In this update, we’re taking a retrospective look at the past six months of this build that started with tracking down a junkyard engine and ended up with a beast of a turbocharged V8 truck!  

Thank you for coming along with us on this journey and while “This Is It,” this definitely isn’t the end.  We’re just getting started with Firebolt and in future installments I plan to strap it down to a dyno for some tuning and boost-cranking, take it drag racing, do some suspension and brake upgrades, and much more.

Project Firebolt hits the streets! (Image/Tom Tharp)
Before: 2.4 liters of fury cranking out 142 horsepower. The terrible automatic caused many of those horses to sadly go missing. (Image/Tom Tharp
After: 5.3 liters of iron block, Summit Pro-LS cammed-up, turbocharged fury! The horses have returned and they’ve brought a bunch of their buddies with ’em! (Image/Tom Tharp)
The Tacoma’s interior remains mostly stock appearing except for the Terminator X’s touchscreen display and that big gated shifter sticking out of the console. (Image/Tom Tharp)
To keep that Ford 8.8 in line and to put the power to the ground, I installed a set of CalTracs. (Image/Tom Tharp)
Holley’s touchscreen is simple and easy to use, while giving you tons of control over your engine and transmission. (Image/Tom Tharp)
Firebolt is really good at doing burnouts and it’s a scientific fact that everyone loves burnouts. (Image/Tom Tharp)
Keywords
LS swaps, Project Firebolt, Toyota Tacoma, Turbo Tom
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Author: Tom Tharp