Shit, I had the same gen. Integra! My first car. Never made it fast (though I bought $3K worth of parts to build an awesome big cam B18B, but never did it), but I hammered it on tracks all over AZ and CA. Then I had that same revelation. But it was a great car, and a few weeks back, my buddy in Flagstaff actually ran into it's 3rd or 4th owner since I sold it 5 years ago. Definitely not what it used to be! How someone could swap out an ITR intake tube and legendary Comptech filter for an ebay intake boggles my mind. But I digress...
Another update. Busted my hump the past few days with a few projects.
First, I did the sound deadening in the doors. Not so fun. Those sheet metal edges are sharp as shit and you're guaranteed to run into them while rolling this stuff flat.
Damplifier is awesome. Great product. Sticks FAR better than any of the other shit I've used in the past (Cascade, Dynamat), and has zero odor.
This Ultratouch stuff is solid, too. So easy to work with, and glues up really nicely. Much much better than foam type insulators since it's far denser, and the reflective barrier as well as the thickness of the insulation should add some R-value to the interior once I get everything covered. It's also treated to eliminate mildew or funk growth, so no worries there.
I used the Loctite for the Ultratouch and the PL for the plastic door barrier, which is just 3mil painters plastic. You can't just use silicone since it won't stick to the plastic reliably. This stuff is a pain to work with, but is super effective and remains elastomeric.
The end result. Knocking on my door before this, it sounded like flicking a coffee can. You could actually feel the panel vibrate with each knock. Now, it's like a mahogany door. Soooooo solid. Night and day difference. Door has a lot more heft to it, and closes like a Lexus. Totally worth the emo slash marks to my arms. Grand total; about $200, and that includes enough of everything to do a 4Runner top to bottom. Not too bad.
Then, I decided to get it on with the engine. Tensioner finally came, so I finished the timing belt. Got it lined up PERFECT on the first try. Very stoked. Went back together easy and looks infinitely better cleaned up. It was way funky when I got it. Just waiting on the guy I bought this swap from to send me a driver's side distributor (sent 2 passenger side ones), the upper plug wire cover and those nifty slatted pieces that go from the valve cover to the intake manifold. Should be good at keeping rocks out of the deep ass valley.
Note the oil filter mount. I'm not even going to mess with the stock location. Every Japanese vehicle I've ever seen has a horrible filter location. So I'm gonna mount an engine oil and transmission filter on the frame rails, and add big ass coolers for each. No more mess and it should prolong each fluid's service length.
Sent my harnesses off to Phoenix Tuning yesterday so they can hump them together. Very curious to see how plug and play it is. I know Chewy on UZSwap used them to do his harness, but I haven't been able to get in touch with him and ask for details on fitment.
Finally, I started the transmissions. What a fucking mess! Absolutely terrible! ATF everywhere. Looked like a slaughter house floor. Just when you think it's drained, another pint or 7 comes out. Disassembly isn't too bad, though. All the write ups and link to FSM pages I posted earlier are great.
Why not just swap input shafts and be done with it iinstead of doing all this work to swap output shafts? For one, a trans from a most likely well maintained Lexus (fluid was still quite reddish) with 140K gives me much more piece of mind than a beat on box with 220K on it, despite the fact I ran $150 worth of ATF in it! Secondly, there are a few subtle differences in where sensors and whatnot mount on Lexus and 4Runner boxes. And finally, the Lexus A340 is just plain stronger. More clutches, more steels (1-2 more per gear), both of which are a bit thicker, and undoubtedly different valving makes this effort worth the end product; a crisp, firm shifting, bulletproof 4WD automatic.
I was hoping to use the 4Runner filter, since it dips lower into the 4WD trans oil pan. But, the intake ports are very different on the valve body side. Oh well.
For the accumulators, I ordered a 3/4" 7075 aluminum rod to cut the shims from. Only $11 for a foot, and I think this is a better route than washers. From what I've read, 7/16" shims are what the Supra guys are running. I don't think I want to do that tall, maybe 3/4" or so in B-2 and C-2. Won't mess with C-0. I'll document this when it comes in. Also ordered heim joints to make some decent sway bar endlinks.
After doing this, I don't think replacing the clutches would be too bad. That is, if this thing actually works when I get it all done! The insides look simpler than most manual transmissions I've opened up. Word is the A340 series units are good for around 325 WHP with Raybestos Blue clutches, which is good to know if I ever decide to yank everything and build it for boost.
And get some more vids of your Tacoma up! Definitely wanna see it as you work out the bugs. Curious as to what kind of power you can squeeze out of it with the Adaptronic. I always thought 1UZ's had nearly all the torque available from 2000RPM? I think my 4Runner has 4.30s (e-locker). I have dreams of breaking loose my tires on dry pavement someday...