LX450 1HZ Turbo Diesel & 5speed swap

[MtnToys]

I posted this swap on mud awhile back but figured expo might find it interesting/useful too. Hopefully this thread will help if you’re considering a 1HZ/D swap.
I swapped a 1HZ with a safari turbo kit, R151 transmission and split tcase into a LX450. I’ve put over 9000 miles on the truck since “finishing” the conversion in December. Running 255/85/16 cooper st at 45psi and load with me + wife + our aussie + gear for a 3 week cross country trip it got 19mpg on back roads. It got 15-16mpg doing 70-75mph. At 75mph the engines turning 2700rpm…I see 35’s in the future. Unloaded exploring around my house it consistently gets 21mpg. The mileage really shines off the pavement. In a weekend of camping/wheeling my friends 1fz used 3/4 of a tank and the 1hz used a ¼ tank. The low end torque of the 1hz is awesome. It’ll idle and craw up anything with the stock gearing.



This is a list of all the parts purchased for the swap after the engine, tranny and tcase.


After collecting all the parts, the swap was strait forward. The 1HZ bolts to the existing frame mounts. I made new tcase cross member mounts that tucking the tcase above the frame. I plan to make a tcase skid plate that ties in the factory cross member frame mounts with the cross member. The rear drive shafted needed to be lengthened. The stock 70 series driveshaft fit in the front.


Almost a flat belly


For the wiring I pinned out the 1HZ harness then spent an evening with the LX450 wiring diagrams to figure out where to splice it in. I spliced a majority of the engine harness into the IL1 connector under the dash. These are my notes

 

[MtnToys]

The clutch pedal assembly and master cylinder is from a LDH euro 80. After drilling two bolt holes in the fire wall it all bolted up. The pedal is spring assisted. The springs are too strong for the smaller slave cylinder on the R151 trans resulting in no pedal feel/effort. I would assume it works great with a H series transmission. After removing the spring, the clutch was smooth and feels great. If I did this swap again I’d try using a pedal assembly and clutch master from a 3rd gen 4runner or Tacoma. The Clutch pedal on my 97 4runner is very similar to the 80 series pedal. I tried to match the pedal spacing to my 97 4runner. This required moving the brake pedal closer to the accelerator pedal.


The vacuum reservoir is made out of exhaust pipe. That’s a low vacuum warning switch.

 

[MtnToys]

Webasto
I love this thing! The heater core outlet goes to the webasto inlet. The webasto outlet is “T” to the heater core inlet on the 1HZ and to a valve to the heater core inlet. This allows the Webasto to heat either the engine and heater core or just the heater core. The rear heat switch (rear heat was removed) is wired up to run the dash blower motor on medium speed off the aux battery. The webasto is also wired off the aux battery. It’s awesome having heat in the truck while camping/sleeping without running the engine. I plan to swap over a flat plate heat exchanger for a shower from my 4runner. That’s what the 2 plugged T fittings will go to.

Cruise
The stock 1HZ/D accelerator pedal cable runs to the cruise control actuator like a 3FE. A 3FE cruise control actuator plugs into the 97 LX450 harness and the 3FE accelerator pedal to cruise cable works on the LX450. I bought the cable from the cruise actuator to the injection pump from Japan 4x4. The cruise control needs 12V on the D light circuit to work. No other signals from the engine or transmission are needed.

 

[MANUCHAO]

Awesome build..!!!

Thanks for posting

 

[MtnToys]

The Fuel filter is mounted to the LX450 charcoal canister. The water in fuel sender trips the OBD check engine light. Down the road I want to upgrade the fuel filter set up and add a fuel heater. That's the Hellroaring isolater mounted on the battery box.


EFI fuel pump removed and Webasto fuel pickup added.

 

[MtnToys]

I threw the exhaust together the night before we left on our trip (why the hangers aren’t painted or cleaned up). I’m really happy with how it turned out. The exhaust is quiet with the windows up. The prebent mandrel 3” tubing and an aero turbine muffler came from mandrel bending solutions. They had the best prices and excellent customer service. From rear cross member back to the tail pipe I used the nice flex pipe that big rigs use.

