Offroad-Express

hi all,ive currently got a 1990 hilux surf with a stuffed 3y in it,i can rebuild it myself but thats just a waste of time for that sort of money,realisticly id like to put a small block 350 or 327 into it,BUT i have no idea how to match it to a gear box ,from what iv pick up u get a motor and then pick a common gear box like a strong diesel box and get a custom bell housing,is this correct?and if so where can i go to get one and find out more info,any help much appreciated

ive never done that sort of stuff but the "marks adaptor" kits seem to be used quite a bit.

Do a search on trademe and price up all the Lexus conversion bits you need.

At the end of the day you might find it costs about the same to get an EFI quad cam conversion. The only real additional effort is in getting the ECU wired in which isn't extremely difficult.

The factory computer can be used, sparkies seem to charge about $800 or so to wire it in to the existing loom, gauges etc.

The Lexus is significantly lighter than an iron blocked chev as well and EFI is great for hill work.

Matt.

cheers wacko,ill check that out,and yes matttman ,u do have very good points,ive been looking at the lexus v8s for a long time,only reason i say chev v8 is that my oldman has one sitting in a storage yard which came out of corvette which he used to run in his race car,BUT for the last 4!!!!! years its been sitting,will need a minor rebuild but with my qualifications this is simple so it was kinda a fact of trying to talk him into giving it to me for FREE!!!!!,just to keep the cost down u kno,have u urself done the lexus conversion or kno some one who has,id be very interedted in getting to kno a lil more about how it all works out,thanks guys

Where are you based? I know of a V8 prado conversion that is starting imminently in christchurch ...

Try lextreme.com for great conversion info, also member Clint on here has posted some great info on his conversion.

I bought mine already converted but have had to sort out a number of issues with it so I am quite familiar with the conversion process....

Matt.

Go the Chev But don't use a Marks kit... they have a dodgy reputation and the only NZ distributor they have is quite pricey (with no alternatives now they have appointed them SOLE distributor - sour grapes, you bet...)...

Dellows have a very nice kit lineup for Chev motors and the Chev will sound way better than the Lexus... And you'll save yourself a heap of cash... Its pretty well documented that a lexus conversion is going to cost you anywhere from $4500 up, and probably more like $5-6k... if you start with a free Chev, and spend say $1k freshening it up... and its carb'd (no computer woes) then you spend $1500 on the bellhousing, flywheel, clutch and associated hardware then you're going to come in at nearly half the cost, even with labour taken into account...

And you can do a bit of work to your cams and carbs to get massive low-down torque... try and work the Lexus for similar torque and see what $$$ you spend... the Lexus is a revvy motor built for power not torque

And Chevs fit in Hilux and Surf engine bays really well...

So, overall cost, modification cost and torque... Chev wins hands down.

The one thing the Lexus IS good for is the engine will work on stupid angles... the carb motors do suffer on steep angles... but LPG convert it and you'll not only overcome the cost of running to a certain degree but you'll also solve that problem since LPG is fed into the engine as a gas from a ring, similar to a gas ring on a camp stove - it works fine on any angle. A full pro LPG conversion costs around $2500 so you will probably STILL come in under the Lexus cost...

I'm not biased, I've just done these figures several times... Go the Chev

Steve

SupraLux wrote:Dellows have a very nice kit lineup for Chev motors

I havent seen the dellow kit for a hilux but the one I used in my cruiser made for an easy conversion, the bell housing was cast, drilled and tapped to pickup all the origional cruiser bits, clutch fork, slave cylinder mount, clutch cover/inspection plate etc....

My mate's got a hilux with a sbc, its a shoehorn fit but its in there and fits well.

Steve certainly knows his stuff for sure so I won't argue with him but here is some interesting info.

Complete 1UZFE off trademe $1200
Sparky to wire computer $800
Clutch, bellhousing, flywheel $1500

All your other costs are the same ie exhaust, radiator, fans, fuel pump.

The stock quad cam motor puts out about 260 ft/lb of torque @ 4400, perhaps a little bit high but still more than acceptable, I don't know if I would bother modding the motor for more power.

I will have to take a small vid of my Lexus revving so you can hear what it sounds like, whilst not as cool as a Chev they certainly sound awesome at full noise!

Matt.

hi there wjw im up in auk so thats a bit of a no go but thanks,checked out lextreme and got some good info matt,and steve,hi mate,i wondered if ur name would pop up in this thread,from what ive read u got a hand in most things and kno a hell of a lot,thanks for all ur comments,i really would like to use the chev if pos and like u say they fit well compared to the lexus which are a bit bigger,and yeh startn of with free chev does make a big diff,where bouts do u recommend i go for a dellow kit?also with ur pricen that u worked out what do u consider 'labour',plus yeh lpg would be a nice result in the end,not strait away but something i will work towards.thanks for the comments again matt,yeh those prices were similar to the ones i had found,like i say im gona have to take all these things into account,who knos,a lexus mite pop up cheap and the pros and cons may even out so its good have comments on both sides,cheers again guys