LX470 to LandCruiser Front/Nose Clip Conversion/Swap (1 Viewer)

[Justanothermember]

IMPORTANT NOTE: The information contained in this write up is for an LX470 to Landcruiser swap. Although, much of this information could likely be applied if you are attempting to retrofit an ‘06 LC nose clip on a pre ‘06 LC, OR go from a Landcruiser to an LX470 nose swap. Also note that my LX470 is a 2006 MY.

I’ve seen threads or posts asking about this conversion, but never really found an in depth DIY on the subject, so here goes! When choosing our 100 series, the Fiancee and I could not come to agreement on which to get, the LX or the LC. I liked the LX for the more luxurious trim features, wood trim, Lexus name badging, interior and exterior color options and the minute exterior differences while she just mainly disliked the quad light setup and heavily preferred the LC’s “brick” style headlights. YES YES there are probably cheaper and easier ways to have the best of both, and more practical modifications one could do, but lets not beat a dead horse lol. I figured the two share almost everything in common save for a few differences, so a nose clip swap shouldn't be difficult. After doing some reading, thanks to RobRed and CBeckFJ for pioneering the way, I was able to do my own conversion and figured I’d share the process.

I began digging on the parts list comparison between the Land Cruiser and the Lx470 and figuring out which parts I would need to convert. I came up with this list of parts and tools needed for the job.

Tools needed:

10mm
12mm
¼” ratchet + extensions
Medium Philips screw driver
Dremel
Clear coat enamel (clear spray paint)
Masking tape
Wire cutters
Wire strippers
Krimpers
Wire joiners (Krimps) & Electrical tap

Now if you have a donor vehicle perfect, you will also be able to reuse some of your LX parts with the LC clip. In the case that you buy your hood stripped like I did, you will need a few extra parts.

The following parts can be swapped over from the LX to your LC hood if your LC hood doesn't have them already:
Front Seal to Rad Support #53381-60041
Hood Bumper #53382-60020 (x2)
Windshield Hood Nozzle #85382-60050 (x2)
All windshield nozzle plumping on the underside of your LX hood
Insulator #53341-60180
Hood Lock/Latch #53510-60210 (this part you can just leave bolted to your core support, it will work with the LC hood and vice versa)
Lift Cylinder (hood strut) (RH) #53440-69026 (mine were leaking so i replaced both)
Lift Cylinder (hood strut) (LH) #53450-69026 (the cylinders come with the end bolts as an assembly)

Now the parts you will need to purchase or procure:

98-07 Land Cruiser Hood #53301-60510
Front Seal to Headlamp Cover #53183-60071 (comes with clips)
Safety Catch #53550-60020 (LX and LC use different mechanisms but same hood latch/lock)
Insulator Clips (x10) #90467-A0003 (I broke all mine attempting to remove the insulator from the LX hood. These clips were NOT meant to be taken out, even with a panel puller and gingerly trying to remove them, the clips could not be reused; perhaps you will have better success than I did lol.)
10mm Bolt (x1) #90119-06686 (the safety catch bolts to the core support using 2 10mms. One existing 10mm will be shared with the hood lock, and one will need to be purchased. There is and existing pre taped hole for this)
Seal Strip Retainer clip 90080-46010 (x10-12) (for front seal to rad support, I was not able to salvage my clips)
2006 Grille #53101-60360 (I attempted to fit an ‘05 LC grill, it is not compatible with the 06 headlamps)
Grille Clip (x2) #904467-13075 (if yours doesn't have these already)
2006 headlight RH #81130-60B21
2006 headlight LH #81170-60B11
2006 “Panel Extension” RH #53903-60080
2006 “Panel Extension” LH #53904-60010
Filler Panel #52506-60061
High Mount Headlight Grommet #90189-04014 (x2)
Filler Panel Bolt #90109-06294 (x2)
Sub Panel Clips (x2) #76519-60010
Headlamp to fender grommet (x2) #90189-05142
Panel Extension Screws (x2) #93560-55014
Bulb Socket (x2) #90075-99106 (the LC indicators are in the corner of the headlight housing while the LX’s are in the bumper, you will have to rewire them later)
MOTOALL Front Turn Signal Wiring Harness Connector Plug for 97-04 Toyota (3 prong) (Ordered off amazon; MUD wont let me post links).
Headlamp Assembly Screw (x2) #90159-A0006
#10-24 ½ in Machine Screws (x4) (From Home Depot)
#10-24 Nuts (x4) (From Home Depot)
Washers for #10-24 screws (x8) (From Home Depot)

