Crash's 1997 Lexus LX450 build

[notsolo]

Hey Mark Very impressive build, bit of a shoe horn fit but it looks like it was made that way. Quality work and you actually finish these projects and run the heck out of them. Awesome ......Ed

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by notsolo

Hey Mark Very impressive build, bit of a shoe horn fit but it looks like it was made that way. Quality work and you actually finish these projects and run the heck out of them. Awesome ......Ed

Thanks... it is a little tighter fit than the 88 fj62 was.. I was surprised by that.. but there really is a lot of room around the engine... should have any problems getting to stuff...

Once again thanks...

[mcbassin]

Update?

[Crash_OK]

Update time.. it has been 6 weeks since my last update.. Very busy with work, family, holidays, ice storms, earthquakes, etc...

Got the interior back together… with most of the internal wiring completed.





Then all progress stopped.. for a while.. we had our first ice storm of the year on Nov. 30th and I had a tree fall on my home… It really didn’t cause that much damage but it did scare the hell out of us at 3:00am. Lol.. took a little bit to clean it up..





Back to the LX450..

Decide to go with the Hooker cast iron manifolds instead of the advanced adapter block hugger headers. I like the way that fit better and they exit in a better location than the block huggers.






Replaced the evap solenoid with a custom piece that a good friend made for me.. Thanks again.. Mike (mcbassin)





Built a plate to mount the DBW foot pedal assembly. It mounts in the original LX450 foot pedal mounting holes.






Modified the assembly by added the LX450 pedal.




All together..





It was then time for wheels and tires.. after pricing what I thought I wanted, I decide to wait and see if I could find anything used… a quick search on Craigslist found a set of 4 BFG AT T/A 315/75/R16’s.. New never been mounted.. I was able to negotiate a decent price.. $750.. That made the wheel selection easy.. I decided to go with the factory LX450 wheels..




Before I could mount the wheels and tires, I had a couple of task to complete…

One rear brakes… The rear rotors were so thin they were falling apart.. Decide it was time to replace them..



New..



Next step was lift kit.. I decided to go with OME.. I bought a 3” front – 2” back leveling lift.. Very pleased with it.. rides a little rough.. but that should get better after I had the rear storage and spare tire, and front winch. I have some surface rust so I decided to clean and POR15 the Coil Spring mounting pads..
Rear







Front







Brackets..






It was getting close to time to mount the wheels and take it for a spin.. but before I did that, I wanted to paint the wheels black…


Sanded the clear coat off and then masked…



Primer..





Sorry.. forgot to take picture of painting the wheels..
Mounted.. And the LX450 is now drivable..












Next step was getting the Tach working and reading accurate.. I decided to go with the Dakota Digital SGI-8E.. Less than $90, and I have found that Dakota Digital produces reliable interfaces… This was very easy to setup and calibrate.



Mounted it in the passenger kick panel area.



I took the LX450 to the local Muffler shop to get the exhaust done.. They did a great job… ran both pipes down the passenger side.. I provide them the muffler.. went with the Mangaflow 11385.. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/mpe-11385/overview/ I really like it.. I had the pipes exited in the stock LX450 location, and I love the way it sounds.. much better and somewhat quieter than the setup on my 88 FJ62.. Once again I apologize for not getting pictures.. it was late when they finished and they were in a hurry to leave. I will get some the next time I have it on a lift.

I mentioned earlier that I had an issue.. I had the heater control valve fall apart on me during a high speed test run.. Luckily I caught it early and shut it down..




Replaced it with on from NAPA.. direct fit..


Built a bracket and installed my ScanGauge II ..


So far.. all the gauges are correct expect for the Speedometer and the oil pressure.. the speedometer is off due to the larger tires.. The oil pressure in another story.. later..


To correct the speedometer I decided to go to Dakota Digital again.. this time for their SGI-5 E speed interface.. Once again.. very simple to use.. Mounted in the same location as the Tach interface.




Now everything is right except for the oil pressure…

Time to haul the trailer back to my sons house…






Next step was to get the transmission selector position indicators working on the dash.. There are probably many ways to accomplish this.. this is how I did it.. I used the Sift Range A, B, C from the GM PCM to create a 3 to 8 decoder that I connected to the inputs to the gauge indicators. My solution uses 7 small signal relays.







