Crash's 1988 Land Cruiser Build

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Nice progress Mark! I'm digging the Gauges you have picked out. The wiring looks like fun.....I'll pass on that. Excellent Hobart machine you have BTW.
Looking forward to next update.

Thanks Mike..

[Crash_OK]

Got the fuel system completed.. I used the existing Land Cruiser fuel lines. Although they are metric, the SAE flare nuts fit them well. I cut the metal line and double flared.




















Did a little work on the electrical system.





Got the shifter linkage completed.. It worked very well…

[Zoomin]

Mark, you need to quit your day job and do this full time.

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by Zoomin

Mark, you need to quit your day job and do this full time.

great idea Steve... but then I couldn't afford to have a project

[nuke1]

great build, I see that you have a good hand that can help you once in a while. give him a hard time for me ok. just so you know I love land cruisers, we use to have a fj, 78 I believe. Now I have to check out your 69 as that 4x4 is on my bucket list to build!!!!

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by nuke1

great build, I see that you have a good hand that can help you once in a while. give him a hard time for me ok. just so you know I love land cruisers, we use to have a fj, 78 I believe. Now I have to check out your 69 as that 4x4 is on my bucket list to build!!!!

Thanks... Mike has lots of skills...

[Crash_OK]

Update time..

I got all the engine connections completed.

Exhaust…















Transmission cross member spacer


Wiring








Gas Pedal




Air Intake I wanted to use the factory 5.3 air box.. It was just too big for the area I wanted to put it in…



Transmission lines – I normally would use metal tubing and bent them to fit.. But there really wasn’t a good path to run them. So I went with braid stainless hose - -AN6




Power Steering –



Finally.. I got a new tool box…





The engine fired right up.. I let it run for over 30 minutes.. It went up to temp and the fans came on and cycled. Had good oil pressure. The engine had been setting for a long time, and I have an injector or two that needs to be cleaned. I hope to get everything finished up this coming weekend and take it for a drive..

[mcbassin]

Excellent work on everything Mark! You make this stuff look too easy. You'll have people like me thinking they can do these swaps in a few weekends
Love the new tool box. Wish I had room for one of those in my tiny shop.

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Excellent work on everything Mark! You make this stuff look too easy. You'll have people like me thinking they can do these swaps in a few weekends
Love the new tool box. Wish I had room for one of those in my tiny shop.

Thanks Mike.. The hardest part of most of the swaps is getting all the pieces together before you start. It wasn't that hard on the 69 K10.. But it was a little more different with the LC.

Still not sure where I am going to fit the toolbox in my little shop ...

[EightiesOnly]

Looks great, nice choice on the thrush exhausts.

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by EightiesOnly

Looks great, nice choice on the thrush exhausts.

Thanks Landen... looking forward to hearing it with tailpipes..

[NONHOG]

Originally Posted by Crash_OK

The hardest part of most of the swaps is getting all the pieces together before you start.

Seems like your swap went as planned. Doesn't look like you went and redid several parts of the swap like somebody I know did.

As far as the hardest part, those wiring pictures you have look pretty intimidating.

Looking forward to video!

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by NONHOG

Seems like your swap went as planned. Doesn't look like you went and redid several parts of the swap like somebody I know did.

As far as the hardest part, those wiring pictures you have look pretty intimidating.

Looking forward to video!

I got lucky and didn't have to do much re-work...

The wiring can look intimidating.. I really did not need to get that far into the LC harness, but I hate having a bunch of wires and relays that have no purpose.. it makes it hard to trouble shoot...

[Frizzle Fry]

Looking good Mark. I am a huge LC fan. Looked hard at the 60/62 series myself for a while. Still want one! Ended up getting a 40 for my wife. I may do an LS swap. Where are those engine mounts from? They look like they may work for the 40.

Subscribed.

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by Frizzle Fry

Looking good Mark. I am a huge LC fan. Looked hard at the 60/62 series myself for a while. Still want one! Ended up getting a 40 for my wife. I may do an LS swap. Where are those engine mounts from? They look like they may work for the 40.

Subscribed.

Thanks

The motor mounts are from Advanced Adapters.. but Summitt sales them as well.. I believe they are designed for both the 40 and 6X LC...

[Crash_OK]

Update from last Sunday.. Got everything put back together

Wiring – I went ahead and ran the wires that will be need for the Dakota Digital Gauges.. They should be here in the next couple of weeks..





Installed the dashtopper to cover up the cracks in the original dash.. it really turned out great…
















Finished the air box.. I am attempting to keep the heat away from the air intake..




Then I finished everything else… everything is back together except the AC… I should have most of that done this weekend..







After I got everything back together I took it on it’s first drive with the new power plant. I drive it to get some gas… 7 miles round trip.. it ran great.. very smooth.. great power… I got it up to around 90 for a short burst.. very stable… Oil pressure was good, water temp was prefect, the fans operated correctly.