NOTE: IF you are attempting to convert your LC --to--> LX front clip, the LX uses a hood mounted safety catch and latches to a metal strip welded to the radiator core support. The LC core support may not have this, and so you will need to weld one on. If you are converting your LX --to--> an LC, you’re okay.

Now that your have all your parts, we begin disassembly:

1. Remove LX grill, and safety latch assembly.
2. Remove front bumper. There are 9 or 10 10mm bolts along the bumper edge, and one at each end where the splash guard is. And a few pop up tabs on the top. Disconnect center electrical plug for fog lamps to detach bumper.
3. Remove the LX headlight trim bezels. Be careful, these are fiberglass, they are very brittle. A flathead or panel puller tool used here is best. Start by removing the center section first by lifting the pop up tabs. Then remove the outer bezels.
4. Remove corner lights, there is one 10mm bolt holding it in and then can be popped out by pushing it from behind (you will need to undo the splash guard to get to it)
5. Remove the headlights

Removing the center filler panel of the LX requires drilling. There are 4 rivets holding the filler panel in, 2 on each side, pictured below. You will have to drill these out to remove the panel, and will reuse the two front facing holes to bolt the LC filler panel to the fenders; so be sure not to enlarge the holes too much.

Since I can only attach 5 photos at a time, please bear with me...

 

[Justanothermember]

Once removed I compared the two filler panels side by side, just to see the differences.

Here's the driver side, obviously looks the same on the passenger.. You will notice the edges are slightly different and we will get to that in a minute.

Here's a shot from the top..

And here's a center section shot. You can see the LC does not have the bezel brackets like the LX does. This is because the panel extension screw into the headlight housing instead.

Mocking up the new LC filler panel to the LX front, I immediately realized that I had to cut away a notch in the LC filler panel so it would sit flush against the LX fender tabs. (Dremel these notches out).

You can see the bolt holes line up, but it doesn't sit flush.

 

[Justanothermember]

Once the notches had been cut out, the filler panel holes lined up nicely with the fender holes where the rivets once held the LX filler panel in place. (Wait to install the filler panel, more dremel cutting ahead!!!)

Now sits flush

Holes still line up perfectly...

Mocking up the headlights in place, you will notice they do not fit exactly in place and the mounting points are off by ⅛” to ¼”. On the LX fenders, there are two tabs that must be cut off. (See pictures). Shave the tabs (there's no going back now, I tried to just bend them out of the way, but bending them does not provide the necessary clearance for the headlamps to fit properly). I also notched the fenders so the lines would follow the filler panel. (see pictures). Now that you’ve shaped the fenders, you can bolt the filler panel in place. The filler panel can then be bolted in place with 4 x #10-24 x ½” (2 on each side) pan head screws and the corresponding washers and nuts.

Mounting brackets will NOT lineup initially... more dremel cutting ahead..

Remove the tabs via the Dremel.

The tabs have already been removed in this picture, but it gives you the overall location of the tabs.

Remove this tab, and the one pictured above where the fender and the filler panel meet.

 

[Justanothermember]

Fender tab has been cut to follow edge line of the filler panel.

Still more Dremel cutting to do!

Before mounting the headlamps, (this took a lot of trial and error before getting the headlamps to fit snugly in place), you must shave down the fenders. About ⅛” all around the headlight to fender contact lip. (see picture below). In comes the Dremel with a small sanding wheel… Once the fenders have been trimmed, you should be able to nicely fit both headlamps, and all the mounting points should line up exactly; the mounting point on top was the hardest to get lined up. Keep trimming back the ENTIRE lip until the mounting point on top lines up nice and snug. I tried to trim sections of the fender edge to try and get it to fit, but the ENTIRE edge needs to be trimmed back for the headlamp to fit properly.

