what r u guys spending on diesel swap

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half k cruiser

half k cruiser

10 Year
Joined
Jun 12, 2011
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224
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Kansas
Lets rule out the cost of engine. What are you guys spending to complete a 1HDT ? I have a friend who is willing to ship me motor + trans from Ireland if I buy the rig. But I know all of the extras are what eat you up budget wise. So lets hear it. Or what all should I have shipped with it ? I would prefer whole car but that would eat up a ton of container space.
 
How long is a piece of string?

What's it going into?
What's the specs on the donor vehicle?
What are your goals? Ie, run it stock, or upgrade the power output?

A 1/2 cut lets you salvage anything engine or trans related, and see it in its factory configuration.
A palletised engine and parts would leave sorting pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
 
Get a half cut if at all possible, the extra money you'll spend on shipping will be saved many times over in odds and ends that you'll need along the way.
 
The entire vehicle would enable you to see everything as it would be installed . You could sell the leftovers bits.
 
There are too many unknowns to give you a reasonable dollar figure for your particular project. But based upon my experience, if you have the work done by a knowledgeable shop, expect to pay $10 -15K for the complete install. Doing the work yourself will save a lot of money, but be prepared to invest a substantial amount of your time for the project. What ever route you take, your final cost will probably be twice your original estimate.
 
Shipping whole container to the US is about 2k dollars, not to mention al the hassle you would have with the customs clearing, expenses for the port handling, expenses for the rent of container etc. I think that sending the engine with the transmission on the pallet with shared container would be priced significantly lower. If some piece is missing - it would be sent in the next shipment.
 
Like others said, hard to nail down a cost without specifics. But, I priced out having shops to the complete swap for me before buying my swapped rig. Every shop gave me almost the same feedback. Completing the swap, if they were to buy an engine, was going to be $15k to $20k. In that price, the estimated for the engine was between $7k and $10k. The feedback I got was that you could get the swap done for $15k, if you didn't replace any parts in the engine. But generally you want to replace timing belt, water pump, BEBs and other things while the engine is out of the truck... hence the $20k cap.
 
Having done this swap myself, I can tell you that having the entire vehicle or at least a half cut is extremely valuable. There are many little things you won't think about. Like fuel filter brackets, vacuum reservoir, hard vacuum lines from the pump, battery trays for dual batts, wiring for dual batts, hard fuel lines, fuel pickup, ac plumbing, glow timer wiring, starter relays, glow plug relays, gauge cluster/tach, hand throttle, drive shafts and so so much more. Not to mention having an entire truck full of metric nuts and bolts.

All of these things can be dealt with if you don't have the entire vehicle or half cut, but it will only add expense and IMO makes the swap less clean and alot less professional.

20k having a shop do the work sounds like a bargain with their labour and some work refreshing the engine. There is alot more work then it sounds.
 
I don't understand a couple of things:
* why is the engine so expensive

I am almost 9 months in Europe and had many many opportunities to buy whole diesel Land Cruiser for around 2200 dollars. I didn't buy that as I have some other priorities right now. And honestly, I don't understand diesel engine at all. It took me a substantial effort to learn the engine I have. But 7000 US dollars just for engine is really high price.

* replace timing belt, water pump, BEBs

This can't be that expensive either, I would say around 2k dollars.


The problem is when you buy a new crankshaft, pistons, g-turbo, redo IP, injectors and other stuff. I still think that this project could be done much cheaper. I quoted a shop in Germany which specializes in Land Cruisers (Tom's Fahrzeugtechnik) and the quote for engine swap from 1FZ-FE to 1HD-T was 2000 EU for labor. That was only for taking the old 1FZ-FE out , put 1HD-T in and do wiring and all the magic.

True is that prices of diesel Land Cruiser is going higher and higher every moment, my friend who was getting Land Cruisers from UK to be parted out in the Czech Republic was buying nice Cruiser's for 1700 GBP with low miles. Those times are passed and people want around 4000 GBP for well-maintained trucks. Still, it is possible to find a cheap one.

The place to look is obviously UK, the tax scheme is now very harsh on the owners of big diesels so people are getting rid of them, most of the cruisers also don't have MOT (technical inspection) which takes the prices lower.