Next I decided to address the Cruise Control. I initially setup the cruse using a momentary SPDT rocker and a SPST switch. But I wanted to make the factory LX450 control work. Anyone that has looked into this before knows that this is not an easy task due to the wat Toyota implemented on these vehicles. In order to make this work I decided I need to use a Analog to Digital convertor (ADC). After some research I decided to use a LM339N voltage comparator as the core to my ADC. I first used a prototyping bread board to validate my theory.







1st prototype..
Looks really nice..







Problem is that it don’t work correctly.. I designed it to use some of the existing signals from the LX450 Cruise control Computer. That was a bad plan due to the errors the system was seeing from not having the original PCM.

Back to the drawing board..
New design..











I used the original Cruise Control connector.. ignore the soot on the wires.. I used a bad lighter to shrink the heat shrink.




This version works great… except for the Cancel.. Cruise Control Cancel is not a function that the GM PCM has, however, I believe I can you the stop light wire to control the Cancel.. Need to do a little testing first, I will let you know what I find..




Driving expression.. The LX450 is a much more refined driving experience when compared to the FJ62.. That is to be expected of course.. The LX450 doesn’t seem as quick as the FJ62, of course that is most likely to the 35” vs 33” tires.. and part time vs full time 4wd. I really enjoy driving both.. and they both have a place in my garage.. Time will tell which one get drove the most..

Punch List
Install Tach Signal Convertor DONE
Modify and Install DBW pedal DONE
Install new gear on Passenger power seat.. It is stripped out. DONE
Exhaust DONE
Considering swapping out the block hugger headers for Hooker cast iron manifolds. DONE
Need to decide if I am going to do the exhaust system, or have it custom bent for me.. leaning toward custom bent DONE
Going to use magnaflow 2 in to 2 x-pipe muffler DONE
Install lift kit going with 3 inch leveling kit – This is needed for the 4l60e/driveshaft clearance DONE
New brake lines DONE
Install plug wires DONE
Install O2 sensors DONE
Finish up the air intake system DONE
Brake booster hose DONE
Modify OBDII port to allow the fuse box cover to work with my ScanGauge DONE
Install rear seats and the rest of the interior DONE
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… DONE
Re-check every bolt on the drive system DONE

Need to do…
Figure out Oil pressure gauge
Need to get backup lights working
Remote Start
Nav system
Rear storage
Winch
Spare tire
Center caps
Engine Cover
Rebuild seal front axle
Front brake rotors and pads

[BlueJeep]

Looks great! I didn't know those were full float on the rear axle, that will never break!

I'm curious why you didn't retain the EVAP. Care to share your opinions?

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by BlueJeep

Looks great! I didn't know those were full float on the rear axle, that will never break!

I'm curious why you didn't retain the EVAP. Care to share your opinions?

..Thanks..

[mcbassin]

Awesome work Mark! I don't know how you do it man.....Insanely goal oriented and focused. Keep up the good work.

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Awesome work Mark! I don't know how you do it man.....Insanely goal oriented and focused. Keep up the good work.

Thanks Mike...

[Crash_OK]

Time for some updates.. I have been very busy at work this year so I have not had time to document the little work that I have done to the LX450. I will try to get the thread caught up.

March 2016
AC Lines… I got ready for summer by getting the AC operational on the LX450.















April 2016
Time to service the front axle.











Forgot to take any pictures after that.. Sorry

[Crash_OK]

May 2016
Carpet
Installed new carpet – not many pictures sorry





Rear Storage
I decide to pull the real storage system that I built for the FJ62 and use it in the LX450 until I have time to build one for the LX450.



May 31st - 2016
Hit the 10,000 mile mark.. Everything is doing well.. This is my daily driver, and I is my favorite build to-date.



July 31st 2016
180,000 mile mark.. ~14,000 miles since swap



Sept. 2016
Installed a Gentex mirror, I will post pictures of the completed job later…

[Crash_OK]

Had a spare L33 laying around and decided to rebuild it.

