I’ve owned my LX450 for 6 years and knew for the last 3 years the head gasket has been on the way out. An injector went bad on me recently, so this my excuse to I’m take the plunge and swap the 1FZ for a LS.
I’m going for my dream configuration, a LS3 variant and a 6l80 transmission. Ideally this will be from a Denali, Escalade, Silverado. I plan on it passing the Texas emissions as I am moving to Austin.
This will be the first swap of this magnitude for me and from what I read the main pitfall is running out of energy/time before completing the project. With this in mind I want to to as much planning upfront as possible.
Any advice on this was is appreciated and I also have a couple of specific questions.
Headers:
What is the best options to get the exhaust to clear the frame rails and does anyone have a good exhaust shop in Austin they would recommend?
Oil Pan:
I was going to see how my doner pan fit, but am thinking about either getting a H3 or F-body pan. The other option may be to get a truck pan and modify it like the Mark’s pan. Does anyone have any additional advice on this?
Cooling:
I want to keep the stock radiator incase of replacement needed in a remote location. Does anyone have any advise for the best way to plumb the radiator. Does anyone make pipes for the cruiser conversion? I want to try and keep a mechanical fan. Does anyone know if the gen 3 truck with the mechanical fans will line up with the gen 4 Denali accessories? Does anyone make a shroud that would work for me or will it have to be something custom?
VSS:
Can you just use the VSS that comes out of the land cruiser transfer case? I was reading that you also need a low range input so the transmission ECU changes shift points. Do all ECU’s have the provision for low range input, or do I need to get done that has low range?
I’m really looking forward to this build and hope to have it done by easter next year for our annual trip to Moab. Any other advice that anyone has would be really appreciated.
This will be my first real write up on Mud and look forward to sharing another LS build on the forum.
Cheers,
Lindsay
I’m going for my dream configuration, a LS3 variant and a 6l80 transmission. Ideally this will be from a Denali, Escalade, Silverado. I plan on it passing the Texas emissions as I am moving to Austin.
This will be the first swap of this magnitude for me and from what I read the main pitfall is running out of energy/time before completing the project. With this in mind I want to to as much planning upfront as possible.
Any advice on this was is appreciated and I also have a couple of specific questions.
Headers:
What is the best options to get the exhaust to clear the frame rails and does anyone have a good exhaust shop in Austin they would recommend?
Oil Pan:
I was going to see how my doner pan fit, but am thinking about either getting a H3 or F-body pan. The other option may be to get a truck pan and modify it like the Mark’s pan. Does anyone have any additional advice on this?
Cooling:
I want to keep the stock radiator incase of replacement needed in a remote location. Does anyone have any advise for the best way to plumb the radiator. Does anyone make pipes for the cruiser conversion? I want to try and keep a mechanical fan. Does anyone know if the gen 3 truck with the mechanical fans will line up with the gen 4 Denali accessories? Does anyone make a shroud that would work for me or will it have to be something custom?
VSS:
Can you just use the VSS that comes out of the land cruiser transfer case? I was reading that you also need a low range input so the transmission ECU changes shift points. Do all ECU’s have the provision for low range input, or do I need to get done that has low range?
I’m really looking forward to this build and hope to have it done by easter next year for our annual trip to Moab. Any other advice that anyone has would be really appreciated.
This will be my first real write up on Mud and look forward to sharing another LS build on the forum.
Cheers,
Lindsay
