The Roller Swap and Restoration

JohnGood · Dec 2, 2023

PIP · Dec 2, 2023

Did you do anything to the transfercase internally so that it works upside down like that?

JohnGood · Dec 2, 2023

To address the coments on the other thread : Plug and Play LS harness for 1996-1997 TLC - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/plug-and-play-ls-harness-for-1996-1997-tlc.824905/page-4

1. The front drive shaft is a custom 3" drive shaft. It is a little over sized and I may end up going to a 2.5" if clearance becomes and issue at the moment I clears just fine under compresssion. Obviously i havent flexed it out to find out.
2. The T/C is an NP246. It is fliped. We plugged and tapped it to run the oil pump. Its been done before on all kinds of swaps. Apparently this is the only 80 Series that has gone this route. I realize it is not the conventional way of doing things.
3. At the moment the whole dash is appart so it's not driving to Matts any time soon.

JohnGood · Dec 2, 2023

PIP said:
Did you do anything to the transfercase internally so that it works upside down like that?

Built a pick up for the oil on the otherside. Had to drill a hole in the adapter plate.

cruisermatt · Dec 2, 2023

Unconventional for sure, not the way I would do it but I have to say it is sort of refreshing to see someone actually start and finish something unconventional rather then just post about it online.
Who did the tank?
This isn’t the grey 40th anniversary that was on Aloma is it? I think I remember you from when you bought it

JohnGood · Dec 2, 2023

cruisermatt said:
Unconventional for sure, not the way I would do it but I have to say it is sort of refreshing to see someone actually start and finish something unconventional rather then just post about it online.
Who did the tank?
This isn’t the grey 40th anniversary that was on Aloma is it? I think I remember you from when you bought it

Yes! same one.
There's a fabshop up in Sanford that built it for me.

A little background: When I ended up buying the truck, Matt was my first call. Unfortunatly for me, he was pretty slammed with long horizon on when i could drop the truck off. Not being able to store the roller at my house for more than a day, I called my friend/auto-mentor who had just retired (my first job in middleschool was cleaning the floor and parts for him in an auto-shop). He said i could park it at his place for a while and one thing turned into the next and we ended up doing the swap at his place.

cruisermatt · Dec 2, 2023

JohnGood said:
Yes! same one.
There's a fabshop up in Sanford that built it for me.

A little background: When I ended up buying the truck, Matt was my first call. Unfortunatly for me, he was pretty slammed with long horizon on when i could drop the truck off. Not being able to store the roller at my house for more than a day, I called my friend/auto-mentor who had just retired (my first job in middleschool was cleaning the floor and parts for him in an auto-shop). He said i could park it at his place for a while and one thing turned into the next and we ended up doing the swap at his place.

Which shop? I have worked at or with pretty much every fabrication shop in central Florida :lol:

And yeah, if you were on our schedule it would probably still be another 8 months from now before we would be able to start on it.

JohnGood · Dec 2, 2023

Benny at B&T Frabricating

JohnGood · Dec 2, 2023

More background on the build:

Id been looking at buying an 80 series for a bit of time. My wife has a 2004 4runner that she loves, but its 2wd and a v6.... so not super fun or interesting for me. Shes over due for a new car but doesnt like big SUVs or small sedans. Fortunatly she LOVES old Land Cruisers. Figured i could "buy my wife a car" if i could find an 80 series and do a little vehicle swaparooni.

Originally, the objective was to build something fun that we would drive into the ground, then build up, then drive into the ground again. It needs to be very reliable, tow a boat, and look nice with a "newer" feel than her 4runner.

The original plan was to find a truck all original and bring it back to life super nice. Whenever the motor crapped out, I would get to swap it for an LS.....if you've read this far, you probably realized that didnt happen.

Fast forward to August '22

Found the truck parked outside a mechanics shop on run one day. Being nosey as all hell, I snooped around an noticed it had no engine. But other than some cosmetic isses, the truck was in great shape. Never offroaded, no rust, all original parts. After about a month of running by the shop and seeing no work get done on the vehicle I asked the shop owner what the story was. Apparently the motor deck warped and out of tolerance. The owner didnt have the funds to put a new motor in so I took it off his hands at a very nice basis.

I had been looking quite some time for a new project and was thinking of getting into spec Miata.... This would have to do instead.

First stop was @cruisermatt. I was super new to ih8mud but a few people in town mentioned there was a dedicated LC shop in town so I had to check it out. I was pretty blown away. Matt was very helpful but unfortunatly slammed. Its awesome to see so many LCs stacked up less than 2mi from my house.

Called my mentor and had the truck towed to his place.

Im no mechanic by any means, but my friend is. For the past 60 years hes been building nascar racecars, show cars, hot rods, full restorations and everything in between. Unfortunatly no 1997 Land Cruiser LS swaps but just about every other kind. He is retired now but builds beach cruisers here in Florida for fun.

Back to it:
Since then, we've dropped in the motor and tranny. Completly stripped and rebuilt. We pulled them from a 2002 Denali along with the tcase (mentioned above)

After the motor, tranny and tcase were mounted up we ran into the first problem.... YOU GUESSED IT! the output shaft was going to dead end into the gas tank. First thing we tried was to modify the existing gas tank....that didnt work so we had one built.

My wife hates filling up so her first request was that we didnt have a smaller gas tank..... Tough.... 24 galons is not easy to fit with a reworked drive shaft.... Relocated it to the back! I would loose my full sized spare but thats another problem.

However Ive read alot about the dangers of gas tanks in the very back. Everyone knows about Ford Pintos, so we would have to figure out a way to protect it if she gets rear ended. Steel back bumper? Yes! 4x4Labs has the coolest looking one so i went with that. Can you have a steel back bumper and a stock front? No! Costal Offroad front bumper, Check.

Unfortunatly the wife does not like the incoveniece of having to swing out a tire to access groceries so im still looking for a spot for the spare....

Since we had all the major systems in place, we hooked everything up and took it for a test drive. The truck runs and drives great around the parking lot!

Since then, we've been trouble shooting all the other stuff. Most everything checks out. Guages are all good (except speedo) and working the relays on the A/C is exhaustive.

Once all this is done, Ill move the truck to my place and test drive it for a few months. If everything works out, it will get fully overhauled exterior and interior.

Pics to follow:

cruisermatt · Dec 2, 2023

So why don’t you just use a Dakota Digital signal converter for the speedometer?

JohnGood · Dec 3, 2023

That’s one option. I’ve also been talking to Dakota Digital about this cluster that they did for a guy on the forum. If I go that route I can just go direct without the adapter.

Dakota Digital Custom Cluster

I've been working with Dakota Digital on a custom cluster for my 80. It will be based on their HDX system. I think it looks great and close to O.E. The backlights can be changed to any combination you like with their software. The two TFT screens can display digital data, like outside temp...

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