Back from the machine shop..






Reworked an old head bolt to chase the head bolt threads.


Cleaning tools..



Prep for build


Crank is in place



Pistons




Torqueing rod bolts



Pistons installed





Oct. 2016
Heads on..

[Crash_OK]

Oct. 19th 2016 –
Got the oil pressure gauge to work. It was the gauge that was bad, simple fix after I figured out the issue.



Nov. 4th 2016
Hit the 20,000 mile mark….. Still going strong..








Update - to do list

Need to do…
Figure out Oil pressure gauge - Done
Rear storage - Done
Winch
Spare tire - Done
Center caps - Ordered
Engine Cover - Done
Rebuild seal front axle - Done
Front brake rotors and pads - Done

[mcbassin]

Nice work on everything Crash! Glad to see you putting all those miles on this puppy. I dig the new engine too. Where are you going to put that?

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Nice work on everything Crash! Glad to see you putting all those miles on this puppy. I dig the new engine too. Where are you going to put that?

Thanks Mike... Not sure on the new engine.. I might put it in the Lexus and then rebuild the one I take out for the Land Cruiser.. Not sure... I am also thinking about sell the Land Cruiser to fund another project.. hopefully a 1st Gen Camaro...

[tune_1]

Thanks for posting I enjoy your detailing the solutions that you used to fix the problems.

Dwight

[screaminchevypickup]

great work Mark..

[Zoomin]

Cool build Mark. I really love the electric schematics and the Radio Shak parts - hell, anyone could do it!

Have you sold the FJ yet?

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by Zoomin

Cool build Mark. I really love the electric schematics and the Radio Shak parts - hell, anyone could do it!

Have you sold the FJ yet?

Thanks Steve.. I think the electronics is my favorite part of these builds.

I have not sold the FJ62, I cannot bring myself to it.. I hope to do some rust and dent repair this summer on it.. Paint it and rebuild the $250 4l60e that I got off of craiglist in the fall..

Still have the Camaro?

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by tune_1

Thanks for posting I enjoy your detailing the solutions that you used to fix the problems.

Dwight

Thank you..

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by screaminchevypickup

great work Mark..

Thanks Kyle.. I need to come see you soon..

[Zoomin]

Originally Posted by Crash_OK

Thanks Steve.. I think the electronics is my favorite part of these builds.

I have not sold the FJ62, I cannot bring myself to it.. I hope to do some rust and dent repair this summer on it.. Paint it and rebuild the $250 4l60e that I got off of craiglist in the fall..

Still have the Camaro?

Indeed I still have Camaro, but it has been to Laid Back for one of Kyle's makeovers. I took it to Good-guys last weekend and even auto crossed it a bit. The car has been totally transformed.

Check out the build by clicking the link in my sig.


My son bought a 78 Land Cruiser that is in dire need of an LS transplant - slow as a slug and is thirsty. I remembered he FJ project and started studying that. Lots of great ideas and how to in there - thanks for documenting it so wel!

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by Zoomin

Indeed I still have Camaro, but it has been to Laid Back for one of Kyle's makeovers. I took it to Good-guys last weekend and even auto crossed it a bit. The car has been totally transformed.

Check out the build by clicking the link in my sig.


My son bought a 78 Land Cruiser that is in dire need of an LS transplant - slow as a slug and is thirsty. I remembered he FJ project and started studying that. Lots of great ideas and how to in there - thanks for documenting it so wel!

Wow... that is a great looking car.. as you know I was looking for a 1st Gen Camaro, without much luck.. I had actually started looking at 2nd Gen, 70-73, hoping I could find a decent deal.. After seeing Darth, I think I am back to the 1st Gen again.. lol

Let me know if I can help any with the Land Cruiser project!

[LT7A]

Interesting build that suddenly ended. Would be cool to know what happened with the motor you were putting together and whether or not you're still running these rigs. Thanks for all that you took the time to document in here.

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Interesting build that suddenly ended. Would be cool to know what happened with the motor you were putting together and whether or not you're still running these rigs. Thanks for all that you took the time to document in here.

Crash is still running these rigs. maybe he will update here....