Prices in Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, France (which are the biggest market in mainland Europe) are high.
 
tweeek said:
Having done this swap myself, I can tell you that having the entire vehicle or at least a half cut is extremely valuable. There are many little things you won't think about. Like fuel filter brackets, vacuum reservoir, hard vacuum lines from the pump, battery trays for dual batts, wiring for dual batts, hard fuel lines, fuel pickup, ac plumbing, glow timer wiring, starter relays, glow plug relays, gauge cluster/tach, hand throttle, drive shafts and so so much more. Not to mention having an entire truck full of metric nuts and bolts.

All of these things can be dealt with if you don't have the entire vehicle or half cut, but it will only add expense and IMO makes the swap less clean and alot less professional.

20k having a shop do the work sounds like a bargain with their labour and some work refreshing the engine. There is alot more work then it sounds.
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The best compromise would be to have the definite list of items which should be shipped. I don't see a reason why @half k cruiser should not get the drive shafts, battery trays, all brackets, fuel pickup even fuel tank. It's just matter of putting those items on paper and making sure that the person puts it into pallet when shipping.
 
I should have stated the swap would be done by me. Obviously having a whole vehicle would be a best case scenario, but as @Jorgito mentioned this could be problematic getting through customs. I will have to cruise over to the import thread and see what all this would entail. Trucks with the 1HDT should be old enough now to pass the 20 yr mark. The newer 1HDFT that I would like to have might be more of an issue.
 
half k cruiser said:
I should have stated the swap would be done by me. Obviously having a whole vehicle would be a best case scenario, but as @Jorgito mentioned this could be problematic getting through customs. I will have to cruise over to the import thread and see what all this would entail. Trucks with the 1HDT should be old enough now to pass the 20 yr mark. The newer 1HDFT that I would like to have might be more of an issue.
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Hit up @Rock40

He brought over a couple 1HDFTs from somewhere in Europeans I believe, and performed the swap as well. He will have insight on customs and costs involved.
 
My .$02 If you have the ability to purchase the vehicle as a 1/2 cut or as a complete rusty hulk, you're going to be better off going that route. Yes, the price/charge of the container space is going to go up but what REALLY adds up on a diesel swap is the little nickel and dime parts. Granted, I'm assuming that the vehicle in Ireland is RHD and you want to do a LHD swap right?

25 years is what NHTSA and the EPA look at for imports. That means you can bring a 1992 vehicle right in with very little work or concern of it not getting here. A vehicle newer than that being imported in the US will have to meet all the US safety and emissions requirements of that year. It might and it might not. Regardless, the inspection is not going to be quick.

I brought in 3 1HD-T's, a 1HD-FT and 4 H151 5 speeds along with a slew of other loose parts. Everything was in two large crates. I took a gamble and got lucky getting the FT here. The container was never actually opened and visually inspected. It's a GAMBLE because that stuff can get seized and destroyed. You're out whatever you paid for it.

Expect shipping costs to run in the 2k-5k range. Sound like a lot? Your swap is going to run you much, much more than that. The most wonderful part of importing stuff is that everybody has their hand out along the way. Once you stuff gets here there are multiple layers of inspections, storage fees and for vehicles, likely a decontamination fee.

I'd estimate that when my FT arrived and I was finally able to pick it up, I had 7k invested in it so far. During the swap, I probably easily spent another 6k-8k on OEM parts, etc. The end result was a LHD 96' 80 series with a excellent running Toyota diesel. From all outward appearances, the truck looks completely factory, including the interior. Was it worth it? I'd still say "Yes". If done correctly, the resale value is high plus driving a diesel 5 speed is pretty darn awesome.
 
Jorgito said:
I don't understand a couple of things:
* why is the engine so expensive

I am almost 9 months in Europe and had many many opportunities to buy whole diesel Land Cruiser for around 2200 dollars. I didn't buy that as I have some other priorities right now. And honestly, I don't understand diesel engine at all. It took me a substantial effort to learn the engine I have. But 7000 US dollars just for engine is really high price.