Trim the highlighted area by about 1/8" or until top headlamp mount lines up. NOTE: It's easy to want to just use brute force as the bottom holes will sit flush and can be cinched up via the bolts, and it appears the top mount can be lined up, but the top mount WILL NOT line up without trimming and there will be about a 1/8" to 1/4" gap between the headlamp edge and the fender.

You can see the fender lip hitting the top of the headlamp housing.

You can see the bottom hits too, where the tab would've been, still needs to be trimmed lower.

 

[Justanothermember]

At this point, once I dry fit everything and made sure everything fit to my satisfaction, I installed the LC hood and off to the body shop it went for paint. You don't need to have the fenders painted, but I had the body shop feather in the paint and throw on a couple layers of clear to match up the colors. If you don’t have the body shop paint the fenders, this is where the clear spray comes in, just make sure to mask the fenders off and spray the trimmed areas with clear to prevent it from rusting. Throw on a couple coats and let cure and you should be good.

The LX at the bodyshop for some paint!

Once I got the Cruiser back, it was straight forward from there. It’s basically a plug and play bolt in; headlights installed easy peasy, the filler panel extensions, and hood mounted with ease, using all the factory mounting hardware. Reinstall all insulators, rubber seals, windshield washer plumbing, etc etc. I had all new clips ready to go, as I broke most of the old ones trying to remove the insulator and seals from the LX hood. The safety latch for the Land Cruiser hood installs easy, there is a predrilled hole, that you will need to have purchased one (1) additional 10mm bolt as listed above. No drilling or tapping required, the hole is already there. The safety latch uses one of the 10mm bolts for the hood lock/latch as well. See picture below.

The new LC safety catch will mount using these holes. As stated before, one bolt is shared with the hood latch and the other is a pretapped hole for an additional 10mm.

Dry fit everything one more time before bolting everything down nice and tight. Make sure all clearances with the hood alignment are proper as well..

IMPORTANT: I liked the ‘05 grill design better than the ‘06 and so decided to use it with the ‘06+ headlights. I can attest to the fact that the 03-05 grill is NOT compatible with the 06 headlights. I assume the mounting points on the 03-05 headlights are in slightly different locations than the 06. When fitting the 05 grill to the 06 headlights, the mounting holes did not line up, and there were uneven gaps at the lower corners on either side of the grill. I used zip ties to hold the grill in place, and had to enlarge the hole in the filler panel so the grill could be adjusted. I also had to dremel parts of it away to clear the headlight mounting brackets. And even then, it's not a 100% factory fit. I will be changing out to the ‘06 grill down the line.. Once you have the front facia installed, the LX bumper can be used with the LC front clip. All holes line up and the pop up clips can be reused (provided you didn't break any of the old brittle clips when uninstalling). See pictures below.

Almost done! Still need to install the hood insulator and seals and clips etc. But pretty much 90% done. The body shop stripped my hood shock mounting holes, so I had to retap the holes before installing new cylinders. . I also noticed the adhesive between the hood skeleton and the outside panel had come apart resulting in severe rattling when driving. This was easily remedied with clear silicone, that I reapplied in all the exact same factory locations.

Wiring is pretty simple; although it is important to note that the LX and LC use different headlight and indicator bulbs and sockets. The LX indicators are in the lower bumper while the LC indicators are in the headlight housing. I bought the indicator bulb sockets from my local Toyota dealer and drew leads from the indicator in the bumper up to the corner lamp of the new headlight housing. The indicator bulb in the LC is a double filament bulb, one for parking lamp (which the LX has) and one for the indicator. And YES it does matter which filament is used for the indicator and which for the parking lamp. I had them reversed initially and I had the indicator trigger wire wired to the parking lamp filament, and it was so dim you could not tell it was blinking… reverse them and good to go! This is also where the 3 prong pigtail from Amazon comes in. The LX uses a two prong since only the parking light is in the corner housing. The LC has a 3 prong as it has both an indicator and parking light in the corner housing.

