4.5LV build

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It fits!

Honestly it fits really well. enough room just about everywhere. Way cleaner fit so far than a V-8.

It is a long and heavy bastard. 1st pic is setting over the frame.
2nd pic is with fenders on roughly in the correct position front to back.
third pic is the exhaust clearance to the fender. I think the y-pipe will drop down between the engine and frame nicely.
drivetraininframe.webp
fenderson.webp
exhaustclearance.webp
 
When the transfer is about 2 inches from the rear crossmember the first pic shows where the front of the engine is in relation to the radiator. The water pump doesn't line up at all, but an electric fan should fall in a good position behind the radiator.

Rough guesstimate is about 21" of rear d-shaft once the SUA axle is installed. The angle will be pretty good. The trans is too far to the right in the 2nd pic.

The 3rd pic is the hood clearance. I think I might raise the d-train a couple of inches. The A/C bracket is right above the center of the dif. When the SUA axle is in, it might be pretty tight to the bracket.
radclearance.webp
dshaft.webp
hoodclearance.webp
 
Looking great Todd. Really nice.

Maybe you addressed this above, but are you ditching the mechanical fan/fan clutch?

Are you going to modify stock 1FZ engine mounts to make them fit or are you going to fab completely new ones?

Also, the frame looks great!

Looking forward to more development!

:cheers:
 
I was hoping to use the 1F mounts on the frame and the 1FZ mounts on the motor, but the angle is different. I will be building something else. Hopefully this weekend.

The mechanical fan just isn't going to line up without a really goofy shroud. It looks like an electrical is the way to go.
 
Gumby said:
I was hoping to use the 1F mounts on the frame and the 1FZ mounts on the motor, but the angle is different. I will be building something else. Hopefully this weekend.

The mechanical fan just isn't going to line up without a really goofy shroud. It looks like an electrical is the way to go.
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Cool. I also forgot to ask, are you going to be doing a 1FZ radiator or something aftermarket? I know Kirk in Ohio (LT-1 into an 80 series) had a really sweet Ron Davis built for his rig--real bling!!
 
Didn't get the mounts made. Spent most of the day picking up some parts in the city. Kinda strange deal. I had to pull a bunch of them myself.

Picked up the alternator, A/C compressor, condensor, lines, receiver/drier, y-pipe, and throttle cable.

Went back to the shop in the late afternoon and worked on the rear SUA axle. I got the housing really clean, pulled the drum brakes and axles, and powdercoated my old disc brake brackets.

Damn, I hate gear oil.
 
Went in for an couple of hours before I trashed my shoulder and had to come home.

I got the rear axle painted. Found both calipers and sandblasted them. One was never used and just had surface rust from sitting around the shop. Installed the brackets. I think they are old school LCML Cardinal Fang brackets. Cleaned up the rotors. Installed the calipers with new pads and slider pins.

Went to start pulling the shackle bolts so I could put the axle on the springs and did something really damn painful to my shoulder.

I knew if I kept all those parts around I would use them somewhere.

Any purist want a really nice set of drum brakes? The wheel cylinders look really nice.
 
Forgot the camera again. I'll get it in and take some pics to add.

4RNR came by and helped my crippled self install the rear axle and reset the frame and engine to the right height. We had to pull the calipers. They hit the stock rims. 1/4 inch spacer ought to fix 'em.

We threw an empty front housing on the front springs to check clearances.

We did not get any motor mounts made, but we got some ideas. Fortunately, we had a LX450 in the shop to check out the stock config.

Not a bad afternoon considering we snuck in a very productive trip to the pick and pull, a trip to Harbor Freight for a bolt cleaner, and a trip to the RC shop after he worked half a day and I worked on the lexus all morning.
SUA axle.webp
45lv frame rear.webp
 
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Got the front axle in today. Still have to install the hubs and some minor stuff. Waiting on people parting out rigs to send me parts so I can get the motor on mounts.

Rebuilt the starter today too. New contacts in a starter I pulled off my 80 when the contacts went bad. Got the power steering pump torn apart for the rebuild kit and the bearing was toast. Hopefully that will be in tomorrow so I can get it put back together and installed.
 
Disc brakes all around. Monte Carlos on the rears and LCs on the front.

55 axles from the 73 FJ55 I bought from TreeRoot. It came with good freshly rebuilt axles, but they were SOA and C&T. I want to keep it low for towing and DDing. The cool thing is that the anti-sway tabs line up perfectly so I can hook the anti-sway back up.

Has ASCOs on it right now. I'm on the lookout for Aisans for it.

Picked up the bearing for the p/s pump on Friday so I'll put that together and back on on Monday. Got word that the motor mounts are available, but haven't been pulled yet. Gotta keep telling myself how much money I'm saving over having them in my hand two weeks ago.
 
Gumby said:
Disc brakes all around. Monte Carlos on the rears and LCs on the front.

55 axles from the 73 FJ55 I bought from TreeRoot. It came with good freshly rebuilt axles, but they were SOA and C&T. I want to keep it low for towing and DDing. The cool thing is that the anti-sway tabs line up perfectly so I can hook the anti-sway back up.

Has ASCOs on it right now. I'm on the lookout for Aisans for it.

Picked up the bearing for the p/s pump on Friday so I'll put that together and back on on Monday. Got word that the motor mounts are available, but haven't been pulled yet. Gotta keep telling myself how much money I'm saving over having them in my hand two weeks ago.
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Why are you looking out for a set of Aisan hubs? They are exactly the same as the ASCO's, same material even. I'm pretty sure that ASCO is just a different supplier than AISAN and the parts themselves were designed to the same specs.
 
Gumby said:
Never heard that before. Aisans are known to be nearly indestructible. They are also common and relatively cheap. If the ASCO ones are comparable, I guess I could keep those.
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The same pawl fits into both the AISIN and ASCO hub face so I see no reason why one would be stronger than the other. Get a pair side by side and see if you can find some differences between the two.
 
Still waiting on motor mounts so the project is stalled as the moment. I'd like to get the engine mounted by spring break. One way or the other I can start serious work on the body over spring break. I'd really like it all in one piece before June so I can finish it at home over the summer.

I did buy a set of 33s for it today. I'll get on powdercoating the rims next week.
 
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