* replace timing belt, water pump, BEBs

This can't be that expensive either, I would say around 2k dollars.


The problem is when you buy a new crankshaft, pistons, g-turbo, redo IP, injectors and other stuff. I still think that this project could be done much cheaper. I quoted a shop in Germany which specializes in Land Cruisers (Tom's Fahrzeugtechnik) and the quote for engine swap from 1FZ-FE to 1HD-T was 2000 EU for labor. That was only for taking the old 1FZ-FE out , put 1HD-T in and do wiring and all the magic.

True is that prices of diesel Land Cruiser is going higher and higher every moment, my friend who was getting Land Cruisers from UK to be parted out in the Czech Republic was buying nice Cruiser's for 1700 GBP with low miles. Those times are passed and people want around 4000 GBP for well-maintained trucks. Still, it is possible to find a cheap one.

The place to look is obviously UK, the tax scheme is now very harsh on the owners of big diesels so people are getting rid of them, most of the cruisers also don't have MOT (technical inspection) which takes the prices lower.

Prices in Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, France (which are the biggest market in mainland Europe) are high.
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Simple. Prices are high because supply in the US is super low. 7k is pretty darn fair. It may seem pretty easy importing engines into the US but it isn't. If it was a surefire way of making tons of money, lots of folks would be doing it.
 
I think you're right @Rock40 . From what I've been seeing, supply is so low that, even if you're willing to by a 1HD series motor, there is usually a 6 month wait to get it from most of the typically suppliers.
 
do some more homework.....1hdt isnt exactly an upgrade from 1fz unless your aim is lots of underwater travel or mild towing.

pluses for 1hdt vs 1fz- water crossings/ towing capacity/ fuel range.

minuses for 1hdt vs 1fz- expense / durabilty/ parts / serviceability / expense / downtime / expense/ more expense and lest i forget- some added expenses and more downtime.

And if you really need a 1hdt.......its going to be infinitely cheaper to offload your 80 and buy a 1hdt 80 from Canada or Japan vs swapping. Id go oem vs swap any day of the week.

The good 25% off exchange rate would allow you to buy a relatively low miler (sub 175k miles) 1hdt Canadian/Japanese 80.......and save yourself a year of downtime and probably be about $5k-10k less expensive than going the import/swap/downtime route.
 
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bugsnbikes said:
do some more homework.....1hdt isnt exactly an upgrade from 1fz unless your aim is lots of underwater travel or mild towing.

pluses for 1hdt vs 1fz- water crossings/ towing capacity/ fuel range.

minuses for 1hdt vs 1fz- expense / durabilty/ parts / serviceability / expense / downtime / expense/ more expense and lest i forget- some added expenses and more downtime.

And if you really need a 1hdt.......its going to be infinitely cheaper to offload your 80 and buy a 1hdt 80 from Canada or Japan vs swapping. Id go oem vs swap any day of the week.

The good 25% off exchange rate would allow you to buy a relatively low miler (sub 175k miles) 1hdt Canadian/Japanese 80.......and save yourself a year of downtime and probably be about $5k-10k less expensive than going the import/swap/downtime route.
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True, but you'll still have to go through all the maintenance/refresh on a Canadian or Japanese rig. And in the end, you're only option is a RHD vehicle. For me, RHD wasn't going to cut it.
 
I'm happier with my LHD swap too. I'm just not into RHD. One thing that hasn't been mentioned is how you modifiable the 1HDT is. There are some very fast hdj80s out there.
 
The core question is what people spend to do their swap, not if it is fiscally sound, nor the choice for all. It is expensive, and may never "pay off" in a monetary sense. As with @Rock40, I have easily $15-20k into my conversion. A half-cut would be helpful, but is not necessary, especially if from an RHD donor.

Personally I have always loved to tinker with mechanics, and the 1HD motors open up a whole world of fun where the 1FZ motor cannot go at all. Add the five speed and more boxes were checked for me. The diesels are a vehicular equivalent of a mechanical Swiss watch, where the gassers are an electronically controlled chronograph...both have a place and those who see one as better than the other.

Off to play with my injection pump as I work on eeking out further economy and power from my rig.
 
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