Crash's 1997 Lexus LX450 build

[Crash_OK]

Hello,

Time for the next victim.. I just purchased a 97 Lexus LX 450, before you start with the pink panty jokes just know I was looking for a Landcrusier, and ended up with this. The LX450 has 165000 miles and a bad engine. I had a chance to drive the LX450 about 12 miles before I started my tear down. Very loud knocking noise in the engine, it actually sounded like it was up high on the engine, but not sure. Everything else worked perfect.

As you can see below… I am planning on installing a LS based engine… This ties into my evil plan to LS power as many vehicles as I can before I die… lol

I currently have a few other Toyota’s… 2006 4 door, 4wd Tundra, stock except for a leveling kit (Struts), I bought it new.. it has 175000 miles on it now.. my wife has a 2014 FJ Cruiser, all stock.. so far… and I have a 88 FJ62, DD, that has been modified somewhat see my build http://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/mark...-build.806082/

.. I had at one time a 69 Chevy K10 that I completely went thru.. It was more of a restomod project.. late model 5.3 and 4L60e.. if you are ever bored you can find the build to it here
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=494599
.. lots of pictures… be warned.

Back to the Lexus, my plans for the Lexus are very similar to the FJ62.. Build a daily driver that I can go almost anywhere in… Below are my plans for the LX450
Drivetrain
Engine: 5.3 or 6.0
Motor mounts Marks4wd
Wiring Modified Factory Harness
Exhaust Manifolds Block Hugger headers?
Exhaust Custom
Fuel pump ??
Regulator Corvette Fuel filter
Fuel System AN hoses and fittings
Cooling Stock radiator with electric fans
Intake Stock intake tied to LX450 Air Filter
Transmission 4L60e or 4L65e
Shifter Modified LX450 and cable shift
Transfer case HF2
Trans to Transfer adapter Marks4wd
Lift
2.5" or 4" or 6"
Manufacture ?
Armor
Front Custom
Rear Custom
Sliders Custom
Wheels
Stock? Powder coated Black
Tires
295/75/16 Nitto?
Audio/Video
2DIN Nav system ?
Backup camera
Storage
Rear Custom 2 drawer..
Inverter ?
Lockers
ARB Maybe.. Someday


I will be documenting my build here, I am looking forward to hearing from other members of the forum on what I am doing right and what I am do wrong..

Here we go..

First day home..






Second Day

My son brought his trailer and we moved the Lexus to the Shop.. (on Lake Eufaula, about 140 miles from my home).







Later that evening I started on step one.. cleaning up the interior. Looked like a lot of cokes and coffee may have been dropped on the carpet..












Day 3: After the cleaning.. There were still a few stains.. but it is now clean.. turned out very well.. I used a strong power washer to clean the carpet.. I did the same with the FJ62 and it turned out nice as well.






I decided to go ahead and pull the drivetrain as well.. Wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.. took a about 3 hours by myself.. Tip: if you are pulling the engine, transmission, and transfer case as one unit, be sure and remove the transfer case shifter from the top of the transmission before you start the pull.
















I have parts ordered from Marks4wd.. I ordered the
4L60E 6 bolt to LandCruiser 4-speed auto HF2A Transfer Case MFK1195AE6
And
Engine Mount Kit - LS Series V8 to LandCruiser 80 & 105 Series MFK1765EM

It was expensive, but with the current exchange rate I got it all shipped for right at $1300..

Still working on getting the engine and transmission. I have a guy that I have purchased the last two engine swaps from, so he is looking to see what he has…

Also looking for a lift kit.. anybody have a ideas on where I should go to get a lift kit?

Have a great day
Mark

[Xeen]

I love the idea of this build, I can just see the advertisement now.

1997 Lexus LX 450
Chevrolet LS 5.3 swap
Lifted
Don't miss this one!

This is going to be a fun build.

[SamsAutoParts73-87]

Looks like another great build, will be following for sure!

[jjzepplin]

Oh yeah! I'm in. I love pink panties...

[Greenlee]

Cool build! This thing is going to be bad ass!

[Low Elco]

Well, this oughta be interesting....

[mcbassin]

Subscribed for another cool build....

