Builds Project Lazarus: Bringing an LX470 back from the dead

[TLCJC]

Hi folks! First time poster, but I've been lurking for the past four months or so as I've been searching for an LX470. This first posts covers a couple weeks (so it might be a little jumbled), but I hope to stay on top of it more going forward.
I've been looking for something to replace my wife's 2005 Liberty CRD (diesel), because:

1. There's an oil leak I can't track down, and it gets just about everything in the engine bay covered in filthy black diesel oil. @ 240K miles, I spend a decent amount of time in that engine bay, and I hate it. Also drips on the garage floor…
2. It's an Italian diesel engine shoehorned into a Jeep Liberty. It's about as unfriendly to work on as it gets, and it always needs something. Huge shout-out to Jim Hulse over in the CRD Facebook group for all the advice he has provided to the community - without him, I'm pretty sure most of these would have already been in the junkyard.
3. If we decide to have another kid, we can't fit two rear-facing car seats in the jeep.

My daily driver is 2014 Honda CR-V - while not exciting, it does get decent gas mileage and has been reliable - it's at 138K now, bought it with 55K on it in 2017. My parents gifted us their 2003 Sequoia (that they've owned since 2004, and it's the car I learned to drive on) in DEC of 2022. We use it as a truck/secondary vehicle, but I did rebuild the entire suspension (Eibach springs/shocks, all new Siberian control arm bushings, front diff needle bearing replacement, big brake upgrade, etc…). I really loved that project, and have fallen in love with the 2UZ, so I knew that I wanted to replace the Jeep with another Toyota SUV. I initially was looking at a GX470, but decided that we wanted the space of an LX470 - so, I started looking…

I'm in South-Central Indiana, so while not the worst of the rust belt, we do still get some rust and I was seeing a lot of LX's from the northern Ohio/Illinois area that all had severe rust. To get a rust free vehicle, I was looking at $15K for something with 250K on it. Now, I know that the 2UZ can last much longer than that, but the rest of the vehicle is going to need some love at that point - control arm bushings are going to be shot, globes are going to be need replaced, etc. Spending that much money on a vehicle that I knew I was going to want to sink another 2-3K in parts into really just didn't sit well with me, so I started thinking… What if I just bought an LX that I knew was bad from the start?

What I settled on was to buy a LX with a blown engine for 'cheap' - that way, I could drop a sub 100K mile 2UZ into it, replace everything that I want to, and still end up around that $15K price range, but with many brand-new OEM parts. I got lucky and found exactly what I was looking for online - a CA/FL LX with a blown engine. I got pictures of the frame and it was SPOTLESS.

I bid on it, won the bid, and it was delivered a couple weeks ago. As you can see in the picture below, it looks like it dumped coolant from the radiator cap - the pictures below are after I power washed the engine bay even - you can see all the dried coolant. The engine cover (removed) is warped even! When I drained the engine oil I got at least a gallon of coolant out of it too, so this headgasket has probably been vaporized and I assume the heads would look like a banana if I were to take them off. I scoped the cylinders too - lots of rust and scoring. The heater tees are both intact, although one is just a brass tee with hose clamps. I'm not sure I've ever heard of these failing in this manner, so it's definitely a little weird to me.
View attachment 3588955
I thought it was silver in the auction pictures, but it's actually the 'Blue Vapor' color. I dig it! I did replace the hood struts right away, since that's sorta a safety issue while working on the thing…
View attachment 3588956
This was pre-powerwash at my house:
View attachment 3588953

Before I replace any mechanical parts, I'm waiting to get the title for it (EDIT: it's on it's way now actually!) In the meantime, I've found a salvage yard that has several sub-100K 2UZs (non-VVT) for around $1K near me that I plan to grab one from. I realize there's the great debate of US made 2UZ vs. Japanese made 2UZ - I'm not necessarily convinced there's a huge difference. Something to it all? Maybe, but I'm not overly concerned. The US made 2UZ in my Sequoia still seems to be loving life at 250K miles! I ended up finding a 67K mile 2UZ out of an '03 Tundra that I should be picking up next weekend for $960 out the door. Again, I'm replacing most things on this engine anyways, so other than cylinder wall and valve seat wear, it'll nearly be a 0 mile engine...

