Diesel landcruiser engines imported to the US (1 Viewer)

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Hey everyone, just doing a bit of research, what kind of $$ are people prepared to pay for 1HDT, 1HDFT and 1HDFTE engines in America? Im always buying and selling these engines and was toying with the idea of maybe sending a few to the US. Done plenty of FTE conversions and can help out with all the parts needed etc.
 
Going off your user name, I'm assuming you're in Australia? If not, the below may not be relevant.

I contemplated this a while ago.

IMO you won't be able to compete with the prices of lower mileage used engines out of Japan and Europe.
89 series diesel engines in Australia with under 300k km are as rare as rocking horse shìt, and if you do find them, the local prices will beat what you'd get in USA.

Shipping costs are insane for one off items. Unless you have a yard and can tear down multiple vehicle and sare able to ship container loads, and distribute within USA its unlikely to be viable.
 
for what the swap would cost you are money ahead in the states to sell your 80 and just get one imported. even the expensive one from the EU wiht LHD are a bargain compared to the cost/time of a swap.

only reason anyone would do it is if they are fine taking on a project and doing the work. when you get a shop involved the price just doesnt justify the expense.

we work on cars for a living and are in the middle of an engine refresh for a customers 1FZ that we hope to wrap things up on today. we are about 40 hours into his truck counting the knuckle job and "while you are in there" work and thats just reinstalling factory parts plus i know 80s better than most. it takes tons of time and time is money.
 
for what the swap would cost you are money ahead in the states to sell your 80 and just get one imported. even the expensive one from the EU wiht LHD are a bargain compared to the cost/time of a swap.

only reason anyone would do it is if they are fine taking on a project and doing the work. when you get a shop involved the price just doesnt justify the expense.

we work on cars for a living and are in the middle of an engine refresh for a customers 1FZ that we hope to wrap things up on today. we are about 40 hours into his truck counting the knuckle job and "while you are in there" work and thats just reinstalling factory parts plus i know 80s better than most. it takes tons of time and time is money.


That rules out all of us with a diesel that might need a replacement
 
That rules out all of us with a diesel that might need a replacement
very small group of people that need a replacement. most of the time you can just rebuild an engine and have new vs buying a used one with no history. the parts to overhaul one can be found at a ton of vendors in stock here in the states. i know cruiser outfitters and valley hyrbids keep can have aprts to you in days rather than however long it takes to get one shipped here. @orangefj45 just did one for a customer.

not saying more vendors is a bad idea just used engines from down under are often well used by time they get pulled.
 
very small group of people that need a replacement. most of the time you can just rebuild an engine and have new vs buying a used one with no history. the parts to overhaul one can be found at a ton of vendors in stock here in the states. i know cruiser outfitters and valley hyrbids keep can have aprts to you in days rather than however long it takes to get one shipped here. @orangefj45 just did one for a customer.

not saying more vendors is a bad idea just used engines from down under are often well used by time they get pulled.


That requires one to also weigh cost vs down time. Getting machine work done is hit and miss for timeliness
 
That requires one to also weigh cost vs down time. Getting machine work done is hit and miss for timeliness
That is true too. Took 6 months to get this engine we are working on now back from the machine shop but that had more to do with parts being in backorder forever.

I still say the diesel engine market is a niche inside a niche. 80s being the first one and then diesel being even more rare. Would venture to say more lambos on the road than diesel 80s here.
 
That is true too. Took 6 months to get this engine we are working on now back from the machine shop but that had more to do with parts being in backorder forever.

I still say the diesel engine market is a niche inside a niche. 80s being the first one and then diesel being even more rare. Would venture to say more lambos on the road than diesel 80s here.


Depends on where you live.

I know of 3 diesel 80s within 5 miles of my house. I can find 3 more on craigslist within 50 miles.
 
Depends on where you live.

I know of 3 diesel 80s within 5 miles of my house. I can find 3 more on craigslist within 50 miles.
Then you would be in the minority for sure. Only diesel one I have seen near me is an old bj40.
 
I was only counting 80s. I know of at least two local 61's

The Seattle area is a huge JDM scene. Rhd anything is common.
Well yeah, also a larger city with plenty of income not to mention I am sure they cross the border with Canada only having a 10 year rule.

Here in the southeast they are pretty rare. I see them in Atlanta often enough but I see Lamborghinis more often than a diesel 80.

I would think getting a used engine from Japan would be better than one from Australia but it's a gamble on used.

Everyone I know with a diesel 80 can afford to drop the keys off with someone and write a check when it's done. They want it fixed right and a used engine with no history isn't something they would chance.
 
Well yeah, also a larger city with plenty of income not to mention I am sure they cross the border with Canada only having a 10 year rule.

Here in the southeast they are pretty rare. I see them in Atlanta often enough but I see Lamborghinis more often than a diesel 80.

