RHD to LHD 75 or 79 series truck conversion needs

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RisingSunLCS

RisingSunLCS

Joined
Jul 28, 2010
Threads
54
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458
Location
Bowmanville, Ontario
Hello all,

I don't spend to much time here in 70series section but, I just maybe doing so in the very near future. My father in law has gone to Australia for 4 months and is adamant that while there. He is going to scour the continent for some prime examples of Land Cruiser utes and ship them home to Canada. We are well aware of the importation laws and he will be working with in those magical dates of manufacturing. Both of Us are no strangers to Land Cruisers and have garages full of tools and equipment to make this happen so, its just knowing exactly what we are getting into before we take the plunge

Anyways, I have been on mud researching RHD to LHD swaps and dont really come up with anything definitive on what exactly is needed. There are plenty of BJ70 donors up here and thats where most of questions are......The mechanical side of it seems the simplest side of it all.

We are wondering how much of a BJ70 can be used interms of parts interchangeability ie. steering, brake system (booster&clutch booster) wiper assembly and if a BJ70 complete dash can be used? If any of this is possible is there a specific year of 75/79 series trucks I should be looking at? I have studied CAN spec BJ70 and JDM spec BJ74 firewalls and it seems quite straight forward.....some holes here some nutserts there and weld in new sheet metal here and there to fill in now void holes.

Another thing is I have watched the Proffit builds on the 79 series box and cabs they were getting and they did use the dated CAN spec BJ70 dash assemblies in some of their builds.....so, this makes it seem do able.

Things I already know that need to be done:

- Elec Harness
-Brake lines
- steering components
- dash
-wiper assembly


Any help would be greatly appreciated especially if there is something i missed or am over looking. Even some good build threads I should read over.

Thanks,
Phil and Wayne
 
well your not going to get a 79 series in the country unless its for parts as they are not legal yet, first production was 1999.

Look at some troopies while your at it, I think these will sell better though you are going to have a challenging time trying to balance overall condition, kms and price. Lots are used in the mining operations and ex-mine vehicles are usually very abused. Its quite common there apparently (according to my exporter) to get a vehicle resprayed to make it look good.

A bj70 for the most part would provide most of the stuff needed. I think it would be too big of a pain in the ass personally to rip into one just for the sake of doing it. I would love to own a lhd hzj77 but the only way that is going to happen is if my truck gets written off and I search for a LHD 78 series to swap the heart and other stuff into.:meh:
 
That is one really good way to ruin a perfectly good cruiser. Good luck but I would just drive it on the other side.
 
ForealBoreal said:
well your not going to get a 79 series in the country unless its for parts as they are not legal yet, first production was 1999.

The 15 year mark is not that far away if indeed a 1999 is purchased and with the swap in mind by the time it is done it will be ready to register anyways.

Look at some troopies while your at it, I think these will sell better though you are going to have a challenging time trying to balance overall condition, kms and price. Lots are used in the mining operations and ex-mine vehicles are usually very abused. Its quite common there apparently (according to my exporter) to get a vehicle resprayed to make it look good.

Troopies are indeed an awesome rig and if wayne comes across a deal on one of those then I am sure it would be considered.

A bj70 for the most part would provide most of the stuff needed. I think it would be too big of a pain in the ass personally to rip into one just for the sake of doing it. I would love to own a lhd hzj77 but the only way that is going to happen is if my truck gets written off and I search for a LHD 78 series to swap the heart and other stuff into.:meh:
Click to expand...

Totally a pain in the @$$ to do the swap but, he has no interest in Right hand drive as wayne will be shipping this truck abroad to venture the world and 95% of the countries he plans on visiting are LHD countries.
 
alpinemechanic said:
That is one really good way to ruin a perfectly good cruiser. Good luck but I would just drive it on the other side.
Click to expand...

I currently own a JDM HJ60 and I will never own a RHD in LHD country again. The cool factor of being RHD lasted about 20mins and thats about how long it took me to get used to it. Driving it daily I quickly learned negatives I didnt really think of before I bought it. Now with resale of any JDM plummeting as more and more provinces ban makes the market even more $h1T !
 
The 15 year mark is not that far away if indeed a 1999 is purchased and with the swap in mind by the time it is done it will be ready to register anyways.
Click to expand...
The 15 year rule is for importing. You won't get it into Canada unless it's 15 years or older.
 
John Galt said:
The 15 year rule is for importing. You won't get it into Canada unless it's 15 years or older.
Click to expand...

Yes, that is very true......if its a whole vehicle. Options i guess will be go 98 or older and another maybe as done by others. Ship it in pieces and reassemble and wait until it conforms. Regardless there are otions.

Thanks for the correction John
 
doing a RHD to LHD conversion is pretty simple.
buy RHD truck
buy LHD BJ70
cut firewall from both from under the A pillar to the floor
swap
neither have power windows, neither will probably have AC and those are the biggest setbacks.
swap harness, steering parts, firewall.
paint
done

i warned Mike about the LHD conversion on a KZJ78. he didn't listen and found out it isn't as easy as he thought leaving the firewall installed.

the LHD conversion that is on going right now would be the way i would want to do the conversion.

before doing the conversion though, it would be best to see if your insurance company will insure a converted vehicle. when i contacted my 2 insuring parties both said they don't insure modified vehicles.

once again, you could do the conversion, not tell them but if you get in an accident and they find out ... well your coverage will be void. accept the risk before the conversion.
 
Thanks wayne.......we will have to look into the insurance situation. It might be not to much of a problem as these trucks are not going to be ontario bound so, insurance and licensing is quite an easy go. Know of any BJ70 that would be good for the parts I need?

Phil
 
there are a few parts 75s on kijiji. I posted a link in the for sale ads.
Might be worth just a quick check. The last link looks alright and might be worth a peak.
 
insurance:
the same across Canada.
strong possibility Stateside too from what i have read.

some insurance will cover with inspection and previous notification. it is the deciet that sets them off.

just giving a heads up.
 
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