For the headlights, the LX uses an H4 halogen bulb while the LC uses a 9006 bulb; the female plug will not work. For this, I was able to buy a 9006 female pigtail off Amazon and wire the new plug to the existing LX headlight wires. Pretty simple, just one power, one ground. The LX and LC both use the same high beam bulb, so that's just an easy plug and play, and the LX bulb plugs right into the LC 06+ headlamp housing.

Once you’ve got everything wired up and mounted, you’re done!

All done! (Yes I know this is probably the most controversial front facia ever... but LX, LC, basically the same right? )

Hope this helps, I had fun with this little project.

 

[LXKevin]

Sweet! Thanks for the write up.

 

[GTV]

Very nice work!
I've been adding LX features to my LC and the thought crossed my mind that this combo would be my perfect 100. Of course me being me I'd have to keep going and remove the side paneling as well leading to an almost complete repaint which I definitely don't have the stomach for. I really like that you put the Lexus badge on the grille and that's a damn shame the earlier grille doesn't fit the '06-07.

 

[Justanothermember]

Very nice work!
I've been adding LX features to my LC and the thought crossed my mind that this combo would be my perfect 100. Of course me being me I'd have to keep going and remove the side paneling as well leading to an almost complete repaint which I definitely don't have the stomach for. I really like that you put the Lexus badge on the grille and that's a damn shame the earlier grille doesn't fit the '06-07.

Hahaha, wow yes removing the side panels would get costly.. But GL with your truck! Sounds like a very cool build! And it is a real shame the older grill doesn't fit.. I had to do quite a bit of massaging to get that Lexus badge to fit the grill lol.

 

[brm98]

Damn! That looks great.

 

[Justanothermember]

Damn! That looks great.

Thanks!

 

[TommyP83]

Thank you !

 

[LXKevin]

.

 

[LXKevin]

.

 

[Eighteen11R]

At this point, once I dry fit everything and made sure everything fit to my satisfaction, I installed the LC hood and off to the body shop it went for paint. You don't need to have the fenders painted, but I had the body shop feather in the paint and throw on a couple layers of clear to match up the colors. If you don’t have the body shop paint the fenders, this is where the clear spray comes in, just make sure to mask the fenders off and spray the trimmed areas with clear to prevent it from rusting. Throw on a couple coats and let cure and you should be good.

View attachment 2505834
The LX at the bodyshop for some paint!

Once I got the Cruiser back, it was straight forward from there. It’s basically a plug and play bolt in; headlights installed easy peasy, the filler panel extensions, and hood mounted with ease, using all the factory mounting hardware. Reinstall all insulators, rubber seals, windshield washer plumbing, etc etc. I had all new clips ready to go, as I broke most of the old ones trying to remove the insulator and seals from the LX hood. The safety latch for the Land Cruiser hood installs easy, there is a predrilled hole, that you will need to have purchased one (1) additional 10mm bolt as listed above. No drilling or tapping required, the hole is already there. The safety latch uses one of the 10mm bolts for the hood lock/latch as well. See picture below.

View attachment 2505838
The new LC safety catch will mount using these holes. As stated before, one bolt is shared with the hood latch and the other is a pretapped hole for an additional 10mm.

View attachment 2505836
Dry fit everything one more time before bolting everything down nice and tight. Make sure all clearances with the hood alignment are proper as well..

IMPORTANT: I liked the ‘05 grill design better than the ‘06 and so decided to use it with the ‘06+ headlights. I can attest to the fact that the 03-05 grill is NOT compatible with the 06 headlights. I assume the mounting points on the 03-05 headlights are in slightly different locations than the 06. When fitting the 05 grill to the 06 headlights, the mounting holes did not line up, and there were uneven gaps at the lower corners on either side of the grill. I used zip ties to hold the grill in place, and had to enlarge the hole in the filler panel so the grill could be adjusted. I also had to dremel parts of it away to clear the headlight mounting brackets. And even then, it's not a 100% factory fit. I will be changing out to the ‘06 grill down the line.. Once you have the front facia installed, the LX bumper can be used with the LC front clip. All holes line up and the pop up clips can be reused (provided you didn't break any of the old brittle clips when uninstalling). See pictures below.