I would think getting a used engine from Japan would be better than one from Australia but it's a gamble on used.

Everyone I know with a diesel 80 can afford to drop the keys off with someone and write a check when it's done. They want it fixed right and a used engine with no history isn't something they would chance.


Canada has nothing to do with it. They come from Japan. But the port is local.

I have an 80 and I'm not writing to checks to anyone.

Around here a gasser 80 with the miles my diesel 80 had was similar in cost. But I get the simplicity of my diesel, the mileage of my diesel and the cool factor.
 
You won't get low-km diesels from here. The only reason you can get them from Japan is the laws there which creates the foundation for an export market on relatively low-km used diesel engines. And the ability of another country to justify having businesses to import then in container-load batches.

My 80's original 1hz is now over 694 k km's. wanna buy it? :cool:
 
You won't get low-km diesels from here. The only reason you can get them from Japan is the laws there which creates the foundation for an export market on relatively low-km used diesel engines. And the ability of another country to justify having businesses to import then in container-load batches.

My 80's original 1hz is now over 694 k km's. wanna buy it? :cool:

I don't want a 1hz with any miles. Lol
 
I don't want a 1hz with any miles. Lol
It's a joke Joyce. :cool:

But you can still get new 1hz crate motors with zero miles so in some ways it's not that much of a joke.

Can't buy (at least from Toyota itself) 1hdt but maybe 1hdft or 1hdfte could still exist in crate version as long motors and/or 'complete' assembly motors (ready to drop in).

OGBeno would probably be one of the few people who actually has access to info on which Toyota diesel motors used in 80's and LX450's can still be obtained in any format (short, long, complete, etc.) direct from Toyota or a Toyota affiliate brand new never installed in a vehicle.
 
I don't want a 1hz with any miles. Lol
I sold my used lowly 1hz with 250k km for AUD$7200, that's USD$5k
If it was a 1hd-t, asking price would have been 50% higher.
1hdfte, double.

It was complete with turbo, all ancillaries, full SS exhaust, and clean, ready to drop in a vehicle, but still unverified history or condition for the purchaser.

Add shipping to USA, it's cost prohibitive for it to be a rational option IMO.
 
It's a joke Joyce. :cool:

But you can still get new 1hz crate motors with zero miles so in some ways it's not that much of a joke.

Can't buy (at least from Toyota itself) 1hdt but maybe 1hdft or 1hdfte could still exist in crate version as long motors and/or 'complete' assembly motors (ready to drop in).

OGBeno would probably be one of the few people who actually has access to info on which Toyota diesel motors used in 80's and LX450's can still be obtained in any format (short, long, complete, etc.) direct from Toyota or a Toyota affiliate brand new never installed in a vehicle.


Honestly If my 1hdt dies I'll swap in an ls motor. The cost and time would be equal. The power is better. Mpg's similar.
 
All good fellas, thanks for the replies. I have access to container loads of 1HDFTE's and regularly have 1HDT's and 1HDFT's as well as 1HZ's. I sell them locally and my brother does 1HDFTE conversions full time with his business. was just exploring other markets. Was also looking into building a few cars and bringing them to the states for a holiday with the hope to sell them why they are there, but looks like that is near on impossible.
 
All good fellas, thanks for the replies. I have access to container loads of 1HDFTE's and regularly have 1HDT's and 1HDFT's as well as 1HZ's. I sell them locally and my brother does 1HDFTE conversions full time with his business. was just exploring other markets. Was also looking into building a few cars and bringing them to the states for a holiday with the hope to sell them why they are there, but looks like that is near on impossible.

Having an ISO full of T, FTs and FTEs is nice, as long as you have the history of the engines. Not a ton of people are going to gamble on a $10k engine with no history, compression numbers or a running video.
 
All good fellas, thanks for the replies. I have access to container loads of 1HDFTE's and regularly have 1HDT's and 1HDFT's as well as 1HZ's. I sell them locally and my brother does 1HDFTE conversions full time with his business. was just exploring other markets. Was also looking into building a few cars and bringing them to the states for a holiday with the hope to sell them why they are there, but looks like that is near on impossible.
What info if any do you get supplied about the history of the donor vehicles? Oz imported ex Japan diesels don't get supplied (to the buyer) with any info such as donor vehicle VIN, vehicle man date, km's at time of motor extraction, etc. It's a very 'dark art' as a buyer looking to use Jap import diesels.

I'm presuming you're in the US, but curious what sort of average pricing you look to sell each different type of toyota diesel motor for? I'd like to compare against the Oz prices, which seem to be in the order of (AUD pricing btw) about $8k to $10k for 1hdt, $10k to $12k for 1hdft, and higher for 1hdfte. I don't think there's any importing of 1hz's as that's such a common-garden motor here (used in 75's, 80's and Coaster minibuses).
 

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