I do have a couple of issues.. one is I have knock in the engine.. it is very light.. and some people can’t hear it.. but I can… The other is I believe I have a injector or two that is bad.. the engine had sit for a long time. The knock sounds like a really light rod bearing problem, or maybe a wrist pin.. The funny thing is after I got back from my 7 mile trip I could not hear the knock for a while.. Then the injector issue flared up.. sounds like the engine is loading up with fuel.. as soon as that started I could lightly hear the knock.. I am wondering if I am dropping raw fuel on top of a piston and that is causing the knock. I am working with the place I got the engine, they say they will do whatever we need to do.. They gave me another set of injectors that I will change out this weekend to see if it helps…

Still have a few other items to finish before I declare it is finished..
1. Get the tailpipes installed.. I built the exhaust back to the mufflers, but I think I will take it to the muffler shop to get the tailpipes done.
2. Get the AC lines completed and evac and charge the AC.
3. Get the front driveshaft modified
4. Get the injector issue fixed
5. Get the engine knock issue fixed

[mcbassin]

Excellent progress as always Mark. Hope the knock is just the injector problem not something more serious.

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Excellent progress as always Mark. Hope the knock is just the injector problem not something more serious.

Thanks Mike, me too.. hopefully this weekend we figure it out... one way or the other.

I also want to thank you again for welding up my AC lines.. You make stuff like that so easy...

[straps57]

Like the build. Keep the updates coming.

[tune_1]

Great work. I have enjoyed each of your threads and what you did to solve the problems.

Thanks
Dwight

[Zoomin]

About time for another update to the saga!

Knock fixed?

Congrats on the drive!!!

[Crash_OK]

Thanks Steve

Update coming.. Not sure about the knock.. I am going to have Mike and Kyle listen to it when I see them next.

I love driving it..!!

[Crash_OK]

Update.. Been real busy at work and haven’t worked a great deal on the Land Cruiser. I did get my AC lines built.. Thanks Mike (TIG) and Kyle (crimp).. I have them installed and I am hoping to get it charged this evening. The AC was not working when I purchased the truck, so there may be some other issues, we will see.





I also built a Toyota to GM cruise control convertor. Not so much Toyota to GM, but more normally closed switch to normally open switch convertor. I built the same thing for my 69 K10 project, except I didn’t use a printed circuit board. It really only takes 2 relays to do this, but I added a third for a input into my new Dakota Digital Gauge set I hope to install in the next week or two.













Got the tailpipes done at a local muffler shop in Checotah Oklahoma.. They did a great job.



Found an hairline crack in the oil pan.. not sure how it got there, but it was there, no damage to the pan that I could see other than the crack.. I contacted my engine guy and he gave me a different pan to replace this one with.. I replaced it Sunday morning and all is good again. The original pan had some crud in the bottom of it, but no bearing material that I could see..



I have addressed a few of the items on my list from the last update…
1. Get the tailpipes installed.. I built the exhaust back to the mufflers, but I think I will take it to the muffler shop to get the tailpipes done.
DONE
2. Get the AC lines completed and evac and charge the AC.
Almost Done
3. Get the front driveshaft modified..
Taking it to the shop this week
4. Get the injector issue fixed
I think it is getting much better.. I have another set of injectors to install, but I think I will see if these continue to improve.
5. Get the engine knock issue fixed
This one is difficult.. It is not a knock like a main or rod, it could be piston slap.. or maybe it is nothing at all.. I swear I can hear something sometimes, but others do not hear it.. There are times I don’t hear it as well.. I have done a lot of reading on the L33 engine, and this noise appears to be common on some L33 and 5.3 in general.. As noted above I did not find bearing material in the oil pan I replaced. I still have a few weeks of warranty left, so I will continue to drive it and see if it gets worse.

I drove the Land Cruiser from Eufaula to Edmond (150 miles) yesterday afternoon.. Air Temp was around 96F. The oil pressure was solid at 50#@2400rpm, 35#@idle. Water temp never got over 205F and ran most of the time around 197F to 200F, I have a 195F Thermostat I believe. Transmission felt great, engine felt great. I set the Cruise to 77mph for most of the trip and it worked prefect. There were a few times I got into the gas pedal a little, and it has no problem moving.. The drivetrain is very smooth and noise free at speed. I got about 16mpg the best I can tell. Overall I am very happy with the swap.

I know there are people who are purist and would never degrade a Toyota with a GM engine, I get that, (I heard the same thing when I built the 69 K10 and the 5.3)but for those of us who are not purist, the 5.3 is a great power plant for this vehicle.

I am working on a spreadsheet with the cost for this swap and will post it soon; in addition I am working on a wiring schematic for the swap. Someone might find it useful in the future.

[tune_1]

Mark
Great to see that the trip to Edmond was good. Thanks for the thread on a different swap it is good to read and know the challenges.

Dwight

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by tune_1

Mark
Great to see that the trip to Edmond was good. Thanks for the thread on a different swap it is good to read and know the challenges.

Dwight

Dwight,

Thanks..