Huddleston's 1HDT Swapped 80 Series Build (12 Viewers)

[Marco Lau]

very nice!

 

[Lazarus556]

Do you have any more pictures of that rotopax mount? I'm looking for some online and havent seen any good pictures of it.

 

[huddleston]

After consulting with Jason Harris we decided that following the first Express Rally Overland event in May of 2020 we would begin the complete overhaul of the 80. The cruiser barely made it through this event but it was helpful as we identified some performance and convenience items we wanted to address for the events and for my personal use. At this time one of my daughters was in Arkansas Children's Hospital on the heart transplant list and this vehicle and this project became much more important to me. Researching modifications and other items for the 80 was something to focus time and energy on other than COVID and my daughters condition. During this time the 80 became more than a project and more than just a marketing asset. I began to think of it and hope that I would get to share it with my daughters and create memories with them. Silly I know but these were certainly unprecedented times and it was a welcome distraction. At any rate, below are some photos of the 80 on that inaugural Express Rally Overland event and a few photos of my daughter in the hospital and a few days after being released.

 

[huddleston]

Follow up to my last post with a few more photos from that event and a couple photos of my daughter.

 

[huddleston]

Shortly after the inaugural Express Rally Overland event I reached out to @Box Rocket to help me visualize the changes that I had planned for the cruiser and he developed this killer rendering. Obviously many things changed as the build progressed from wheels to the RTT, but it was still very cool to see what I had imagined with the new color and a few of the other elements we discussed.

Around this time we found out that our event would also be featured in Toyota Trails from TLCA and the 80 made it in the magazine! Adam's rendering is below along with the full article from Toyota Trails!

 

[huddleston]

Additional pages from the Toyota Trails magazine including one of the 80!

 

[huddleston]

When the 80 arrived at Ozark Overland Outfitters in May of 2020 the initial plan was to get the 3FE in good enough shape to make one more trip to Colorado to get some promotional content for upcoming Express Rally Overland events. We began tackling a number of these items (dual battery setup with solar, Delta rear storage system, inverter, and a few suspension upgrades) and unsurprisingly, the head gasket decided to go during one of the test drives prior to departure. At this point we decided to move forward with the full paint job and 1HDT swap. Below are some photos of the work being completed prior to the head gasket going out.

 

[huddleston]

Do you have any more pictures of that rotopax mount? I'm looking for some online and havent seen any good pictures of it.

I am sure you can find more photos on the Delta Vehicle Systems website.

 

[huddleston]

How were the ditch lights mounted? What bracket was used?

Long overdue reply - my apologies - they are Yodateq mounts.

 

[huddleston]

Follow up from post #27 with more install photos from before the head gasket issue in May of 2020.

 

[huddleston]

More photos from May of 2020 as we were preparing the 80 for the Colorado trip that never happened :-(

 

[huddleston]

After the head gasket blew we sourced a 1HDT from Steve Jackson at Land Cruisers Direct and the tear down began to get the 80 prepared for paint.

 

[huddleston]

Additional photos from the paint work - the 80 was originally white but after seeing the Nightshadow Pearl I was very glad we did a color change.

 

[huddleston]

Fresh trim and a few other OEM bits were a must - Jason did a stellar job breathing new life into this old cruiser.

 

[huddleston]

After a VERY long wait, the 1HDT finally arrived and the process began swap the new powerplant in. Unfortunately I don't have a ton of photos from this process but it took infinitely longer than what we had anticipated due to some unforeseen wiring issues and because of Jason's uncompromising approach to this build and wanting to make sure the quality of work was on point. We did plenty of things we didn't HAVE to do, but they made the swap as close to OEM as possible and EVERYTHING works as it should.

 

[huddleston]

As the engine swap progressed more goodies from Delta VS showed up along with the Beaudesert exhaust from Australia and the long awaited Tarox big brake kit. The 42 gallon auxillary fuel tank from Long Range America also arrived.

 

[huddleston]

A few more installation photos from the engine swap, suspension, LRA tank and exhaust.

 

[huddleston]

A few more odds and ends from Delta VS and the rear end coming together nicely. At this time my 80 was in good company at Ozark Overland Outfitters with a good friend of mine, Michael Lejong's, Nightshadow Pearl 80 in for some work as well and another Express Rally participant around the same time as well!

 

[huddleston]

One of the first set of Delta Vehicle System's sliders arrived for test fitting on the 80 and we finally upgraded to an ARB Safari snorkel with a proper precleaner.

 

[huddleston]

I have these posters for my Porsche's as a cool way to document the specifics of each car and I asked the guys at Future Classic to make one for my 80 and 40 to display in the garage. It may not be for everyone but I thought they were cool!