1HD-FTE Conversion - Creating the Perfect 80 Series (9 Viewers)

[MooseMichaels]

I’ve had my 80 for about two years, and have had my 100 series for around 5. The 100 got me into Land Cruisers and inspired me to go deeper down this rabbit hole. The 80 is my favorite as far as styling and the hardware below the body, while the 100 is a refined workhorse.

Here is my 80 as it is today with a perfectly running 1FZ-FE, which I will soon turn into a not-running 80, and eventually back into a diesel 80.

I’d always fancied cars with diesels, always wanted one, but never did nor committed to a single platform enough to consider a swap. Recently after reading threads by @Mag71k5 and @lelandEOD, I thought that this might actually be doable in an 80.

Off to searching I went and Shortly after I found a 1HD-FTE and A750F 5 speed auto powertrain from a 2005 HDJ100 with an alleged ~40k miles. The story I got on this powertrain is that it came from an armored 100 series that was located in Guam and owned by the DoD. I made a deal and headed out to pick it up this last weekend.

I drove home fully stoked with the engine in the back knowing the hardest to acquire part was done.

Likely there won’t be a ton of novel work going on in this thread, but I’ve learned and been inspired a ton from reading about and seeing photos of other’s efforts, so my hope is to provide some of that here.

 

[MooseMichaels]

I got the engine home, and dug right in the next day to learn more about what comes next.

An “undressed” shot after labeling and pulling the harness from the engine.

5 speed on a furniture dolly and a starter in a bucket - you won’t believe this, but after the cost of the engine, the bucket was free.

In my opinion, the most intimidating part. I need to either A, grow the cojones to wire this myself, or B, ask for a custom harness from the folks down under.

 

[MooseMichaels]

Non-EGR variant…cool. And clean. Since this is a non-EGR motor, I’m making the assumption it’s also not VNT - need to check on this when on get back in the garage.

I continued capping off lines and pulled the valve cover to check on the state of things.

Pulled the timing cover to see what was going on:

To my eyes this hardware looks fairly good including the water pump based on the condition of the hub that the pulley mounts to.

And now on to what’s next - I’m a bit of a maniac so i figure eliminate the unknown and handle the timing belt once I get the engine in the stand. I also plan to do the thermostat and o-ring, and also do a valve adjustment and replace the valve cover gasket. My thinking is there will be no easier time to wrench on this engine than now. I’m also considering pulling the turbo to check for play, replace studs & nuts, and also install an EGT sensor pre-turbo on the mani.

Still in the phase of acquiring parts and I’ll say some are harder to find than others.

If anyone has a line on an HDJ80 oil pan and oil pickup, I am here.

I also need to source the correct ECU for this motor/trans combo and the correct gas pedal assembly - still doing a bit of research on this front.

For those out there that are familiar with these engines - if I’m missing any ‘while you’re in there’ items that are easiest while the engine is out, give me a holler!

 

[1TonLC80]

Following!

 

[Dindu Nuffin]

A750F? You're going to love that transmission. It's 2nd thing that I miss about my Sequoia.

I'd personally mount the EGT probe post turbo so that if the probe breaks, it won't frag out the turbo.

 

[lelandEOD]

You will want a RHD gas pedal assembly. The LHD part does not play nice with the 80-series firewall.

 

[Mag71k5]

The biggest headache for me is dealing with wiring... already. Lol. Don't depend on anyone in AUS to provide a ready built harness that's plug and play with any automatic transmission. Ive had conversations with all the big names, mick fte, thrashlux, and a few others.

It all comes back to the same outcome, a lot of money, for something that probably isn't exactly what you want or are looking for. Most of the require the 80 loom, and maybe the hdj loom, they also require you to run an aftermarket TCU like compushift.

Im calling boostec next week maybe to see if they have a TRUE plug and play harness for a LHD 80s series conversion, but im not holding my breath.

Ive bought two wiring classes, a bunch of wiring supplies, because I feel like im going to be doing this myself in the long run.....

@lelandEOD , tried to warn me about this also.

 

[samc2447]

I'd personally mount the EGT probe post turbo so that if the probe breaks, it won't frag out the turbo.

The EGT needs to be pre-turbo to accurately monitor the exhaust gases to see what load the engine is under. They don't just break off.

 

[MooseMichaels]

Awesome info guys. @Mag71k5 I’ve been treating @lelandEOD’s conversion thread as a guide as there’s some really good info there and by a roll of the dice, I happened to find the same engine and trans combo. It seems like the A750F is controlled by the ecu for that setup.

I'm not afraid of a little wiring, so my current working idea is to have one of the harness builders setup an engine-to-body harness for me, and I will modify as needed to get it the rest of that way. How painful that will be l don't know yet.

There's also a little devil on my shoulder whispering that I should just manual swap it at the same time - my gut says that would simplify wiring and I sure do love a manual.


I've been finishing up some house Reno work and traveling for my day job a bit so haven't made much progress here. The other day I did pull the pipes on the compressor side of the turbo to check for shaft play.


No in/out play, and a hair of side/side play so the turbo seems in order. It also appears to be a non-VNT variant. I don't see any Garrett stampings.

Compressor wheel was a bit grimy so I cleaned with q-tips.

Currently waiting on a large order to arrive from partsouq and also some longer m12-1.25 bolt to get this heavy pig into the engine stand.