LJ71 1UZ Repower and Ute Conversion (1 Viewer)

[LJjuz]

I thought Id put up a bit of a build thread on here of my LJ71 Landcruiser, its been a project and evolved over the last 2-3years and Im really enjoying using it for everything from hunting trips to club trips and its even still a good daily driver.

So here goes....


I brought the Truck cheap, completely stock of a lady owner who had hit some ice,went up a bank and lay the truck on its side.

It was easily repairable but going to cost alot for parts.

I always regret each time I sell a ute because there so bloody handy...
So I decided to stripped the back out and chop it in half..

sorry about the different sized photos..something I can no longer change.

I was being a cheap arse so I used the old roof and folded it up into a back panel.

I didnt get any close up pictures of it but you can see here I sectioned the C Pillars and moved them forward to give the B pillars a nicer shape.

 

[LJjuz]

Finished the body work, got it in primer and got it Certified for road use. This is required here in New Zealand if you are going to modify a vehicle and make it road legal.

The deck/tray/bed (depends which country your from)
is just from and old Mitsubishi ute that a friend had laying around.
Shortened it and as it turned out was the perfect width.

About this same time I started to drive it a fair bit and it started to show signs of a cracked head. I knew 2ltes were prone to doing this but brought it anyway as it was so cheap.

All painted up.

I threw some 80series springs in the front for a while to level it up but they were far to hard sprung and made for a terrible ride.
Then the decision was made to do an engine swap...
and this showed up.

The 1UZ engines are cheap here and once I did a bit of homework found that I could just swap the Bellhousing,pump and Torque converter over and it'd bolt straight up to my Landcruisers Aisin A34* trans.

 

[monke south]

That looks like a lot of work. You have done it very nicely. I'm looking forward to seeing more. Great job it must be a blast to drive around!!

Sent from my iPhone using IH8MUDp

 

[LJjuz]

The only problem with doing the engine conversion is that the 2Lte ECU also controls the Automatic transmission. So I could try and find a AIsin standalone computer (which I believe come out on some model jeep?) but there not as popular here as in say the states so was put in the too hard basket.
After a bit more researching on the net I found these little gems, made by RADdesigns. A cheap way of manualizing and controlling my transmission.

The 1UZ in the hole.. I got a mechanic mate to do this for me. He managed to squeeze a 1UZ into his KE30 Corolla so figured he'd be the man for the job!

The engine is a front sump 1UZ from what I believe is a Toyota Crown. I got told to get a front sumper by another guy here in NZ who had done this conversion. I think he had a Mid or Rear sump and had to do a fair bit of modifying, It also has a Viscous fan which took a while to track down.

My modified sump. Real easy just to notch a section out of the steel part of the front sump instead of modifying the alloy part like on the rear sumps.

 

[LJjuz]

The factory headers, albeit restrictive fit very nicely inside the LJ71 chassis rails so I just stuck with them. Them do have a big ugly flange but theres still plenty of room to bolt the rest of the exhaust up to them.
(I have the flange saved as a CAD file just incase anybody wants it..)

Twin 2 1/2" exhaust into one muffler.

This is the Trans Controller mounted inside the cab, its not real pretty but is comfortable. I just rest my hand on the Auto shifter and flick through the gears with my fingers. Great little product!

I then picked these up for a steal and got them sprayed black. Factory 80series 16x8" wheels, very heavy rim. Think there 18kg each?

And then ordered some 33/10.5/16 Silverstones MT117 Extremes

 

[hzj79lee]

Nice job! I had seen this last year when u shared me the link to nz forum, it's great to share it here too!

How is the handling of it? Will it be too light at the back?

 

[LJjuz]

It took a while to get it wired up as I had a guy doing it as a perk. Most shops in town weren't interested in doing the job because it'd take up too much time so it was worth the wait. I went with a Megasquirt ECU that a guy here sells with a basic 1UZ tune already on them so it was just wire up and away you go..

Here fitted with the 33" Silverstones.

I made up a Front bar out of some 6" Channel offcuts and some 2"pipe.
Came up alright for my first attempt at barwork.

Mounted some Spotlights on the Bar.

 

[LJjuz]

I was sick of the awful ride with the 80series springs so I purchased some Ironman 2" lift springs and shocks. They are a great riding combo but with the back cut off the Landcruiser it was sitting around 1 1/2" too high in the rear. I picked up some Dobinson 3" front lift springs and fitted them. They were better...

Here flexing up the Ironman kit once fitted with the 33s.

I then got offered some 35/10.5/16 Silverstones with the same rims for a good price so onsold my 33s.
Here with 35s...

I had picked up some Toyota Hilux (pickup in America?) complete front stubs with good Aisin manual hubs and finally got motivated enough to fit them. Needed new front discs so was a good excuse to do everything at once.

All nice and shiney with my 28mm bolt on wheel spacers fitted too.

 

[LJjuz]

Ive copied this from a Forum Im part of in NZ, its very useful for anybody wanting to change to Manual front hubs on there LD Landcruiser.

Info courtesy of member Clint.

Toyota Manual Hub Install: LJ71 Landcruiser

The stock electric hubs fitted to the LJ71, & several other Cruisers, are crap & if you've got some that actually work, enjoy them while they last cos it wont be long before they give up the ghost if you are actually using the vehicle for it's intended purpose. At least carry the right torx bit & driver so you can take off the cover & manually engage them in an emergency.

Fitting manual hubs involves a bit more than just buying a set & bolting them on however so I thought I'd note down what I did to assist others. If you've got the skills & tools to adjust your front wheel bearings, you're well capable of doing this job.

