Well, it wasn't easy, but its in...roughly.

As it stands, the engine is mounted in it's final resting place. The short hood of the hilux made dropping the engine with trans as one unit very very difficult and id advise against it for people who are scared of scratching the paint. The transmission is currently being held up by a jack as these motors don’t have pitch stop mounts like the subaru i am more used to. Driveshaft slotted in beautifully on install, that was way better that i expected, lets hope it is correct because i really don't want to pull that out.

Next up is to test fit, cut, tap, and mount the transmission cross member to accept the w55 trans. Although i have a '78 and the transmission knowledge thread i shared before is supposedly for a '78 Chinook, our trans crossmembers look completely different. I don’t know if min is and early '78 or a late '78 or if it was unique to the dual rear axle trucks but they don’t look the same at all despite us sharing the same L43 trans to start. I'll post some pictures tomorrow and get that cut and mounted up so i can move onto the electrical and the cooling system.

While im doing that, i have a friend who is gonna take care of the nightmare rust situation where the battery usually fits as well as making an exhaust that will go down and cross under the trans to mate to the existing exhaust system so that takes some time consuming stuff of my hands. I do have to pay for it but at least it will speed up the process for me.

The wiring in this rv, both front and back, is downright appalling and i both hate and suck at wiring so chasing down where all these wires go with be a bummer but it has to get done. I plan to just make the vehicle run and drive and then while my gf does the rear RV part of the build, i can handle taking the dash out, cleaning up the 45 year old wiring harness of everything i don’t need, and fixing my turn signals which just shut off when i hit the brakes.

Here is a pic of the rv with the new engine and the hood fitting!

 

I do have to say that they put next to no effort into making that engine look any kind of good

 

right? Like “it’s a truck engine, it’s fine.” There’s also vacuum line galore at the back of the intake manifold

 

The mod would not be legal in most places, there is a fair bit of stress on the centre link and failure of a weld would be catastrophic at any speed, so if you're going to do it, get an engineer to weld it for you, they might say no.
An alternative is to cut up the sump and use the bottom half of the 18r sump, I would tig or gas weld it as mig welding almost always results in an oil leak.

 

All they care about in the US is emissions, you can have the most unsafe POS on the road tho

 

Exactly what Jetas said above, and because it is a 1978, we don’t even have emissions for it in the state of Connecticut where it will be titled. As long as it is a solid weld (my friend is a professional welder so it will be done right), i don't think i need to worry about it too much. i would have to notch the pan so much that it would most likely hit the oil pick up so it is prohibitively not the greatest situation but this is an unusual combination of parts so i just need to make it work

 

Update:

Yesterday we went through the process of modifying the transmission crossmember and it didn't go as simply as the following thread describes nor does that transmission cross member look anything like mine...despite being the same year supposedly...thanks toyota (i figured out why this is, read a couple posts down to see the reason).

The thread im talking about: https://toyotamotorhome.org/forums/...-l43-to-w50-and-w50-to-w55-transmission-swap/

That being said, i had to make some adjustments and modify the transmission crossmember a little more than just notching it.

I started by cutting off (just the part that is welded onto the trans crossmember) where the trans mount sits into, the piece with a circle you see below.



Next, i cut off the piece to the left which is the spring loaded mounting point for the e-brake cable and grinded down the trans cross member to as if those pieces were never there to clean it up.

When i test fit it without either of those mounts in, i was able to fit the cross member back into it's factory location. I then noticed i could flip the trans mounting piece i had just cut off upside down and reweld it back onto the trans cross member while adjusting for the 4in gap that the new trans mount location was off compared to the original trans. See below:



Now i know those welds look terrible, the other side looks better but im not a welder and have only some minor experience with an argon mig but its good enough for mock up. I plan to weld on supports on either side to withstand the overhang but currently the trans is mounted in the car, bolted to the trans crossmember and holding itself up, so its fine for now.

I will have to weld on the ebrake cable piece again as well as cut a bigger hole in the floor because right now, if i hit a big bump, the shift mech would most likely hit the top of the trans tunnel, see below:



I plan to reweld on the front section i cut out and then build some sort of sheet metal surround that is higher than the exiting trans tunnel to clean it up. I will then put new carpet down with the shifter boot and that will make it look nice again but this is how it will stay for now until i cut a little more out of it.

