Hey guys from across the pond..

Currently on with SAS'in & V8'in my truck. It's my first major project like this, done a few projects with smaller cars, but nothing involving so much surgery.

Progress..im pretty much at a point ready to start, my old motor is out (3.0l TD) and i cut off the IFS yesterday point of no return now. Almost got the frame tidy, then to start some fab.

No going back now, truck is either going to be rolling with a SA & V8, or scrapped.!!



not had time to get the frame 100% today, but almost there..





Even bigger hole now..




I have creeper joints from TG & a surplus of 5mm steel..do you think this would be strong enough? I know the TG kit is just over 6mm, but to be fair, there stuff does seem to be designed to be indestructible. My truck won't see anywhere near as much hammer as you guys can dish out on your trails


Engine..



Mostly stripped for service, done the cam belt and water pump, just need to strip the intake for a clean..new dissy caps and rotors, plugs and leads. Cost more to service the engine than i paid for the car

 

Lookin good so far!

 

Grreat build. My wife and I got to spend two weeks in North Wales in the winter of 2006. We loved it. I think we made to about every castle. My wife still has little sheep all over the house. She even made me take her to Port Marion so she could get the tea set that she has always wanted.

 

Cool I've never been to pot merino and it's on 40mins away..the things we take for granted eh.?

Was thinking it would be cool to do a foreign exchange, a wk wheeling here for a wk wheeling there kinda thing..

 

A wheeling trip exchange sounds like a great idea. I would love to come back again. Unfortunately I would not be able to make it over there for a few years. I am close to retirement from the Marines. So the next little while is time to buckle down and get ready for a real job. Also wheeling around me is not that great. We would need to head west some and get into the Appalachian foot hills. I would recommend you try to do an exchange with one of the guys from out west.

Post it up in the classified section. It would be a great deal for someone.

 

looks like something from transformers.
looking good man .. subscribed .. and more pics

 

Since no one else asked... Shipping of your old 3.0 TD to US?

 

lol..I couldnt afford to ship an IFS eliminator kit, so i think the oil burner would cost, easy a couple of thousand dollars. Best way to do it would be a shipping container at around a thousand dollars i think, plus room for a ton of other junk in there.

Just to make your day, i sold the diesel for $80

 

80 Euro? thats like... 160 US.... Ugh... i hate you...

 

80Euros=108.27 USD
80pounds=128.12 USD

Now i hate him too!

subscribed!

 

lol..sorry guys, even worse, i did mean $80, £50

Not going to be able to work on it for a few days i think. Due to work and general life, i think this is going to be a slow one compared to some threads I've read.

 

I do have to ask. How do you find anything in that garage.

 

LOL..that was after a days work, before tidying. As you can see from the engine shot, you can normally see the floor.!

It is a chore tho, shuffling boxes of bits around before i start work..I've worked in worse tho..

 

Now thats a project! good luck, I'll be watching. why didnt you like the 3.0?

 

hey guys..little update. I have been working on it honest! :hammer:



Engine, autobox from Lex' and transfer case all in situ. :cheer:

Only temporary however, in place for mock-up. :haha:

Ive been working on the SAS mainly & got to fabbing the lower link/chassis mounts. Im using a press for bends & cant get tight enough to the chassis with it. That got me thinking on incorporating the lower link mounts into the crossmember, seen as the Lex' motor pushes the whole assembly back almost 2" and with the 2" body lift, the trans' would need to go up as well.

So i need some crossmember ideas, came up with this earlier..







could 'probably' get some 10mm bent up locally. but how to mount it to the chassis? Dont really want to weld it permanent, make life hard work changing parts.


other than that ive been making steady progress, fabbed up mounts for the axle



upper link mount

had a little panic, wondering if my welds would be strong enough so i stiched a bit of scrap together, threw some tonnes at it in the press then beat on it with a big hammer..





seemed to hold up ok which gave me a little more confidence.

Still so much to do tho..

 

What Lexus is that Motor out of?

 

LS400, but I've swapped the oil filter mount & sump off an SC400 (soarer) to help with the SAS.

The LS400 filter mount fouls the frame & has the oil pan at the front. SC sump has a more mid/rear pan to help clear the solid axle & sites the oil filter within the frame.

So.. If you want SAS and V8, you're better off getting a soarer as a donor. IFS and V8 get an LS400 donor

 

Subscribed.
Didn't know you were doing this. I need to pay more attention at hiluxsurf. Looking good mate,
Tony

 

TonyN.?

Ok, got the x-member cut-in and rear link mounts tacked on. I'm going to bolt it to (x4) 8mm angle plates welded to the chassis. Gives me a 30mm flange to bolt thru..I may run a brace from the top of the plate to chassis yet..see how it goes when bolted up.





Gonna slow right down now tho I think, need to order steering components from the states before I can finalise the position of everything. Still need to fab a few more mounts, extend the front shaft, overhaul the axle and mount the engine proper..



engine is 10-15mm too low here, but shows how nice and simple the mounts should be..famous last words..lol :banghead:

Seems like I've been busting my balls on it with not much to show, but it's coming together..slowly

 

Nice work.
From your picture of the motor mount looks like it will be an easy adaption.

Good luck