Diesel Crusier Conversion?

[jscusmcvet]

Snoozed and lost out... bummer. I did, however convince the wife that this might be a reasonable route to go, so it was good for that...

Thanks to all who offered good advice. I am quite interested now and may look into finding a 60 or 62 and working with profitts... we'll see.

Thanks,

John

[BreckBJ44]

You dodged a bullet Neo...

First, When you install a cummins, you need at least 4" of lift. Check out the picture of the undercarriage where the oil pan is about an inch from the axle. Not too much stuff room on that side! I won't bash any more of the serious issues as that should be enough of a deal breaker.

Second, save your cash and buy a BJ or HJ60 in Canada for half the price if not better. Stock engine, and no PO crap to deal with.

If you wanted to get an engine swapped into an FJ60 (there are a ton of cheap and nice ones in California), also check out Justin at Red Line Land Cruiser's work. Some of the best stuff being done today.

my .02

[alia176]

I know that I'm late to the party but was wondering about something. Why do a high percentage of converted landcruisers end up going up on the auction block? I've seen this with 60 and 80 series cruisers in the last two years. This is a major undertaking and a serious commitment on the owner's part. Was it due to disenchantment or over budget or something else? The economy probably plays a large part in this but I'd love to hear some real reasons, not speculations!

[JohnnyS]

Smog in CA no problem as long as its 1997 or older. The route to go is to use the form (forget the #) that is the vehicle inspection, one of the options is mode of operation (or similar). The check box options include: gas, diesel, hybrid, steam (serious), etc. You have the inspector check "diesel". Then you go in and register it and as its 1997 or older, no smog check, so no bar check. I did that on an 87 samurai with a european VW diesel. The inspectors have no idea if its a US diesel or not, they just want to hear it run so that it clatters and they, in good faith, can check "diesel". Took 5 minutes, no more smog!

I heard that they recently closed that "loophole", they are trying get everyone onboard with the new diesels running the addditive. Hence CA P&G auctioning their old fleet off outside of CA.
The AZ plates lead me to believe it they ran into issues registering it in CA.
However either way the bungee cord and lack of attention to detail in so many areas are probably indicative of no bueno.

[roscoFJ73]

I know that I'm late to the party but was wondering about something. Why do a high percentage of converted landcruisers end up going up on the auction block? I've seen this with 60 and 80 series cruisers in the last two years. This is a major undertaking and a serious commitment on the owner's part. Was it due to disenchantment or over budget or something else? The economy probably plays a large part in this but I'd love to hear some real reasons, not speculations!

We can only speculate because owners dont generally come onto forums and pour their heart and soul out over why their swap is being sold off way below cost.

A lot of people start off with a cheap engine and then try and make it fit rather than get an engine that is designed for their landcruiser .Other reasons are that the swap hasnt been really finished because they have run into a brick wall getting the small details finalised.
Sometimes the engine is not suited for a passenger vehicle which requires low rpms at freeway speeds.
I think potential swappers should pay the extra and get a Toyota diesel that is much easier to install and more satisfying to drive .It might cost more,but the resale will be better.
There are some good non Toyota swaps out there,but they require more thought.

[hks3sgte]

For less money you can track down a 25 year old+ JDM

Much nicer

[desmocruiser]

I know that I'm late to the party but was wondering about something. Why do a high percentage of converted landcruisers end up going up on the auction block? I've seen this with 60 and 80 series cruisers in the last two years. This is a major undertaking and a serious commitment on the owner's part. Was it due to disenchantment or over budget or something else? The economy probably plays a large part in this but I'd love to hear some real reasons, not speculations!

My thoughts exactly, you would think it would be the perfect vehicle with that level of energy, time and money.

May be like a friend of mine who built essentially the same house 4 times with very slight changes each time till he reached perfection in both home and neighborhood!

[ChuckDelta]

I was hoping to do a diesel conversion eventually, mostly to get more than 12 miles to the gallon, but I heard there was also an aftermarket hybrid conversion kit available...Has anyone ever seen one of these, and how do they compare to diesels in terms of fuel economy?

[hks3sgte]

aftermarket hybrid conversion kit

That has to be a joke

[Willy G]

^ not really, I plan on putting on in place of a 350,