Greetings everyone, After many delays and setbacks, I finally got the LS3 with a 4L60e trans in my project. All that is left to do is the radiator. The motor is a 5.3 that came out of a 2006 Silverado and the trans was a spare trans that the owner of the Silverado had in his garage. The motor was rebuilt at the 120k mile mark and is equipped with a Trick Flo cam kit and heavy duty Mellings oil pump. I purchased a complete LS1 manifold from Hawk Motorsports and had it installed to complete the top end of the motor. The exhaust system is a set of Hooker block hugger headers with a dual system to a pair of Flowmaster mufflers. The motor and trans was installed in the truck with the help of a friend and his nephew in Phoenix. The trans was completely rebuilt with a 3000 stall converter and a shift kit was added and it shifts through a Lokar performance shifter mounted to the trans. The rear is currently the stock rear but I have a 8.8 with factory disc brakes that I pulled from a 1998 Explorer with 78k miles on the odometer that I will have rebuilt before I drop it in in the truck. As I stated earlier, the last thing I have is the radiator install. I bought a universal aluminum radiator from Jeg’s and I found that the filler cap was hitting my hood. I am working to have the filler cap relocated to clear the hood then my truck should be on the road. I will post some pictures of my build as soon as I figure out how to upload pictures on this site. I apologize for not being computer savvy enough to upload pictures. I rely heavily on my son to be my in-house computer tech. This forum has given me the motivation to do this project and I am always inspired by other truck owners on their builds. My plan with the truck is to be a daily driver and I would love to take it to a Mini truck gathering locally and on one of the Hot Rod Power Tour trips one day.
My plan is to install beefier T bars and sway bars up front and the 8.8 rear with a 4 parallel bar with coil overs to drop it. I don' t want to go too low.
Yes, she was. On my first maiden voyage around the neighborhood, she was fun! I had a smile from ear to ear. The problem I am having now is that I bought an aluminum radiator from Jegs and my hood is hitting the filler cap. I found a local custom shop to relocate my cap and the truck will be on the road again.
I have full 1st on setup. 25mm front sway bar and 25mm torsion bars and the rear sway bar. Hit me up if interested . Look forward to the photos.
Da_Roach, I am interested in your set. Could you send photos and price for your parts to my email, [email protected]. Thanks.
Did you have any problem with the center drag-link clearing the oil pan. If so what did you do to solve the clearance problem.
I installed a Holley LS oil pan and it cleared the drag link. The front a arm crossmember was removed and I will have a tubing bent to clear the pan then I will weld it to the original location so I can remove it when I need to.
I should have went with a 8.8 ford rear end also. I got a 8.0 rear end from a pickup which had a 6 cyl. And also a LSD from a 92 supra. Will be sending it off for rebuild and have diff from supra drop into my rear end. Did not want to fool with the ford rear end due to it being sightly wider than the toyota.
I went with the 8.8 ford rear when I read in another swap forum where a Toyota pickup owner dropped the ford rear in his truck with no modifications. He stated that the leaf springs were about the same width as the ford, so the rear end dropped right in the truck with no issues. He relocated the hard lines for the brakes and he was done. The ford rear is slightly wider than the Toyota but if you order wheels with the required back spacing, it should tuck nicely inside the fenders. ent
