LM4 LS swapped 78 Longbed

Discussion in '1976-1983 Build-Up/Project Threads' started by Markus Vandevender, Jan 7, 2020.

  1. Markus Vandevender

    Markus Vandevender Member

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    Ive played around with a few ideas, havent really gotton too far into it yet. Right now im mainly trying to get it at least driveable, all thats needed is driveline and rear axle installed. Then i can start upgrading. But ive looked into the LS400 4 piston swap, and swapping in a T100 master. Ive also considered just doing a Wilwood booster eliminator also just to make it simple. Its not going to be a daily, just a fun toy so I wouldnt have a sore leg all the time.
     
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  2. Markus Vandevender

    Markus Vandevender Member

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    By the way heres a running list of everything Ive bought and installed and relative prices of everything so far. Theres still more to purchase but im almost there.
    [​IMG]
     
  3. Markus Vandevender

    Markus Vandevender Member

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    So i got a little bit of work done, ive been keeping up on house repairs and such, had to fix my water heater and my freezer popped a leak etc...but i managed to get all the radiator hoses on so ill be able to run the motor for an extended period of time soon, see how it runs at operating temps. I work in a machine shop so i was able to roll some beads on a aluminum cross tube, turned out pretty nice. I also need to pull the water pump off, trim down the outlet and roll a new bead on it, its really long and i need to move the connecting 90 in more to provide a straighter connection. Got some time last night as well and i finally stripped the old perches off the rear axle and ground down the weld from where i welded the tube back together. The weld was flawless, im actually pretty proud of how structural it was. No inclusions or pockets at all in it.[​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
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  4. Pearce

    Pearce Toyotaholic

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    Doing the old cursive e trick with the mig gun. Keep at it. You'll be laying dimes like a tig torch soon.
     
  5. Markus Vandevender

    Markus Vandevender Member

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    Ive done a little bit with tig but not too much. But I'm getting damn decent with mig. Just practice practice practice lol. I got the new perches welded in tonight and got the axle under the truck. I ended up removing the 5in lowering blocks, im gonna raise the front end a bit as well so i can run exhaust easier. New perches are from the local 4x4 shop ruffstuff specialties, along with the 9/16 ubolts and 3/8 plate ubolt plates. Everything bolted in quite easily, however i wont be able to run the wheels i have as theyre still the mag shank style and the wheel studs are bigger on this axle. Also gotta install new wheel bearings and put the c clip back in the axle for the side I cut. Now to order all the drive line parts. [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
  6. jetas

    jetas Grand Toyotaholic

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    Looks good bro. Did your diff bottom out on the crossmember yet?
     
  7. Markus Vandevender

    Markus Vandevender Member

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    Nah thats one of the reasons i took out the lowering blocks, to avoid any sort of interference right now. Im moving in like 3 months so I need to get it operational real soon lol. Eventually it'll get lowered again but im going to triangulate the frame inwards before the tires and do a c notch/tub so i can tuck wider tires. Probably link it while im at it too.
     
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  8. Markus Vandevender

    Markus Vandevender Member

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    Got the waterpump tube trimmed down and the fan mocked up today. Boy is it close quarters lol[​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
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  9. jetas

    jetas Grand Toyotaholic

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    If it wasnt for the angle of the intake you could have turned the upper hose up a little and ran it over the fan.
     
  10. Markus Vandevender

    Markus Vandevender Member

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    Yeah i had thought about that. But another thing is with the minimum bend radii on the couplers I'd use, it would put that tube higher than my radiator cap which would trap air in the system unfortunately.
     
  11. Markus Vandevender

    Markus Vandevender Member

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    On the bright side my Air filter came in today and i got one of my headers wrapped. Starting to look spiffy.[​IMG]
     
  12. Markus Vandevender

    Markus Vandevender Member

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    I did a bunch of finishing touches this weekend, the front end is getting really close to being done. i plumbed the steam vent line into the back of the water pump with a 1/8 NPT nipple, blacked out the core support, headlight buckets and inner grill. i ran out of paint before i could finish the grill unfortunately. with some modifications i think ill be able to use the factory center support for my radiator/emblem mount. All i need to finish now is installing a throttle cable, the S10 clutch master, wrapping the other header, finishing the top radiator mount, and installing the alternator harness. With all that the LS swap will be completely done and i can turn all my focus to the rear of the truck.[​IMG][/IMG] [​IMG][/IMG] [​IMG][/IMG] [​IMG][/IMG] [​IMG][/IMG]
     
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  13. Perkolator

    Perkolator Toyotaholic

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    Build looks good and like a snug fit! Bet it will be fun

    I keep looking at the pics wondering how the heck are you routing that exhaust like that and clearing everything?
     
  14. Bottle

    Bottle Member

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    Hey bud, good work. This is long dickenson by the way wink* Question: Do you think you could have gotten away with not cutting the tunnel, or cutting less of it?
     
  15. Markus Vandevender

    Markus Vandevender Member

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    So im planning on bringing the truck back up to close to stock height. Im going to Y into a single pipe across the front behind the lower valence and go backwards under the front crossmember with some ovaled 3in pipe.
     
  16. Markus Vandevender

    Markus Vandevender Member

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    I dont think so man. I mean you probably could but if you dont mess with the steering at all, you cant drop the motor/trans in as one because the distance between the tie rod and the firewall is smaller that the width of the bellhousing on my trans. I had it cut out a bit smaller but had to open it up more to be able to mate the trans with the clutch on the motor.
     
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  17. KS.ID

    KS.ID Enthusiast

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    Blacked out grille looks nice!
     
  18. Bottle

    Bottle Member

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    Well I have an mr2 rack with ae86 inner rods, so hopefully that gives me some.more clearance. So you are saying if it wasn't for the steering linkage, you would have enough room for the bellhousing?
     
  19. Markus Vandevender

    Markus Vandevender Member

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    Does that run in front or behind the spindles? itll just give you the advantage of being able to drop the motor in with the trans attached and not have to cut out oversized for being able to separate/mate the 2 under the truck. downside is youd have to pull the motor everytime you wanted to do trans work. However if that runs in front of the spindles, youd be able to use that oil pan i used without having to modify it.
     
  20. Bottle

    Bottle Member

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    It will run behind the spindles to use the existing spindles, but lower than the factory linkage. So is the issue that you cannot get to the bellhousing bolts or is there no room to back the trans out from the motor? If it's bolts, I may be able to just cut small holes for each bolt, if its the trans, there's no way around it
     

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