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97' tacoma body/engine on 84' chassis

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D-nAsTy-MaX

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Discussion starter · #1 · (Edited)
Racoma Build: 96' tacoma body/engine on 84' chassis

okay, i have i have a 96' tacoma 4x4 standard cab shortbed with the 2.7L 3rz 4cyl. has warped frame!!! and i have a 84' toyota pickup 4x4 standard cab longbed, the 84 has 4" skyjacker springs... soft been riddin on for years, 4.10's in the factory toy axles, welded rear, open front, and a refreshed transmission and clutch, as well it had a 22r in it but was pulled for rebuild and not put back in! this is what the owner of the 84' told me!

i want to put this 96' tacoma cab and front clip and 3rz engine on the 84' chassis then do a cab exo-cage tied into tubed,caged bed with the bobbed dovetailed cut tacoma bedsides fenders attatched to it!! run 40's on 17 black soft 8' steelies, add longtravel bilstein shock setup front and rear, detroit locker and longfield superset up front, dual 23 spline cases with 2.28 and 4.7then maybe more later....

what will it take to mate this 96' tacoma 4 cyl. to my 84' transmission?? anything else important i need to know besides playing with body mounts for cab and front clip???

i am a newbie to the toyota wheeler world! i searched for info. on this but no luck! the guy doin the work has done his entire toyota truggy himself started as a 80's toyota like mine but became a tubed 4 linked buggy with bored/stroked 22re in it running on propane! he said his only worry with the swap he knew of was making sure the 96' tacoma 4 cyl could bolt to 84' transmission

please help ready to start this project immediately!!

feel free to call/text me 828 506 6070

thanks,
kevin
 
Discussion starter · #3 · (Edited)
sorry guys thread title says 97' tacoma its a 96', i found a thread on marlin crawler about swappin the tacoma 4cyl. 3rz into 85, said on ther that the trans in those models, a w56, g52, and g54 (which i beleive i have the g54) could all bolt up to 3rz by using the 3rz bellhousing that has a drivers-side clutch and starter, this true?? also it stated that the tacoma pump, sender and lines could be used with the 84' carb'd tank! or could jus use the tacoma tank which i have cause i have a complete 96' tacoma! so really it's as simple as swapping the tacoma body, 3rz engine, and fuel tank and lines over to my 84' chassis, it said the tacoma engine mounts could be mated to the 84' chassis mounts with a little mod! looked very simple! and that the cab/front-clip mounts coud be easily adjusted on the 84 chassis to take the 96' tacoma cab/front-clip

so am i set???
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
generalee7 said:
I don't know! Maybe the bellhousing idea will work! Only way to know for sure is to start bolting things up and see what works!!! Also, posting every 2 hours won't get you more replies on the subject! And using exclamation points at the end of every sentence won't help either!!! :flipoff2:
Click to expand...
haha i know im a true newbie. sorry. well gonna take off on this we'll see. if anyone knows anything i dont chime in
 
#7 ·
use the taco bellhousing flywheel pressure plate clutch fork and throwout bearing., and the 84 tranny and clutch disc. or you might actually get away with using the whole taco clutch kit, i cant remember.
 
Discussion starter · #9 · (Edited)
from what i've researched and talked to marlin about:

-i lift my 96' tacoma body(cab and frontclip) and sit it on my 84' chassis! move/fab the body mounts where needed.

-i sit the 96' tacoma 3rz motor on the 84' chassis modify the mounts using the engine mounts from 96' and engine frame mounts from 84' and no having to move engine frame mounts on the 84' chassis

-use the bellhousing/clutch exct.... off the 96' tacoma to mate the 3rz to my 84' transmission. bolts right up supposably.

-use the t100 2wd 3rz oilpan to clear the 84' solid front axle

-place the 96' tacoma gas tank and lines on my 84's chassis and hook them up.

-use the 84' radiator.

-use the 96' tacoma exhaust.

-no change in wireing needed due to useing tacoma body and engine on 84'chassis/drivetrain

so i just need the t100 2wd 3rz oilpan and im good to go??
 
#10 ·
trd on 85

I did that swap and used an ext cab taco. Sounds like your on track. The one thing i will tell you is the gas tank needs to be scrapped for a in bed fuel cell and the catalitic converter wont go because of the trans or case. You cab buy an airtec e2000 fuel pump from Autozone and it will work perfect. The bell housing from the 2.7 will bolt up to the old trans. Don't even touch the clutch on the back of the 2.7 unless you want to freshen it up. Just leave it bolted to the engine and the older trans with the newer bell will fall right in. Put the engine and trans on the solid axle frame before the body. It will make the motor mount situation go easier, just be sure to leave the shifters off when you put the body on. I also had to cut the taco floor pan infront of the shifter to fit correctly. As far as the body goes, I aligned the front body mount with my 85 frame mounts and realigned the rest.This gave me a ''looks like it belongs there'' look. The engine harness was super easy. You just unplug it from behind the glove box and pull through the fire wall. Your taco rad won't work anymore because of the sterring gear on the solid axel but I used the 85 rad on mine and have not had an issue. Besides that the was little stuff like the cab and frame not having the same lines so i cut body busings from a old body lift to whatever size they needed to be and i think i clearanced the inner fenders for the 85 shock towers.As for the oil pan, there is a kit out there that comes with the pan, pickup, and a new dipstick. I'll post it along with some pics of mine later. Very important, what ever you do, take care of the engine and wiring harness because if you break some parts or ruin the harness your screwed. Hope that helps and maybe i didn't mispell too much.
 
#15 ·
Crash123 definately bobbed the front of that bed. Mine is a 94 ex cab on 85 frame. Anything will fit with a tape measure and fab work. :flipoff2:
 
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Discussion starter · #16 · (Edited)
shiftrider66 said:
Crash123 definately bobbed the front of that bed. Mine is a 94 ex cab on 85 frame. Anything will fit with a tape measure and fab work. :flipoff2:
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was it real hard job switchin?

really wanna try and put tacoma ext. cab instead of tacoma single cab but dont wanna bob front portion of bed, its a 84' standard cab longbed chassis, if anythin i guess i could have frame mounts moved??
 
#17 ·
D-nAsTy-MaX said:
was it real hard job switchin?

really wanna try and put tacoma ext. cab instead of tacoma single cab but dont wanna bob front portion of bed, its a 84' xtra-cab chassis, if anythin i guess i could have frame lengthened??
Click to expand...
if you gotta pay to have someone lengthen the frame, this whole project is WAY beyond your abilties
 
Discussion starter · #20 · (Edited)
i've searched and searched for this with no luck, is there any difference in using a tacoma cab that had the 3.4 in it and using the 2.7? will the engine harness still plug right into the cab harness? i have the understandign that the engine harness simply pulls through firewalll and plugs into cab harness behind glovebox, is that correct?? and will the 2.7 engine harness plug into a cab harness that the truck originally had a 3.4 in? because i'v found a ext. cab and would really like to lengthen frame a tad (just because i dont wanna bob front of bedsides only rear bob) and run ext. cab rather than single cab, either way like i said will still tube bed wit tacoma bedsides attached.
 
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D-nAsTy-MaX
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