support out, but it was inevitable. I ended up getting a griffin radiator, cutting my core support out and bracing it in. Its super close quarters in there, my fan barely clears my top rad hose. Eventually ill get a corvette acc drive, but for now i just did the L99 camaro water pump, and bought an ICT alternator only kit to run everything. Made an aluminum crossover tube and used a swiveling thermostat housing. I was able to tap into the backside of the water pump to plumb my steam vent in as well. I made a dimple died upper radiator mount, that bolts onto the brace going accross, it really strengthened the whole deal alot. Both top and bottom points on the radiator are isolated by rubber.

Rokehi

Now the exhaust was kind of a weird issue for me. I dont have the right tools to be doing good pie cuts for custom headers, and i really didnt have that kind of time either. obviously theres no headers that you can buy for this truck when doing a swap like this. I bought some cheap turbo headers, cut the vbands off, welded on a 90 and rewelded the vbands on. Then went straight down. it currently has 2 bullet mufflers and some auger silencers inside them, its still pretty loud but not nearly as bad as open headers. I brought the truck back up to stock height and i plan on throwing some 30in all terrains on it so i can actually go places in it. And that gives me the height needed to put exhaust under the crossmember. I still need to wrap the drivers side header, im just dreading it because the rear bolts are NOT easy to get to at all with the steering box in the way.

Rokehi

I ran into a snag when trying to hook up fuel. My edelbrock kit came with a "free gift" of a fuel pump/sump deal. Which at first i thought was going to be awesome, as it just attaches to factory fuel lines and pressurizes the fuel inside the unit, then sends it to the motor. Which meant i would be able to keep my factory tank and pump, etc. I had thought this truck had 5/16 fuel lines, but unfortunately it only has 1/4in lines factory. Which if i wanted to starve the motor, would work, but I ended up replacing the entire fuel system. I installed a 25gal fuel cell behind the rear axle under the bed, gives my some nice offset weight to keep the tires on the ground. I just built a quick cage for it, Im going to have to rework alot of stuff later on, because i want to 4 link the rear eventually, so i didnt bother plating anything in the rear right now. Im running an MSD fuel pump, and a C7 filter/regulator, 8AN line from cell to pump, and 6AN forward to the motor. Was a pretty simple install, and i like not having to run a return line all the way to the front of the truck.

Bgbldodge

This thing is going to be a monster to handle. I'm jealous! Build looks awesome.

Rokehi

While i was in the back doing the fuel cell I also replaced the super weak 7.5 toyota rear with an explorer 8.8, a few buddies of mine were trying to get my to go with the 4.10 gearset, but i didnt want to be screaming at 3000rpm on the freeway, so i went with the 3.83 LSD. Still gives me a bit more torque control but gives me some highway gearing as well. I shortened the long side, and used a short side axle in its place, per usual. It all went pretty smooth, I did a root pass with TIG and finish welded with MIG. It looks nice and strong, good penetration all the way through, and the axle lines up perfectly side to side and lengthwise. I also welded the tubes to the carrier as well, they dont look took pretty, because i tried to clean out the gap with acetone, but i dont have an air compressor to blow out any debris caught in there. But i did pre-heat and post heat on the center, and welded in one inch sections alternating sides as i went to prevent warpage.