The problem with the electric hubs is that the wheel hub is shorter, so there is no room behind a free wheeling hub for the locknut assembly. Fitting a spacer is possible but not very strong. One solution, developed by Oldblue, is to fit a sealed manual drive to the outside of the electric hub - operated by an allen key. The solution I decided on was to use some Hilux parts & fit standard Hilux Aisin hubs.


Hilux hub on left, cruiser on right.

Parts Required:

Wheel Hubs from a beam axle Hilux, free wheeling hubs of your choice, wheel bearing lockrings & nuts, front spindles (optional), sealant, Loctite.

I picked up a whole front axle assembly off Trademe for $200. Mine was mid 80's vintage but as far as I know all beam axle Hilux's have the same parts. Look for one with the factory Aisin free wheeling hubs, they're pretty strong & don't stick out too far. Get something steel rather than aluminium at any rate. If you've got any bearings, seals etc in the front or in your donor hub that need doing, obviously now is the time for that also.

Tools Required:

The only tools needed that some may not have are a couple of Torx bits; #20 & #40. The best thing I've found for the circlips on the axles is the cheap interchangeable head circlip pliers which come with a head with a couple of 'paddles'. You can use a screwdriver or 2 but flicking the clip across the workshop into a pile of junk never to be seen again is a PITA at times.

Procedure:

Put the vehicle up on axlestands & remove the wheels. Unbolt the brake calipers & tie them up out of the way.

Unbolt the old electric hubs, take off the circlip, remove, then undo the lockring & take off the wheel bearing nut. Fish out the outer bearing race. With a bit of wiggling the hub should pull off.

The old Hilux disc will most likely be solid, the Prado brakes are vented. You need to remove the disc from your old hub. The studs go through the disc & press into the hub. To remove the studs find an old wheelnut you don't like to thread onto the studs before you bash them out with a FBH. Some discs also have a couple of bolts holding them on. Put your original discs on your new hub & press or FBH the studs back in.

As far as I could tell the original hub spindles would work with the new hubs. However I decided that the Prado spindles with the conductors for the hub drive running up the centre & the extra slots in the end for the brushes, didn't look as strong as the Hilux ones I had on hand. I took off the brake backing plate & original spindles, cutting off the wires that feed into the spindle. I took out the axles while I was there & packed some fresh grease into the CV's & all around. A healthy dollop of RTV was required to bung up the hole where the wires went in, & also a smear of sealant around where the spindle bolts on.

Then It's a simple reassembly job using the new bits, greasing as we go, & checking the condition of any old bearings & seals that are going back in.

After setting the wheel bearing preload I locked the nuts with some screw-on type lock rings that I had, but the hilux bend-the-tab type could be used, or the original screw-on lock rings could be cut down & made to fit.

Then it's on with the manual hubs, making sure they are all lubed & driving in out freely. Don't forget that outer circlip. Use Locktite on all the free wheeling hub bolts & torque them up firmly, they're buggers of things for coming loose. Check them again after your first 4wdriving session on them too.

Put the calipers & wheels back on, pump the brakes up in case the calipers got opened up a bit during removal & you're good to go.

Cheers
Clint

I can remove this if its not allowed.cheers

 

[LJjuz]

I wasnt happy with my brakes so after reading up on here I took the LSPV out of the back of the truck and fitted a Willwood Proportioning Valve, cheap mod and improved the brakes hugely.

Also had to fit a Driveshaft loop for Certification again, New engine = New Cert and another $400..
Anyway I just unbolt the bottom half so it doesnt get caught up offroad.

Did the Black wire Mod on the Rear locker so I can lock the diff in 2wd and Hi 4wd.

Still not happy with the front ride height I got some 40mm 75series Coil spacers
and fitted them.

Much better..

The steering had always been far to light after lifting it, obviously the Camber was way out so I fit some 80 series Ironman Castor bushes.

and changed the rear lights to some slimline hella LEDs.

 

[LJjuz]

Just recently I replaced the Steering box with another 2nd hand one.

Old one was a bit bent..

And just the other day thought Id give the deck a tidy up, some new wood and a coat of black paint. As you can probably see its had a chinese snorkel, a rear bar and some sliders fitted along the way too.

 

[LJjuz]

And a few wheeling pics..

 

[LJjuz]

Nice job! I had seen this last year when u shared me the link to nz forum, it's great to share it here too!

How is the handling of it? Will it be too light at the back?

Thanks, Yeah I figured Its a great forum with a huge amount of information so I might as well add what I can. The truck handles great, If i ran more road friendly tyres it'd be even better but I cant justify running two sets of rims/tyres. I think with the lighter engine in the front and less weight on the back its quite well ballanced. I weighed it yesterday. It weighs in at 1860kg which according to the net there 1955kg factory. Ideally Id like to push the back axle back to MWB length and am looking into this at the moment.

 

[gotoy]

Good build.

Have you ever had the truck on a dyno?

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Very nice build. Thanks for sharing on Ih8mud.

 

[LJjuz]

Good build.

Have you ever had the truck on a dyno?

No I haven't, would like to one day though. Ive seen similar vehicles make 190hp at the wheels, not huge power but plenty offroad

 

[cicak]

nice build like the detail

 

[Jiffy]

Thank you for posting this epic build thread. I actually have hope now for my LJ78, when the 2l-te goes, I am definitely going to do this.

 

[Postoy]

Bring this one back from the dead. LJjuz I really hope you still come around. How did you go about converting your diesel tank to Petrol? Mainly wondering how you added a vent since the diesel tanks don't have the same kind of venting system. I am worried about my tank pressurizing.

 

[divemedic]

Awesome build brother! Are you on the South Island?