View attachment 2505841
Almost done! Still need to install the hood insulator and seals and clips etc. But pretty much 90% done. The body shop stripped my hood shock mounting holes, so I had to retap the holes before installing new cylinders. . I also noticed the adhesive between the hood skeleton and the outside panel had come apart resulting in severe rattling when driving. This was easily remedied with clear silicone, that I reapplied in all the exact same factory locations.

Wiring is pretty simple; although it is important to note that the LX and LC use different headlight and indicator bulbs and sockets. The LX indicators are in the lower bumper while the LC indicators are in the headlight housing. I bought the indicator bulb sockets from my local Toyota dealer and drew leads from the indicator in the bumper up to the corner lamp of the new headlight housing. The indicator bulb in the LC is a double filament bulb, one for parking lamp (which the LX has) and one for the indicator. And YES it does matter which filament is used for the indicator and which for the parking lamp. I had them reversed initially and I had the indicator trigger wire wired to the parking lamp filament, and it was so dim you could not tell it was blinking… reverse them and good to go! This is also where the 3 prong pigtail from Amazon comes in. The LX uses a two prong since only the parking light is in the corner housing. The LC has a 3 prong as it has both an indicator and parking light in the corner housing.

For the headlights, the LX uses an H4 halogen bulb while the LC uses a 9006 bulb; the female plug will not work. For this, I was able to buy a 9006 female pigtail off Amazon and wire the new plug to the existing LX headlight wires. Pretty simple, just one power, one ground. The LX and LC both use the same high beam bulb, so that's just an easy plug and play, and the LX bulb plugs right into the LC 06+ headlamp housing.

Once you’ve got everything wired up and mounted, you’re done!

View attachment 2505843
All done! (Yes I know this is probably the most controversial front facia ever... but LX, LC, basically the same right? )

Hope this helps, I had fun with this little project.

May I ask what your conversion set you back @Justanothermember ? It looks badass...

 

[Justanothermember]

May I ask what your conversion set you back @Justanothermember ? It looks badass...

I'd say somewhere in the ballpark of $2500 or so. Of course I bought all brand new OEM Toyota parts, which if you could find a donor truck would help save on costs by alot. Thanks though!

 

[Manhattan]

This is so well done, if the chain of provenance is ever broken, this truck will confuse the *$&@ out of people. It looks like a factory one-off... an LC470!

 

[Justanothermember]

This is so well done, if the chain of provenance is ever broken, this truck will confuse the *$&@ out of people. It looks like a factory one-off... an LC470!

I'm sure its confusing to those who know what it is and see it on the road! Haha. Glad to just be able to give back to the community that's given me so much!

 

[Jaxonyang]

Wow!! Very well done. As a member of the community, thank you. Did you leave rear hatch and such the same? Also, you sourced every part from dealership?

 

[Justanothermember]

Wow!! Very well done. As a member of the community, thank you. Did you leave rear hatch and such the same? Also, you sourced every part from dealership?

Just trying to give back to the community! Hope the info helps others in the future! And yes I left my rear hatch and badges as "Lexus LX470", which is why i changed the front emblem to a Lexus badge. Just thought the bonnet guard was a cool touch and would have gotten one with the "LX470" logo on the front if there was one.. but since its an LC hood.. lol you can see why there isnt one. And yes I sourced all OEM pieces from the dealer, trying to find a wrecked 06-07 LC without frontal damage proved to be difficult so I went with brand new parts. The only part I bought used was the LC hood, as a hood from 98-07 will work. I know DEPO makes headlights for the LC, but I didnt want to take chances with fitment or bolt holes not lining up during the conversion since I wasnt 100% sure what I would be up against, so I opted for the OEM Toyota headlamps as well.

 

[CBeckFJ]

Nice to see I'm not the only crazy person that did this! Just a note, the 99-02 lower trim piece (under the headlights) is direct bolt on, at least to my 05 LX.