*LOTSA PICS* scooterprint's 1996 Tacoma RC 2wd Build 'Taco2J'

Where to start...
I have put off making a 'build thread' because I'm terribly scatterbrained and a poor communicator at best.

My name is Jeremy, and this is my 1996 Toyota Tacoma 2wd Regular Cab.

My buddy was on a parts run to the local vatozone and met a kid who had this truck. We connected that night and I ended up buying it from him for $2200. It is in rough shape and it has 307k miles on it, but it runs and drives without any hiccups and the frame is solid.

The day after purchasing the truck I got bedridden with cellulitis in my leg, which kept me from working on the truck for a few weeks.
After getting over cellulitis, I finally got to clean out the taco. The poor truck smelled like multiple rodents had smoked a ton of weed, chugged some vape juice and died.
I proceeded to remove the contents of the bed, and interior. I found everything from drug paraphernalia to used "family planning" type of items.

In the following photo, I had already removed the contents of the floorboard, door cubbies, and most of the junk on top of the dash.


After removing the seats, I had the detail guy at the dealership give them a good pressure wash and shampoo. It removed a decent amount of the smell and some of the stains.
Here are the seats after cleaning, while they were drying.
After the seats, I tackled removing the crappy aftermarket alarm that was causing intermittent no-start conditions. It took me much longer than it should have, due to a loose battery terminal which sent me on a wild goose chase trying to find more buried custom butchery.

Once the alarm was out, I removed the back tint (which was 3 layers of crappy tint, one over the other), and the front glass sticker.

Oh, and I guess I forgot to mention the meat and potatoes of the build thread... the powerplant.

I purchased a running and driving low miles 2JZ-GE non-vvti from my buddy for $1,500 (Engine + Trans + harness + ECM) before I even had a chassis for it to go in. I also acquired a BorgWarner S366SXE from my buddy, but it is in need of a rebuild.
Here's a photo of the current state of the 'rebuild'.

Here's an album with more photos of the rebuild process.

That brings us up to speed basically. Today the engine is still on the stand, but I replaced the crappy wheels with some stopgap ones until I order the wheels and tires I want.



For now, that's how it's going to stay. My main focus is pulling the tired 2RZ and getting the whole powertrain sold to help offset some other parts. Tomorrow I will be measuring for electric radiator fan(s) and will be getting video/photos of the engine/trans/harness/ecm and having it posted for sale.

Edit: You can find a semi-exhaustive parts list for what I used on this project here.

 

Got the engine pulled today, as well as the remaining interior bits.


I accidentally snagged the main transmission wires and ripped them out of the plug, but it's out.

After an inspection, I found damage on the existing radiator, so I'll have to find a replacement.


Current state of the interior

 

Looks like a fun project! what are you planning on doing for the roof panel? I’m going to tear mine out on my ‘86 and probably won’t replace it with OEM.

 

For now, absolutely nothing. My goal is to get the 2J reassembled and put into the truck, running and driving. I'll probably worry about the interior more later.

 

This weekend I managed to get the engine mostly wrapped up and in the truck, but not without some casualties.
The 2J fits front to back when it's in the engine bay, but getting it in there is the challenge. Sadly the core support ended up a bit taco'd for the cause.



This truck was clearly in a front-end collision before I bought it, as the entire front clip had been replaced at some point. Luckily, rockauto has a new core support for only $58.79 +tax/ship. I'm still not sure if I'm going to buy a new core support or hack up the one that's in the truck currently, as radiator fitment is going to be very tight. I'm likely going to have to cut the center of the core support out to fit the radiator and fans. I've already thrown the hood latch and cable in the dumpster. (hood pins are in my future)

 

I made some semblance of progress this (and last) weekend. I got some hood pins installed (albeit poorly).

I also received the radiator that I ordered from RockAuto, but it came with some free shipping damage, which was certainly a pleasant surprise.



After a day or two of pestering RA, they issued me a full refund without me having to send the radiator back. I took the opportunity to attempt a test fit with the damaged radiator, and low and behold it's not even close to fitting. I need about 2.5" more room to get a radiator and puller efans installed in the engine bay. After some long and hard figuring, I elected to use the MK3 Supra radiator my buddy had gotten with an LS400 he purchased a few months back. The core on the supra radiator is about 3", so I'm even worse off for radiator clearance now, though the height and width are adequate to fit inside the front frame horns of the truck.


