1KZ-TE Conversion in Hilux

[U-BOAT]

Ok so i started this in December and have decided to post the progress so far.



I brought a mint 130k's from new Doublecab Hilux and drowned it on a trip beneath the Karamea Bluff. The motor had bend three rods, cracked a pistion, cracked the block, seized water pump, you get the idea. After deciding just to put another 2.4 in the truck, i managed to pick up a complete running 2wd singlecab for $90 and proceed to put that motor in my truck.



That motor went well, until a nasty rattling started when it got hot, more like nuts and bolts gringing inside the motor. After inspection we narrowed it down to a loose precup in the head. Faced with rebuilding or getting another 2.4, i started looking around for something with more power. I came up with this



a local 3.0L surf that had been rolled on the Lewis Pass, and they had no insurance on it. Upon getting it home the change over began.



After taking both cabs off, we got the chassis side by side to see what was differant, the same etc.

[SupraLux]

Isn't owning a forklift AND a hiab just a little bit greedy? Why not just use a few manuka poles and some cheap ratchet tiedowns like eveyone else?

Keep it coming tho

Steve

[Macca]

Very interesting keep it coming. Am looking at this as a possible future upgrade to my truck also. Pity to hear you have had 2 2lt's demo themselves on you. but what better excuse for more power

[DieselBoy]

Was that Jeromes old Surf??

I'm surprised i didn't bump into you down there, i lived there for two years and haven't been in Hamilton long, do you go out with the Buller 4x4 club??

[U-BOAT]

Isn't owning a forklift AND a hiab just a little bit greedy? Why not just use a few manuka poles and some cheap ratchet tiedowns like eveyone else?

Its amazing what a couple of boxes of beer can do, plus having some good mates Steve, as much as i wish i had my own forklift in the backyard i dont

Was that Jeromes old Surf??

I'm surprised i didn't bump into you down there, i lived there for two years and haven't been in Hamilton long, do you go out with the Buller 4x4 club??

No that wasnt Jeromes Surf, his was 2.4 Turbo, its still in town but not being 4wd. Only joined in January this year, after deciding to start doing things properly throught the right channels, managed to go with the club to Station Creek in a mates vehicle but hopefully have my truck ready for the next trip.

Back to the buildup, we got the Doublcab chassis sitting in the garage



and found out that the engine mounts on the Surf were two inches further back on either side compared to the Hilux, once the mounts were cut off and moved back, the motor simply bolted in. What i found was the Surf gearbox cross member and the Hilux cross member were both the same distancet back from the front of the chassis, so the Surf cross member went straight in without haveing to modify anything. The surf one had to be used because the Automatic Tranmission is longer and the cross member has a plate that extends back off the cross member.



The photo above only just shows the plate that is bolted to the cross memeber and extends back with the gearbox mount. i also made a new exhaust out of 2.5inch tubing, mounting it up higher than the old one to keep it out of the way.

[U-BOAT]

heres the progress so far. after taking the motor back out i got the engine mounts fully welded in and touched up the welds on the gearbox crossmember mounts etc as the factory ones are shit. after buffing around the welds and most of the chassis i painted some rustkill on and prepared to cut out the front crossmember and replace with something worthy of mounting a winch off of!




here's the chassis braced so it doesnt distort and become difficult to realign.



the crossmember gone and with one corner left to cold chisel out



the gaping hole in the front of the chassis, could uce some rustkill in there too



so this is the makings of the new crossmember. a piece of 65x65x6 box. a hell of a lot beefier than the original!



its going to sit slightly proud of the chassis rails as it is 10mm furthe out of the chassis rails than the old one.



so what i've done is spin up 5 20mm round bar lengths on the lathe and then tapped with 12mm hole. on the back of the crossmember i have a 20mm hole with a chamferred edge for better welding while on the front a 12mm hole for the bolts to go through. all the holes have been drilled in the same place as the originals with the exception of a centre hole and all holes lined up horizotally unlike the original which has the outermost slightly higher.





the theory behind this is that even tough the round bar is welded only on the back with the winch bar always pulling forward it is going to take a f**kload of effort to pull throught the box section. as the original LN65's have extra mounts on top of the crossmember whereas 106's don't i built some new one's out of leftover 65mm box.





thats enough for tonight with a bit of luck i'll post some phots of whats been done to the cab. cheers marc.

[kaney]

great work, should be gud when its done. keep it up