Hey I have a low mile rust free 96 lx450 thats mechanically sound. Top end rebuild, axles rebuild, all new hoses... but the body is really trashed. Lots of dents and the interior isn't the best either. There is a nice high mile 96 lx450 close to me that I could get for cheap. How hard would it be to swap the entire body and interior onto my good frame and motor? There are threads about this on mud here but I couldn't find this specific deal: only swapping bodys. Could someone point me to a mudder that's done this? Or give me some pointers. Im not opposed to spending some time on it. My work really slows down in the winter so I have the extra time. Thanks
96 lx450 body swap (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter toyo9092
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Look up "white Rhino"
I have done this, you need a lift, and 1 gallon of PB blaster , you are looking at about 15-20 hours maybe more, I would just drive the one you have all the work to swap it out if any thing swap interior and fix the dents and call it good
LINUS
Waiting for the Great Pumpkin
+1
This situation sounds like leaving the frame under the trashed body is the smart move.
Pull & install powertrain/axles into the high-miler.
LINUS
Waiting for the Great Pumpkin
IMO -yes.
Same exact Lexus parts = plug & play on all the engine harness & no having to rewire an entire body.
Lot's of ways to play this but if the price is right and the body/paint/interior are pretty clean I think it's a good idea regardless of how you handle the swapping (bodies, mech all at once or mech a little at a time). You'll have a lot of useful spares for the long run and having a complete rebuildable engine/tranny/axles etc. puts you in great shape if you want to keep your 80 for a really long time and have space to store the spares.
Build a fj44 with the parts.
I pulled the body off mine and it wasn’t that bad other than time. I spent a day removing stuff and looking for any hidden connections. I removed the body with a tractor but it was let’s do this quick type thing. The body wasn’t needing to stay dent free in the process.
May depend on if you have help or not. Solo I would go engine/axles. If you have friends with machines I would go body swap.
May depend on if you have help or not. Solo I would go engine/axles. If you have friends with machines I would go body swap.
Curios... for a body swap or door swap, what do people do for vin numbers. can people just swap the plates/decals over or do you just explain each time it comes up that the emissions/police etc need to look at the frame each time for the real vin?
LINUS
Waiting for the Great Pumpkin
The right way here in WA is to show all your receipts & paperwork at the WA State Patrol inspection station, then they issue a new “VIN” that amounts to a pulling of the old VIN plate off the dashboard & replacing with a metal foil sticker/ inspection approval.
For this one I’d leave that dash with that frame VIN & all the panels, at worst you leave the higher miles speedo & just call it a done deal. Then the only VIN that would be off is the block one - that happens plenty often.
Take a bunch of pics if you ever care to sell with documentation of the powertrain miles, but most states quit doing odometer disclosures after a decade IIRC.
For this one I’d leave that dash with that frame VIN & all the panels, at worst you leave the higher miles speedo & just call it a done deal. Then the only VIN that would be off is the block one - that happens plenty often.
Take a bunch of pics if you ever care to sell with documentation of the powertrain miles, but most states quit doing odometer disclosures after a decade IIRC.
- Thread starter
- #14
Hey thanks guys for all the info. Ya I might just buy the high mile truck and wait till something goes on the high mile unit and then do what ever makes sense. The best thing to do would be swap seats and carpet from the high mile truck into the one with the bad interior and body then do 10k worth of body work and paint and it would all still be mainly original. But then with that kind of money into it it doesn't make sense anymore.. I'd rather put time that money into it.
You can pull the drivetrain out in a day with a friend. Spend your time cleaning everything up good and replace stuff that is a pain to do with the engine in it. Then pull your good engine and stuff it in the clean body in a weekend. Seems like a no brainer to me. Way less work than bodies.
LINUS
Waiting for the Great Pumpkin
100%.
In the time this thread has been live, the low miled powertrain could be out & waiting to go in the good body/interior.
Let alone the body/frame swap / VIN tag mis-match issue if you want to be 100% legit.
Around here we have to make an appointment to get inspections (same as when you build a trailer & are “creating” a new VIN / obtaining a plate & registration tabs) - the lead time can be 2 months to the earliest day they have an opening.
Been there / had the wait. And no temp plate while you’re waiting, just yard ornament.
It’s such a PITA that it’s common here to see guys buy $hitty trailers cheap just to take the plate & title for a new welded trailer.