I decided it would be easier to just remove the offending metal than try to find a radiator that would fit properly.



I also have plans to get a brake booster delete plate to give me some room to move the engine back more (also some tender love and care with a 3lb sledge on the firewall), though I believe I'll have to modify the CXRacing mounts to give me more adjustment rearwards.

More updates to come, although I'm broke as a joke right now, so maybe in a few more paychecks we'll see a trans cooler, driveshaft and a proper transmission mount.

 

Ordered/Modified/Installed the StabFab Brake booster delete plate.

I was able to use some of the existing brake booster components to have a custom brake rod made. Thanks to my friend Steve at Saracini Machine & Tool LLC in Hot Springs AR.


Here's the Adapter plate painted/mounted w/the brake master cylinder attached.


With the adjustment provided by the custom rod, I was able to remove all the slop from the brake pedal. I'm looking forwards to some firm braking action.

I believe next on the chopping block is the firewall. It's going to get cut and moved back approximately 3 inches to make room in front of the accessory drive for some E-fans and a radiator.

also glam photo of my two toyotas, because why not.

 

Long time no see, TW.
I have only recently been working on the taco. I had a falling out with the friend from whom I was bumming shop space and ended up moving my Tacoma to my parents' house an hour away from me, which basically stopped any work I was doing.
Since the last post, I've been busy getting this thing closer to running. Early in September, I dragged the truck down to my buddy's shop to have the firewall tubbed to move the engine back in the engine bay. Ultimately we decided not to, as it would require moving a ton of stuff, such as the accelerator pedal, parking brake, fuel lines, and brake lines.


Ultimately, we did decide to do some modifications that I knew I'd have to make anyway, such as modifying the coolant return pipe that passes underneath the exhaust manifold to block off the heater core return, since I don't have an interior/AC/heat.





The coolant neck was also modified to have a 1/8th NPT coolant temp sensor plumbed in.

 

Following up on my previous post, I have made more progress since that last set of photos. I just figured I'd split them up into separate posts, since they occurred a few weeks apart.

Next, I had a new Fender Apron and Core support installed in the truck.


I used an OEM fender apron and an aftermarket core support. I also had the driver's side frame horn straightened since it never properly was after the accident before I purchased the truck.

After the body structure replacement, I blew the front suspension apart in order to convert the front LCAs to be coilover-ready.
Again, taking all the parts to my buddy's shop.
Cutting out the factory eyelet and bushing mount on the LCA

Welding on the Ballistic Fab universal 3"x9/16ths polyurethane eyelet and bushing kit.

Finished result with the @mjbtaco coilover conversion plates.

Powder coated.

QA1s installed w/ 700lb springs. Also temporarily hung the new fenders.

 

Some more extra photos I haven't included in the previous posts.

 

Man, it has been a minute. I'm awful at keeping up with this.

Since my last post, I put the front clip together and put together some other stuff.

















R155 5-speed from an 05-15 Tacoma 2wd 4cyl, swapped input shaft and bellhousing to r154 parts for the 2JZ.

 

We're creeping up on a year since my last post. I just remembered I had this build thread on here. Oops.
I have made more progress since last year, but still not close to done.
After welding up the Chopping block HD 4-link w/ panhard bar kit, I brought the truck home to paint and refit the links.







Also Modified the transmission crossmember/mount, and installed the transmission w/ the Driftmotion Flywheel and stage 3.5 Clutch kit.



Rodes Race Cars 25 Gallon Pro series fuel cell mounted, as well as the battery box.


I began the process of wiring the Fueltech FT550 & NanoPro.



Took a break from interior wiring to begin on the engine side of things.



Unfortunately, I ran out of skill on the fuel injector part of the harness and kinda mucked it up. If it causes me problems in the future, I'll cut it out and redo it.
Currently this is where the truck is at wiring wise. Ended up buying a LowDollerMotorsports Oil pressure sensor, because I did not realize the factory sensor is basically just an on/off switch.

 

FSR A/C Delete kit installed, Camry P/S return nipple installed on the pump, and vacuum pressure port plugged on the banjo.

Upper oil pan drilled, Turbo oil drain kit installed.


Temporary rear coilovers installed.

Test Fitting the tires.
275/40r17 Toyo R888R. I will probably look at other tires before buying a full set.