[tune_1]

Looking forward to your new project.

Dwight

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by Xeen

I love the idea of this build, I can just see the advertisement now.

1997 Lexus LX 450
Chevrolet LS 5.3 swap
Lifted
Don't miss this one!

This is going to be a fun build.

Thanks.. we will see... hopefully I can get started on it this weekend.

Originally Posted by SamsAutoParts73-87

Looks like another great build, will be following for sure!

Thanks

Originally Posted by jjzepplin

Oh yeah! I'm in. I love pink panties...

Thanks

Originally Posted by Greenlee

Cool build! This thing is going to be bad ass!

I hope so...

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Well, this oughta be interesting....

No doubt..

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Subscribed for another cool build....

Thanks Mike..

Originally Posted by tune_1

Looking forward to your new project.

Dwight

Thanks Dwight...

[mx289]

Always enjoy your builds.

I will follow along for sure.

[EightiesOnly]

Subscribing

[Crash_OK]

Update time.. It has been over a month since I worked on the LX450. I got busy with work, family, and other projects. One of those projects was building a 12x12 storage building to store some stuff I have collected over the last 4 years. I started out designing an 8x8 storage building and finally settle on a 12x12, and I still don’t think I went large enough. Below are a few pictures of the building construction.
















Enough of that.. I received my parts from Mark’s 4wd very quickly.



Including the motor mounts…


First thing was to test fit the new Mark’s 4wd (MFK1765EM) mounts..

Passenger side looked good.

Except for the firewall.. nothing that can’t be fixed with a few blows from a hammer.

Driver’s side mount fit ok

First issue… No clearance between the power steering pump and the steering gear box. I removed the power steering reservoir and that helped a little bit, but the pump pulley than hit. This issue was discussed by Brentok in one of the earlier post. It appears he was correct…


I really like the design of the motor mounts and that they use the factory rubber mounts, so I consider either relocating the power steering or using a remote reservoir and smaller power steering pulley. Before I went that route I decided to see if I would be able to use the stock transmission mounts and drive shafts with this setup. So I installed the transmission and transfer case adapter and discovered that this setup shifts everything back a couple of inches.. This would require new or modified drive shafts, in the end I decided that the Mark’s 4wd mounts were not worth the extra effort.

While I was thinking about what I would do about motor mounts, I decided to start on the rebuilding of the 4l60e core I have.
Teardown








Power wash time for the engine bay..
Before





After






Reassembly of the 4l60e.. not sure what I was thinking, but I did not get many pictures of this process. I think I was focusing so hard on making sure that I did this right, that I forgot to get any pictures..





Once again.. I was focused.. so we are here now




Replaced 4l60e parts..




Wiring..
Converting the GM harness to stand alone.. This is not a difficult process.. this is the 4 one I have done… it takes a little while to do it, but it can save you lots of money…









Went with a aftermarket fuse box on this build.. I have used the factory GM fuse box before.. it saves you money and time.. but is big and would not fit where I wanted it to on this build.






Cleaned up the LX450 harness..


Bolted the Transmission, adapter, and Transfer case together..

Cleaned up the engine and about ready to bolt it all together…

and started on the transfer case shifter bracket.



Welded the plates to the new motor mounts.. the plates help spread the load and reduce the vertical welds on the frame..



Installed the motor, transmission, and transfer case all together.





Mounted the electric fans..


Fuel Filter…

Transmission cooling lines



I installed the drive shafts and determined that a lift kit will be needed for the front drive shaft.. It is very close, but I think a 2” lift would give me plenty of clearance.. so I will be researching lift kits this week..

[mcbassin]

Very nice progress Mark! You make these swaps look too easy....
Keep up the good work!

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Very nice progress Mark! You make these swaps look too easy....
Keep up the good work!

Thanks Mike... I really appreciate your help last weekend with the broke exhaust bolts..

Looking forward for your next project.

[andrewmp6]

I think your nuts but wanna see this finished.

[MalibuSSwagon]

I like that fuseblock where did you get it?

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by MalibuSSwagon

I like that fuseblock where did you get it?