Here is another image of the moved trans mount on the crossmember, it looks a lot better from this angle lol:



Next up is to cut the floor more, weld supports to the trans mount, get the wiring taken care of, and get the rest of the stuff missing from the engine bay put back in (radiator, new electric fan, battery, washer bottle, intake, etc.), and lastly, weld a loop on the steering center link and then cut out the center. Then, it should drive.

Just the little things ya know?

 

Looks like you are making progress, it's all the little stuff that takes time, just another item for your list is the final drive ratio of the diff centre might be a problem I know you can swap the diff centre on most Hilux from 1970- into the 2000s but not sure about the Tacoma, might be worth having a look.
here's a link to the diff codes, the numbers are on the build plate under the hood.
http://winterpalace.customer.netspace.net.au/diffcodes.html
There is a later model diff centre with a 3.7 ratio that will bolt into the "G" housing I think you have to grind a small amount off somewhere to get it to fit in the hole, It had a different code and metric ring gear measurement, I can't remember the code, possibly "A" which is different to the datasheet. On mine, I had to re-drill the drive shaft flange, four holes, everything else was the same.
here is some more info.
https://rsmotorsport.com.au/files/Identifying_Toyota_Hilux.pdf

 

Thanks for this info, i do need to find out what the diff ratio of the new dually rear end is that i will be installing.

In terms of actual issues, i thought diff ratios only matter for matching them if you are running an AWD or 4WD set up? Because im RWD, do i need to worry about the ratios other than what the speed will be on the highway?

Let me know because im pretty sure i don’t need to worry about it. Thanks!

 

5th gear on the W55 with 4.11s is not great. Not sure whats in the dually diffs but 70mph at 3000RPM is terrible.

If you decide you want to change the shifter position, you can pull the shifter, base and shift selector deal inside the trans from another W5x trans. Just separate the case, remove the tail shaft housing and remove the selector and do everything in reverse order

 

Hmmm yeah at 3k rpm at 70, ill definitely be lacking torque. Maybe a turbo/supercharger will be necessary down the road but i am really shooting for fuel economy so that may not be good for acceleration or even maintaining speed but on flats, hopefully it will be ok. As for the shifter position, it doesn't particularly bother me enough to change though it could after living with it for awhile so i appreciate the information you shared. Im sure that will be helpful for others that may not like the position. Appreciate it Jetas!

With that said, i figured out why the transmission cross member looks nothing like the thread that i had showing the 1978 Chinook. After some research, i've determined that my titled 1978 Toyota Sunrader is actually a 1977. This unfortunately makes sense due to the nature of how the rvs are usually titled a year newer than their original chassis' due to the length of time it takes them to build the rv section.

That said, i have a RN28 Chassis, with an L43 trans. Im assuming the tail shaft of my L43 must be different which caused there to be a different trans mount used (mine had two bolts from the trans to the mount and two bolts from the mount to the crossmember while the thread i was using had 4 in both spots). Weird but it explains some compatibility issues with some of the parts i have in terms of clearancing of the oil pan and steering centerlink with the toyonlyswaps engine mounts.

 

It's about the RPMs you want to pull with your engine, at highway speed. The 18rc is a short stroke rev-happy engine, that may have been doing 4000rpm at 70mph, with a low diff and small wheels and tyres. Your new engine is probably going give your grief if your doing that all day it has a longer stroke so more torque less rpm, I would be aiming 2500 rpm at 70mph. I don't know much about the dually diffs, I've not seen one in Australia, or NZ so I can't help you with that. Apart from the noise and horrible fuel economy, engine wear and reliability can be an issue. If the diff centre from your Tacoma fits I would use it

 

Also have to mention my tire size is 205/40/17 so its about a 24" tall tire.

 

i currently have 4.10s as far as I know, and with the 20r in 4th, I was sitting at like 3600rpms at 70mph. Don’t know if that works out properly.

