LJ78G Prado with 2LTE project thread (1 Viewer)

[36 South]

Hi all,

My first post on these forums.

I've been looking at getting a Cruiser for a while after seeing and driving them around Film & TV sets over the years. 70 series are usually the weapon of choice and I was very close to getting a BJ70 with a 3F engine. The LJ78 I've ended up buying had just had a price drop however and having test drove one earlier in the year that had a 1UZ swap I knew there is potential to build them up.

Knowing that the deal wasn't going to hang around I sent the payment through after only seeing the auction photos and an AA report. I then had to drive her back from the other end of the country but my efforts were rewarded as she is a great truck for the money. It's a 1992 EX model and traveled 139,000 kms. Appears to have been garaged its whole life. Original Toyota winch and roadside kit looks unused.

A little under-powered but I like the luxury meets workhorse feel of the interior. It suits its intended use as a recce wagon for Film & TV Location Scout work - although it's potentially a little too nice for the nearby ironsand beaches that are popular filming locations. As below I plan to address the key running issues and hold out on anything too major modification-wise until I'm ready to do the full Lexus V8 engine swap (and cop the higher insurance premiums).

Auction listing with photos:

Toyota Land Cruiser Prado ex(top spec} 1992

I've had a read-through of GTSSportCoupe's 'Ideas for improving the 2LTE' thread and come up with the following list.

Already done;

- Cambelt, water pump, auxiliary belts and idler bearings
- Head and head gasket (non ceramic)
- High capacity radiator
- Tridon radiator cap (13 PSI, 90 kPa)
- Injection pump rebuilt
- All hoses replaced including to/from turbo
- Thermostat
- Monroe Adventure shocks front and rear
- GT Radial Savero AT tyres
- Xenon bulbs (full beam only so far)

Birthday service;

- Coolant flush and Toyota red coolant
- Oil change + filter
- Fuel injection flush + fuel filter
- Swap to K&N air filter (E-2417)
- Swap to 82C Tridon thermostat (already sourced)

Then;

- Delete EGR system (including all related pipes, VSVs, vacuum hoses)
- Install EGT gauge

&;

- Transmission fluid/flush
- Power steering fluid/flush
- Replace glow plugs if required
- Update the audio system (!)

Any advice appreciated. Will post updates as they happen.

Cheers!

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Very nice truck!! And sounds like you are doing all the right things.

Don't forget to service the clutch fan. It's one of the cheapest but most important things you can do for good engine cooling. Upgrading to a better fan is a good idea too. You can buy silicone oil for the viscous hub at a hobby store that sells RC Car stuff. It's the same stuff they use in the little differentials and shocks. Buy 10,000Cst viscosity. The stuff I bought looks like this (picture off the web):

If you want a little more power, just bump the boost up to 12psi. Helps a lot. If you decided to intercool it, you could make a lot more power, but probably not worth it if you're going to go for a 1UZ eventually anyhow.

 

[36 South]

Very nice truck!! And sounds like you are doing all the right things.

Don't forget to service the clutch fan. It's one of the cheapest but most important things you can do for good engine cooling. Upgrading to a better fan is a good idea too. You can buy silicone oil for the viscous hub at a hobby store that sells RC Car stuff. It's the same stuff they use in the little differentials and shocks. Buy 10,000Cst viscosity. The stuff I bought looks like this (picture off the web):

If you want a little more power, just bump the boost up to 12psi. Helps a lot. If you decided to intercool it, you could make a lot more power, but probably not worth it if you're going to go for a 1UZ eventually anyhow.

Cheers yeah I'm pretty happy with it!

OK cool will be sure to service the clutch fan while I'm at it. Thanks for that..

May look at winding the boost up once I have the exhaust flowing a bit better.

 

[36 South]

Took the Prado in for its birthday service as wanted to be sure I wasn’t missing anything.

Turns out both the hose parts to and from the turbo needed replacing.

They didn’t charge me labour on the Toyota Red / Pink coolant as neglected to do it the first time but this was still $600 by itself.

Good to have the peace of mind that’s it’s all reasonably sorted now. The temp gauge is still sitting a little low though. Pic taken after 15 mins of driving below.

Cheers