Thanks sir! Hopefully I will get some mock up soon. To be honest I don't see why I can't buy prefab engine mounts to drop this into the truck. I see several offroad/4x4 sites sell gm v8 to toyota mounts, but they all claim that it only fits the 4wd. I'm not sure why, but I think I can get around whatever the problem is. I think its a suspension related fitment issue with the 2wd's anyways. Nothing we can't cut/move anyways, especially if the fitment had to do with the torsion bars that are no longer there.

 

Good work on you ute bud. You doing a full rebuild on the engine

 

Yea, its going to need an overhaul, but I didn't want to shove a stock engine off in the yota anyways. I need to remove the oil pan and see why the engine won't turn over. I found a lot of rust/debris inside the cylinders, so the rings may just be stuck to the side walls. Either way, It will need to be completely gone through. Unless something is seriously wrong with this engine, I will end up taking the block to the machine shop and have it gone through. Put a fresh 5.3 rotating assembly in if it needs it. I doubt I will use those heads. Definitely needs a good street cam, worked heads, push rods, rockers, springs, valves, etc. Probably LS1 intake manifold, all necessary bolt ons to make it fit, Stall to go with the cam, and so on. It should be a pretty decent semi-built engine by the time I'm done going through it.

 

Well, today I decided to mess with the project some. I still can't seem to get this motor to turn over at all, which slightly concerns me because I want to make sure that this donor motor will work without any major issues. Hoping nothing is seriously wrong or damaged on the block.

I rolled the engine over - because I can't get the motor to turn over, thus I cannot get the tq converter off in order to put it on an engine stand. I pulled the oil pan, shield/cover, and the caps that hold the crank in place. I tried to get the crank pulley off but I can't get enough leverage on it without the motor rollings, and my impact isn't doing anything. I'm going to get a torch and heat the bolt up some to see if that helps - That has always worked for me in the past.



After not being able to really get anything else done on the engine, I decided to hook the tow rope to my yota and pull it closer to my house so that I could drop the engine into the bay using the engine hoist.

I placed the engine into the bay at "about" what I thought would be the ideal position. I raised the engine 3-4 inches above the crossmember and it looks like I have plenty of room for motor mounts. I might put the heads back on tomorrow with a bolt or two in them so that I can get an idea of header clearance around the steering column. Also, its too bad I don't have an intake manifold to check clearance with the hood.

As mentioned before I'm not at all concerned with firewall or trans tunnel as these will end up getting altered anyways.

 

Random shot of the Toyota. I don't have a shop or covering for it right now, and I notice the paint is starting to get a little worse due to weather, so I bought a cover for the truck. Might not last, but we will see.



I put the driver side head on to check clearance, so far, it looks okay.



Then I put the passenger side exhaust mani on "backwards" to check clearances. It's okay, except near the flange, which hit the steering box. The main purpose here was to make sure that a manifold could go on. I'm very sure custom headers will have to be made for this project either way.

 

Alrighty, so put in some time today on the project. Finally went back to Autozone and made attempt #3 at finding a proper tool to pull the crank pulley. the first time I was given a puller that required threaded holes in the pulley, wrong. 2nd was a 3 jaw puller, but the thing kept slipping off and the rod was bowing under stress. The third was what was recommended on some of the GM forums, using a Chrysler pulley puller, this thing worked awesome. I heated the pulley up a little first with my torch, hoping it would expand, then put the puller on. Came off no problem!



Got the timing cover off, removed the timing chain and camshaft.



Engine was still seized up, so the cam wasn't in a bind or anything.
Started to remove the rods/pistons, had a booboo when removing one of them. Hey, they are rusted in there and in bad shape anyways, I didn't care. Plus, one of them had a bent rod.




But finally I got everything pulled out, and got the bare block on the engine stand until I can take it to the machine shop and get inspected and a bath.



By the time I got the 7th rod/piston out, the rotating assembly spun smooth as butter, so apparently it was a combo of rusted piston rings and maybe that bent rod, keeping it from turning over.

 

Now the $$

 

Eventually, I'm still going to budget, wheel & deal my way through this.

 

i HAVE to ask, did you buy that gsr integra from pg2 from a guy in GA? Looks almost identical to the one i sold years back.

 

I got out from a local guy, when I got it, it had the JDM b18c swap, some black rota slips, and fresh paint. I did all the rest. I think he got out from someone in Carolina.

 

Do you have any more pictures of it? I sold mine to a guy in one of the carolinas lol. He did a full respray and motor swap. I've been trying to find that car for years!

 

In a few days when I get home I can get pictures, but it didn't look a lot like this when I bought it. What year and trim was yours?

 

Mine was a 2000 gs-r. It had factory blades and a buddy club spec 2 exhaust when I sold it

 

Mine was a 95 gs-r.

 

Finally got the full set of wheels onto the truck, it's been 2 19" wheels and 2 steelies up until today. Next thing to concentrate on is getting the rear done, notch, narrow rear end, narrow frame, 4 link, bed mods.

 

Well, had to move some stuff around today, and decided to test fit the bed on the frame since I haven't before. I have the truck laid on some long 2x4 boards, rear end and wheels had to be removed for clearance. Sometime in the near future I will be pouring a concrete slab to sit the truck on and be able to work on.

 

Any updates?

 

There are some drastic changes in plans, not really wanting to post yet until it happens. As of now engine setup changing and the complete look of the truck.

 

Alright awesome. I read the entire build post so im excited to see whatever you have next.