What do you think the easiest engine swap is for your average idiot? (1 Viewer)

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Ls all day long. So much aftermarket support. Ls is the go to swap engine for everything from Ford's to Toyota's.
 
Cummins 6BT.
 
Back in the day, an LS swap was considered an unbelievable engineering achievement with Slee charging upwards of $20K. I never gave it much thought then because of the perceived cost and complexity. Fast forward to 2020, and I picked up a 79 IH Traveler with the 345. After some critical thinking, I decided to swap it out with a 5.3L/4L60E/NP241. I had a frame off going, so it was easier, but I made my own engine mounts and trans support. The engine/trans combo was a pullout that was running and only cost me CAN$1700. I ended up selling the project last month, but with so much support today for an LS swap it has got to be a no brainer, even for a country boy like me. Lol!

PS: You gotta hear the 5.3 in Matt’s Off-Road Recovery Morrvair. That’ll make you a believer!
 
A guy in our club swapped in an Izuzu diesel 4 cyl. Bolts right up to the trans. I think it was fairly straight forward, but man does that thing shake like a bugger.
 
I'd go for the LS motor. Just know even the average moron will need a lot of patience. I swapped a 4BT into a Land cruiser 40. I got tired of working on it and let it sit for a year. It turned out nice, after a multi year project.

Patience grasshopper.
 
What is the OP's goal?? More power/torque/speed, better MPG, future-proof for parts availability??

Least expensive/quickest?? adding a turbo to a 1FZFE for a bump in power. ($6-7K??)

Most expensive route for uber speed?? Tesla S level EV conversion ($100K+??)
 
I've only ever swapped engines in lawn mowers and motorcycles, so... this more of a wish for my own rig than advice.

I'm kinda lusting after the 1GZ FE. Its the V12 out of the Toyota Century. Only 275HP, but near on 400FT# torque and soooo smooth.
Either that or the drive train out of my wife's GX460. The V8 in that rig is very smooth, and she has better gear ratios...:bah:
 
What is the OP's goal?? More power/torque/speed, better MPG, future-proof for parts availability??

Least expensive/quickest?? adding a turbo to a 1FZFE for a bump in power. ($6-7K??)

Most expensive route for uber speed?? Tesla S level EV conversion ($100K+??)
More power. Particularly at altitude.

Turbo is almost more difficult than the swap on a RHD 1993. Several issues to deal with. If I'm gonna have to install a megasquirt I might as well just swap the engine.

The supercharger might be a good option, though
 
OK, so RHD adds complexity (missed that point in the thread).
 
A dodge v10 with a nv4500 should be a viable swap for a 80 series ive been looking into for kicks. But LS has more support than any engine out there. It's also easier to work on than most engines. Much easier than a 1fz in my opinion. A very basic LS swap only requires wiring up like 6 wires. Of course the more wiring your willing to integrate the nicer the end product.
 
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Bit of fabrication involved. How easy is this with diesel adapters gone?

Extremely simple. There's a few places that offer "complete" swap kits. motor mounts, adapters, even a few wiring harness options. rockbug industries out of AUS is a prime example of full kits offered. I'm using half of his kit (nv adapter, motor mounts - using a locally sourced 6bt a/c and alt adapter). there's another theoretical full swap option coming out of oregon, i'll be documenting one of those swaps here within a week or two. will be fun to compare mine to his! an example of fabrication differences are his requires a body lift, mine did not. all cummins swaps require you to lower your steering box brace, but that's kind of like....step one in terms of fabrication. cut, drop, weld.

I say 6bt is "easiest" because with a manual transmission, it only needs 3 wires to run. even sourcing a pedal if yours isn't a factory manual, and adding all the sensors to make the gauges work is relatively simple in terms of swap difficulty. and being an old clunky diesel, it'll pretty much just work so long as it gets fuel. lol.

With how many plug and play options are available, a LS swap is kind of easy now, too though.
 
Since I have a RHD fzj I wonder if a 1hdt is easier? If I can get a RHD engine harness from Japan or Australia it should more or less just bolt in yeah? No? I like the sound of a supercharger more and more 😂
 
Since I have a RHD fzj I wonder if a 1hdt is easier? If I can get a RHD engine harness from Japan or Australia it should more or less just bolt in yeah? No? I like the sound of a supercharger more and more 😂

there's a few differences between a LHD and RHD during a swap, but nothing major. I don't know if it would make it would make a 1hdt easier as they're available for both RHD and LHD models.

it made some aspects of my swap easier such as clearance for the injector pump and intake piping much more simple, and some harder. My hurdle was a clearance issue with my turbo on the 6bt, primarily due to my steering box having a solenoid on it that changes how effective the power steering is at speed. not very many cruisers have it though, so it's typically not an issue.
 

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