Fix as RHD or convert to LHD

[Vee]

So basically I bought an 1995 land cruiser RHD from auction with fire damage in dash. Thought it was going to be a quick wiring harness patch and plastics but unfortunately there was a lot more heat than what it looked like. Cowl harness is toast and everything to the left of the radio is pretty much gone but i think the ecu lived (thank god). Ive been trying to find someone that is doing a rhd diesel donor car and using whats left to get mine running. Would it be easier/cheaper to just do the lhd conversion at this point?

 

[slow95z]

As someone who has done this in the past PART IT OUT. Do not waste your time trying to fix a burned up truck. Trust me when I say stuff shorted and burned up all over the rig.

 

[TonyP]

Don't bother.
Unless you replace every harness, you're going to be chasing wiring problems until the end of time. Problems that you didn't even know were possible with the fire being localized.

I've been there. Never again.

 

[leonard_nemoy]

Seriously though, part it out

 

[Vee]

The thing is the rest of the truck is immaculate, I dont mind wiring thats what I went to school for. If I can source a wiring harness I can at least see how everything else functions and go from there.

 

[TurboDennis]

As someone who has done a 1995 RHD to LHD conversion: FORGET ABOUT IT. Way too much work, and you will still need a COMPLETE LHD donor truck, as well as many parts from another donor RHD.

If the rest of the truck is immaculate, you can make pretty good money parting it out. Use the money you make to buy yourself a decent rig to build up.

 

[BILT4ME]

You can do what you want to do.

You're in the USA and will need parts for a non-USA truck.
www.partsouq.com or
Contact Onur, as he knows everything about these trucks all over the world and he still has contacts, but if you use him, you must pay him. Period. That's not a bad thing, as he knows his stuff.

You are going to throw a LOT of cash at this.

I know @slow95z rebuild a burned truck that was not even CLOSE to as bad as this and he was in DEEP on it. It took him MUCH more time and effort than he ever guessed and he does a LOT of rebuilding and disassembling on these trucks.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[DivByZero]

I live in Australia where all our 80s are RHD, and I wouldn't even attempt that here. You've got to understand, you've got a late model 80 series here, with the updated dash. That's great, usually. In your case though, it means everything you need to replace on that truck is in a narrow year range 95-97. The entire dash is different to earlier models. All the wiring harnesses, basically every single one of them, is different to earlier models. And you've got to expect with that level of wiring damage, that you've got fused wiring and damaged circuitry all through the rig. You've got to plan to replace every single wire and circuit in the rig, before you even think about replacing the dash, and then you might have problems with other things warped or broken in the area you haven't anticipated. It wouldn't be economical to do it here, even if you had good access to all the parts for cheap. And for the record, I also have a late model 80 series here, and I can have a hell of a time finding late model parts sometimes.

Part the car out, or if you can afford it, keep that one for parts and get yourself another one to drive, and keep this one for spares.

 

[Desert Dino]

even if your RHD rig was perfect it is not feasible to convert it to LHD the front is not the same you will need basically a donor

 

[Vee]

thats unfortunate to hear. still at the bare minimum I need to get it to run and drive so I can check the condition of the engine and drivetrain. cant sell parts with an unknown working condition, thanks for the replies

 

[TurboDennis]

thats unfortunate to hear. still at the bare minimum I need to get it to run and drive so I can check the condition of the engine and drivetrain. cant sell parts with an unknown working condition, thanks for the replies

There's nothing wrong with selling parts in "unknown condition" as long as you specify that in your ad. Making the truck driveable will cost you much more in money and time than the extra money you can make by selling the parts as "tested" instead.

Having said all this, if you do decide to go against everyone's advice, i happen to have quite a bit of parts for sale that you would need :

For Sale - 1995 HDJ81 - all RHD-specific parts. Dash, interior, etc.

Selling pretty much ALL parts that are specific to RHD (meaning parts that are different on a RHD compared to LHD truck). Left over from a LHD conversion. All parts out of 1995 (so newer style interior), 1HD-FT, auto tranny, 210k KM. I may be forgetting some parts, so feel free to ask if you...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[thatcabledude]

What engine is under the hood?

 

[Vee]

1hdt ft

 

[thatcabledude]

So non- electronically controlled. At least you have that going for you.

Personally, I’d look at it like this: You bought a drivetrain to put into another vehicle and a shell to part out along the way.

 

[SNLC]

So non- electronically controlled. At least you have that going for you.

Personally, I’d look at it like this: You bought a drivetrain to put into another vehicle and a shell to part out along the way.

This, the FT needs almost nothing to run. No reason you can’t swap the FT, trans ect into a good LHD Cruiser.

Cheers