My engine swapped 3rd Gen build thread

Hello thanks for visiting my build thread. Let me start off with a little bit of history.
I’ve done a couple builds with engine swaps and what not, I’m always looking for a challenge and something that’s not been done before or something different. I’ve done tons and tons of LS swaps in older trucks and cars but they seem to easy now a days.

My last build was a Duramax swapped 80 series Landcruiser and it was a blast to do and super challenging.

So after i sold the LC80 I bought this 2016 Tacoma TRD OR with fairly higher miles but was in great condition



My whole plan was to build a truck that I could do some over landing and I wanted to take a trip to Moab and hit some trails. I live in southern Illinois so I needed something that I could drive almost across country, go off-road and drive back home.

I know I needed to do a little bit of a build to take the Tacoma to the next level

Couple exterior mods, black out emblems, trd pro grill, hid headlights, Baja designs fog lights


Next was wheels tires and suspension
I went with Icon Stage 4 suspension with tubular control arms and remotes resis

Wheels and tires are SCS 17s with -38mm
BFG 295/75/17



After those mods it was time for the Moab trip and the truck did great




After the trip I realized the truck needed more power to be more enjoyable. Don’t get me wrong the truck does “ok” but driving on the interstate for hours and hours at a time and the constant shifting up and down, and the truck struggling to get through the mountains in Colorado I decided this truck needs power, everything else about the truck is great, it looks good, comfortable, great off road, but just a turd

So that’s where it all started

I done tons and tons and tons of research before choosing the right power train,

Original plan was a LS3 with 6l80 transmission to keep things simple and be plenty of power

The major problem I came up with for engine swapping a 3rd gen is clearance, the trans tunnel opening isn’t very big and the front crossmember and front differential is all in the way, for a LS or LT to work it would have taken a knurly oil pan or a Dry sump pan

I didn’t feel like dishing out the money for a dry sump setup or hand making a pan

So what I went with was a LF3 out of a 2015 Cadillac CTSV sport. It’s a twin turbo V6

On paper it makes the same amount of power as a LS3 but in a smaller package

The LF3 has an almost flat oil pan all the way from the crank pulley all the way to the transmission pan



After the engine arrived I pulled the OE engine out to see what I had to deal with
And I sat the LF3 in for the first time to see what it was going to take



A couple things had to be done to the engine to have it sit where it needed to go, oil filter and oil filter adapter had to be removed for the engine to clear the front differential

So on the oil filter adapter I removed it, cut it in half, taped the holes in it, thread a -10an adapters in it and just relocated the filter to the frame rail



So the engine mounts from the Cadillac alllllmost laid out perfect to hit the factory Tacoma mounts but I ended up just making my own engine mounts that use the factory Tacoma rubber mounts so I didn’t have to cut anything up from the truck



Next I tackled the transmission cooling, back in the day I use to use the radiator transmission coolers until I decided it’s so much easier to just run remote coolers

So I adapted the stock Cadillac transmission cooler lines to 6an and mounted a cooler with fan under the truck

Next hurdle was power steering

Most modern GM vehicles went with electric power steering and the LF3 was no different

I could have figured out how to mount a pump on the engine like a lot of guys do with LT swap but I wanted something more simple so I went with a Volvo S40 power steering pump

I mounted it behind the front bumper and you can reach it from the top of the grill, worked out perfect


I ran some russel 6an power steering Lines under the radiator and worked out great

Next a couple goodies it needed

Gotta have a CSF radiator to help keep things cool and I went with ZZP downpipes



Next was transmission shifting,

My duramax swap in my 80series I used a Lokar shifter and I always had a problem getting out of Park and it drove me nuts so I told myself I wasn’t going to do that again

So I went with PCS electric shifter
I had a buddy of mine with a laser cutter cut me out a perfect hole for the remote in a piece of aluminum, I then did a small bit of trimming in the center console to get a nice flat surface for it to sit in and it turn out great, I think I’m going to just brush the aluminum and clear coat it and call it a day



Next I went with a ZZP intake for a Cadillac ATSV and it fit perfect in the Tacoma, I’m going to relocated the battery to the passenger side since I won’t be using the stock intake anymore



Also from ZZP i picked up one of their heat exchangers and high volume water pump that I mounted behind the front grille, fits perfect in the behind the grill, they also included a stencil with it if you wanted to put a logo on it so I did



I also picked up a awesome fuse box setup from Overland Equipped, that way I can power my heat exchanger pump, power steering pump, and all the engine swap power easily and neatly


Installed a 2018 Camaro SS PWM cooling fan onto the CSF radiator and it worked out good after making a few small brackets



Intercooler heat exchanger reservoir mounted and plumbed and everything flows nicely, the CTSV sport has a sealed system from the factory and that was the number one complaint was, air in the system and how much it sucked to bleed it. So I went with a open system and plugged the bleeder port with a fitting I had laying around




Fuel system is done, I should have taken more pictures but i forgot, I mounted a Aeromotive 340 in a Second Gen bucket, 3rd gen Tacomas have a awesome PWM brushless fuel pump but it’s returnless and hard to control, so I went with a 2nd bucket that has provisions for a fuel return. I then went with the basic LS swap configuration, corvette fuel filter, regulator to a -6an fuel line up to the rail




and thats pretty much it
I’ve been driving this thing working the bugs out for a little while and I can say it was all worth it, it’s way quicker, gets into 8th around 50mph and doesn’t hunt for gears, interstate cruising is worlds different then stock, I still have things to do to the truck like finish 4wd but that will come soon for now enjoy the pictures and any questions let know






Video is up on YouTube

https://youtube.com/watch?v=hon0w5MsXJg&feature=shares

 

Wow. Extremely impressive. Thanks for sharing so many pics!

 

Welcome to TW…

 

Bruh

 

Yeah buddy! Awesome

 

Damn! You got skills. Thanks for sharing

 

Dang this is awesome! Looking forward to updates!

 

F’ing awesome. Nice work and thanks for sharing.

 

Hell YEAH!!!

 

Bravo! Well done, sir! Very impressive!

 

Nice work. I think the only thing that could be improved is to custom paint the top of the engine to match the body. Otherwise, for those that don't know any better, it looks stock under the hood!

 

Wow, wow wow, wow!

 

I doubt there has ever been a more impressive first post!

 

What is the power output of that engine?

 

Nice work!

 

https://gmauthority.com/blog/gm/gm-engines/lf3/

 

That's legit.

 

Can you tell me more about the Volvo S40 power steering pump? I have a crawler that has limited space for a pump and this looks like maybe the ticket.

 

So I’ve been looking at CTS-V and V sports. I may have missed the transmission, did you put in the transmission from the CTS-V Sport or source it from somewhere else? I saw something about 8th gear so I assume it’s a GM trans.
Where did you pickup the motor from? Mind sharing how much that set you back? Awesome truck and idea.