It is a Bussmann.. you can get them lots of places.. I got this one at Waytekwire.. They come in lots of different configurations.. below is what I used.


http://www.waytekwire.com/item/46344...i-Fuse-Panel-/

[Crash_OK]

Update – I had a little time last week to work on the LX450.. I started out with getting the power steering system together. I used a Russell 648060 PS to AN fitting and -6an fittings and hose on the pressure side. This is very similar to what I did on the FJ62 LS swap and it has worked great.


I used the existing suction hose and cooler to connect the suction side of the 5.3 PS pump..






New water pump and idler pulleys..





Lower radiator hose…






Heater Hose




Finished up the wiring and most of the plumping under the hood… except for the plug wires..







Put the frontend back on…




I started on the shifter mods and looking at the exhaust.. hopefully I can get pack on this soon..

[BlueJeep]

Originally Posted by Crash_OK

It is a Bussmann.. you can get them lots of places.. I got this one at Waytekwire.. They come in lots of different configurations.. below is what I used.


http://www.waytekwire.com/item/46344...i-Fuse-Panel-/

Looks great! Question on the ignition wires (pinks). Looks like you tied a lot of them together, and used 3 fuses. Any concern with many 18 gauge wires running into a single 18 gauge wire before the fuse, if only for a little run to the fuse? Thanks!

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by BlueJeep

Looks great! Question on the ignition wires (pinks). Looks like you tied a lot of them together, and used 3 fuses. Any concern with many 18 gauge wires running into a single 18 gauge wire before the fuse, if only for a little run to the fuse? Thanks!

Thanks

no... 18 gauge can carry 30 amps for up to 3 ft. that 3 inch piece should be good for much more than the fuses that I am using on each circuit.

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by andrewmp6

I think your nuts but wanna see this finished.

Thanks....!! I think....

[mcbassin]

Awesome progress Crash! Crazy how fast you are getting this project done.
Keep up the good work.

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Awesome progress Crash! Crazy how fast you are getting this project done.
Keep up the good work.

Thanks Mike.... We need to get together and have a cold beer...

[Crash_OK]

Update…

Had a few hours this last weekend to work on the project… Started by getting the Transmission shifter installed. I used a cable and some homemade brackets to connect the LX450 shifter and the 4L60e. It worked out well, I do not have it set up to manually go into 1st gear, I doubt I will ever need that functionality, but if I do I will address the problem then. Also the custom mount I made for the Transfer case shifter worked out prefect.




You can see the three bolts and fender washers for the shifter end of the shift cable in this picture.



I didn’t get any picture of the bracket. I will try to getting something later.
Sub-woofer going back in.



Console in place





All the wiring completed under the passenger side dash (expect the Tach signal convertor.. still waiting on it.



Seats installed.. Finished up under the driver’s side dash as well (except for the gas pedal)



Started working on the Air Intake system





I also got the wiring connected to the stock fuel pump and it appears to have plenty of pressure for the 5.3.. not sure about the volume yet, but I am going to give it a try. I am running the stock FJ62 pump on my 88 land cruiser with the same engine… and it has been fine for over 33000 miles.. and I drive it hard, so maybe we will get lucky.


Hopefully I can get back on this in the next few days… Below is a high level punch list that I need to complete.
• Install Tach Signal Convertor
• Modify and Install DBW pedal
• Install new gear on Passenger power seat.. It is stripped out.
• Exhaust
o Considering swapping out the block hugger headers for Hooker cast iron manifolds.
o Need to decide if I am going to do the exhaust system, or have it custom bent for me.. leaning toward custom bent
o Going to use magnaflow 2 in to 2 x-pipe muffler
• Install lift kit going with 3 inch leveling kit – This is needed for the 4l60e/driveshaft clearance
o New brake lines
• Install plug wires
• Install O2 sensors
• Finish up the air intake system
• Brake booster hose
• Modify OBDII port to allow the fuse box cover to work with my ScanGauge
• Install rear seats and the rest of the interior
• Figure out what I am going to do about tires.. Leaning toward 315/75/16 or 295/75/16 tires on the stock wheels.. not sure about the width of the tire to wheel. Thought about 255/85/16, but tough to find and might be to skinny…
• Re-check every bolt on the drive system

[mcbassin]

Update?