I have the original 14in wheels that are 185/65/14 (I know the first and last numbers are right, the 65 im not sure about)

 

The 5 speed will help, it would take the rpms down to about 3300 rpms, you could also go for bigger wheels and tyres if you can get them to fit under that camper tub. I got 16s on mine from a Falcon, which is a similar vehicle to the ford crown vic. With the 16s you get a much better choice of tyres too.
I found this doc that states the Tacoma diff will not fit the Hilux, so no joy there.
I will be interested in your dually diff set-up if you decide to use it.
https://lcengineering.com/differential-information/
Look at your photos again, I can see it is a 20r engine, which we don't get many of here in Oz The 20r has a longer stroke than the 18rc so more torque less, rpms, which explains the diff centre of 4.1 Hilux over here get a 4.3 or 4.8 with the 18rc engine.
That said, be on the lookout for a 3.7 diff centre, especially if you have to run small-diameter wheels and tyres.
https://lcengineering.com/differential-information/

 

I plan to use the 1 ton real dually axle i bought as the stock one on the RV are called "foolie" duallys as they a true dually and are only half ton capable with extra wheels bolted to the 5 lug wheel. Honestly not the smartest design because they came at capacity from the factory and thats before you even load up the camper. Idk what im going to do with my foolie afterwards, they arent very liked.

Im probably going to stick with the 14s because i just bought the brand new tires for it before trying to drive it the 3k miles back from new mexico.

Also in the US, we never technically got the hilux, is was just called the "Toyota Pickup" in the US before the Tacoma came along in 1995. Ill probably test how it drives with the 4.10s and then see what diff i need to get from there. I feel like if i ever upgrade the rear diff, it may just make sense to go 4wd but thats a ways away so guess i'll keep you guys updated on what happens.

Appreciate all the information links though, keep em coming!

 

Another update!

Its been about a week since my last update. We are still progressing but at a slow pace. I've welded back on (again, im not a welder so its not pretty but it is functional) the e-brake pivot point on my transmission cross member. I did have to tap the adjustment rod all the way down to the end to compensate for the 1.5in that the pivot point moved back but the e-brake now works again, all i need to finish that off is a cotter pin and washer to lock it in place. See the unpainted but completed mount below:






Next on the list is to finish up the wiring. The adapter harness from ORS is making this fantastically easy and their responsiveness to their tech support is beyond comparison. I get a response back almost immediately even later at night (im east coast in the US, they are mountain time i believe, -2hrs). And when they don’t get back right away, they get back as soon as they see it. Can not say enough good things about their support and ability to answer even more complicated questions i have. With that praise said, the harness is very easy to wire in thanks to the instructions that come with it, and the individually labeled wires for ones that need to be spliced into the existing harness. I did have to do a little wire tracing as my 1977 (manufactured year, '78 titled year) has been brutally messed with over the years with wires everywhere. This led me to fix the ignition system as the original key slot on the column had been removed and an aftermarket ignition switch installed in the dash. Once removed, it had been shorting and burning, im surprised the thing even started let alone made it 1200 miles. Ive since purchased an original key cylinder ($20...i cant believe i got it in a day off amazon) and ignition switch, two separate pieces shown below:













Mechanically, i am mostly done as well and ready to fire this thing up for the first time. Electric fan radiator adapter kit which uses the factory radiator is supposed to arrive today. Here is the link for that:https://www.lceperformance.com/Electric-Fan-Kit-20R-22R-RE-Pickup-1975-1983-Cel-p/1093003.htm

My buddy helped me run a new hardline from the original slave cylinder to the new slave location on the drivers side (original L43 slave location is on the passenger side). We initially used new fittings but ended up removing the old fittings from the old hard line and adding them onto our new hardline. I also took the old soft/hard line combo that was at the original slave and installed it to the new slave, looks almost factory which is awesome and the fittings worked way better than the new ones we tried. Once i finally connect and bleed the new slave, the starter can be dropped in. Im going to have to extend/modify the starter harness to as the battery for the tacoma is on the driver side, the hilux battery is on the passenger side so it likely wont reach. The exhaust cross over pipe is being welded up this weekend along with the center link adaptation we talked about above. I think it should be fine be it that a professional welder is going to do that for me, but time will tell if i lose all steering control because it breaks.

Almost there. I feel like i could get it to at the very least turn over by Monday, that is my hope. Will keep everything updated on here.