I did go ahead and put in a Impex order for 361(!!!) parts - $2700 total before shipping (still waiting to see that bill…). That's all the gaskets (other than head gaskets) for the engine, crank/cam/rear main seals, ALLLL the hoses (transmission cooler hoses, radiator hoses, heater hoses, vacuum lines, evap lines, fuel lines, power steering hoses, and new clamps to go with all of it…), ALLL the suspension bushings (other than the rear control arms - didn't find the thread that had the part numbers until after I made the order - doh!), the body mount bushings, diff mount bushings, motor mounts, globes/accumulators, and brake caliper rebuild kits. In addition, I ordered a set of Doug Thorley headers to put on the engine before I drop it in - not sure what the state of the current manifolds is, but after reading how difficult it is to replace in-situ, I figure I might as well just bite the bullet now and do it while the engine is out. This is going to be a lot of work, but I'm excited for the project! I built an awesome insulated and conditioned attached garage a couple years ago (32x42'), so I've got plenty of room to work in and can be comfortable while I do it. No lift though - maybe in the future…

Have you found a TLC Master Mechanic near Indy or Lafayette? My Daughter has the 99 LX and needs some work done on it for her summer internship transportation.

 

[MongooseGA]

Have you found a TLC Master Mechanic near Indy or Lafayette? My Daughter has the 99 LX and needs some work done on it for her summer internship transportation.

He has become the master mechanic.

 

[LJE]

Have you found a TLC Master Mechanic near Indy or Lafayette? My Daughter has the 99 LX and needs some work done on it for her summer internship transportation.

Some folks seem to like Ed Martin Toyota in Indy, but they're $185/hr. At those sort of rates, if I sent my 100 in for maintenance I'd expect a 200 to roll out the other side, haha! I don't have any experience with their techs, so I can't recommend one way or the other.

I'm about an hour a south of Indy, but will actually be up in Lafayette here in a few weeks for my graduation at Purdue (Masters in Mechanical Engineering).
I'd be more than happy to take a look at anything while I'm up there, which would be both hilarious and entirely in-stride for me - swap my cap and gown immediately for a pair of coveralls. The eyeroll I'd get from my wife would be glorious.


I know 2 hours away is inconvenient for her to bring & drop off here, but for what it's worth at this point I've worked on several other LCs & several other 2UZ vehicles for locals - and I'm less than half the hourly rate of Toyota dealers. I think this thread is a pretty decent testament to the work that I do - highly detailed focused and by-the-book.

However, I definitely get that it's not worth the hassle if it's just small stuff - no worries either way. Just thought I'd offer!

He has become the master mechanic.

Hahaha, yes! My general motto in life is 'dumber people do this every day'. No matter what the topic is, there's excellent information available on the internet. Combine that with an engineering education and a lifetime of working on stuff, it turns out that you can do just about anything.

 

[LJE]

Not at all LX related, but, wanted to post this here for posterity:

Just finished & submitted my final project for my Master's in Mechanical Engineering! It's been a long five years (since I've been doing it alongside work). In that timeframe, here are some things that have happened along the way:

• Bought a house
• Met a girl (hey, this is a big deal as an engineer! )
• Renovated my entire house.
• Deployed to AFG (for a second time) to engineer/design/build things in the field for USSOCOM units.
• Got married.
• Got a dog. He's the best boy there could be.
• Built a garage/workshop (wife requested it even!... well, she requested somewhere to park to bring groceries in when it rained. The fact that it ended up to be a 32x42 attached garage is semantics).
• Built an insane boulder retaining wall for the property. Like, 80 tons of boulders up to 1,000lbs each or so. Wife and I did it all (with some heavy equipment, of course). No smashed fingers, limbs, or imprints of excavator arms on the siding of the house.
• Learned to work on vehicles:
  • First, the wife's 2005 Liberty CRD. What a mess. Something was always wrong. Learned a lot. Hated the filthy diesel oil everywhere though. Learned to appreciate a well-designed, well-thought out, and well-executed vehicle. The Liberty was none of those things.
  • Then, my parents passed their 2003 Sequoia (that they'd had since 2004) onto us after it had a LBJ fail & my mom bought a 2018 Highlander. I rebuilt the entire front suspension and reupholstered the front seats.
  • Then, the timing chain in my 2014 Honda CR-V nearly ate itself. This was my first intro to serious engine work. It's also why I have severe hesitation with 10k oil changes, because that's what nearly destroyed this vehicle (with 135K on it at that point) best I can tell.
• Installed a solar array on my house by myself (well, and the help of a very pregnant wife. She stayed on the ground though). Zero idea why this costs so much to pay people to do - my 11KW array was $7500 since I DIY'd it (with permits even). If you can roof a house, you can probably properly install solar arrays. It's now my fall-back gig.
• Had a kiddo. She's 18 months old now, but I think she'll be holding a wrench soon.
• Bought my LX. I've put a lot of money into this, but it's been such a great learning experience that it's absolutely money well spent.
• Started working on Toyota trucks as an occasional side gig.

It's been a crazy ride, and major props to my wife who's been an outstanding support throughout the entire thing. I travel a lot for work, and spending 12-25 hours on schoolwork each week (on top of 'normal' work) has definitely been a major time suck during each semester. She's always held down the fort outstandingly well, even once there was more than just the two of us.

This GIF below almost captures the excitement of me turning in my final report. Graduation is in just a couple weeks.

Star Wars Episode4 GIF - Star Wars Episode4 A New Hope - Discover & Share GIFs

Click to view the GIF

tenor.com

 

[MongooseGA]

I'll second the props to your wife, as I'm pretty sure she had to have cursed me a few times while you were helping with my trans issues or discussing new products for TAG. It's been a hell of an eventful period for you, I'm glad we've become friends in this time. You're going to do so much more cool s***, I'm sure of it! Congrats on wrapping up your master's, that's a huge accomplishment you should be very proud of.

 

[LJE]

I'll second the props to your wife, as I'm pretty sure she had to have cursed me a few times while you were helping with my trans issues or discussing new products for TAG. It's been a hell of an eventful period for you, I'm glad we've become friends in this time. You're going to do so much more cool s***, I'm sure of it! Congrats on wrapping up your master's, that's a huge accomplishment you should be very proud of.

Thank you!

Believe it or not, I think diagnosing your transmission issues was just about the only time I've sat down and spent time on the couch downstairs in the evenings in recent memory. My wife did finally move the diagnostic manual off the end table the other day though, hahahah...

 

[LJE]

My fab guy was backed up, so this is about a month late getting started - but it's finally happening! Super happy with the work so far. He's taking the things I like most from the Dissent/Coastal/Trail Tailor/SLEE rear bumpers and combining them into 'Alex's one bumper to rule them all". It'll get a tire swingout, and a modular ladder/cargo swingout too.

I was initially looking at a Coastal Offroad kit, but this will actually end up being not that much more... And it'll be done, haha.

I have no issues paying for quality, but I love getting a good deal and this guy gave me a lot of confidence in his work. He's done some LX bumpers before in the past, but they were bulkier than I wanted. He's done a great job of slimming this down to fit just about as tight as it'll go I think. I like that the quarter panels poke out just a little bit for protection - they'll get some hoops too before it's all said and done.

 

[MongooseGA]

Looks great! And good move with the quarter hoops, they're a life saver.

Is he gonna chop your exhaust off too? Do it. Right at the axle. You'll love it.