 

[MtnToys]

The Tcase shifter is move back and closer to the transmission shifter. Stock the transmission shifter was too close to the dash so I angled it back and toward the driver. I’ll redo the console shifter cover area at some point. The rags are temporary sound deadening.


The bottom row of switches: Deck lamp switch runs the reverse lights off the aux battery for camping. The defrost switch turns on the webasto and the rear heat switch runs the dash blower motor off the aux battery. The boost gauge is in the vent on the left side of the cluster.


Auxiliary battery box. The breaker goes to another fuse box in the cab.

 

[MtnToys]

The main goal of this design was to waste as little space as possible. The sides are 18gauge sheet metal with 1x1 aluminum angle along to top to fasten the platform. Roller bearings are sunk in the square tube for the drawers to roll on. Compared to conventional drawers slides this didn’t use up any side space and aloud the drawers to be removable. The drawers are made from ¼ plywood and 1/8 aluminum angle held together with screws and gorilla glue.



Drawer bottom



Sealed (except for the lid) fluid storage in front of the drawers


I’m going to move the mounts connecting the front compartment and the drawers to bolt the front compartments to the front seat mounts instead. This way the front compartment and platfrom can be removed so the second row seats can be used with the draws. This was another item quickly finished up the night before our trip.

 

[MtnToys]

Some in use pictures

 

[Rumpig]

out of curiosity....any particular reason for using a 1HZ motor and not a 1HDFTE like many people here in Australia swap out their 1HZ motors for?

 

[NCFJ]

Nice looking swap! My wife makes shifter and E-brake boots. It would not be too hard to come up with a square plate to cover the lower section of your console and a couple custom boots that will work if you are interested. Shoot me a PM if you care to.

 

[MtnToys]

Rumpig, The 1HZ is still in production today so it's much easier to source in like new condition. The 1HZ is all mechanical so no electronics to fail or source. Parts are available in the US since the 1HZ is common in mine and military cruisers. The 1HZ is better for WVO too if I decided to go down that road. You guys in Australia are lucky to have a plethora of diesel cruisers.

NCFJ, once I decide what to do with the console/shifter cover I might get in contact with you. It's a low priority at this point.

 

[Rumpig]

Rumpig, The 1HZ is still in production today so it's much easier to source in like new condition. The 1HZ is all mechanical so no electronics to fail or source. Parts are available in the US since the 1HZ is common in mine and military cruisers. The 1HZ is better for WVO too if I decided to go down that road. You guys in Australia are lucky to have a plethora of diesel cruisers.

can i ask what WVO is please....lol...fair enough on the other stuff also, was just curious as i mentioned earlier as i'd happily swap my 1HZ out for a 1HDFTE motor any day if it wasn't for the $$$ required to do it, and the fact you can't really get a low enough klms 2nd hand motor now here in Oz for my liking.

 

[Dan Grec]

can i ask what WVO is please....lol...fair enough on the other stuff also, was just curious as i mentioned earlier as i'd happily swap my 1HZ out for a 1HDFTE motor any day if it wasn't for the $$$ required to do it, and the fact you can't really get a low enough klms 2nd hand motor now here in Oz for my liking.

I'd bet you could line up someone here on expo to buy your used 1HZ if you're willing to ship it to the US.. which would offset the cost of a nicer 1HDFTE for you...

-Dan

 

[NM-Frontier]

Wow that is a very nice job on the swap, this is part for part my dream set up, right down to the webasto set up. Thanks for sharing the additional parts list, as I'm sure it will be referenced a few times. Id be curious as to the overall performance of the 1HZ vs 1FZ, not so much in economy and off road performance but just overall drivability on the hwy and around town also? Because "we all know" the diesel is gona rule the gasser on the trail and as a overland platform, but how about as just a diesel in a gasser world. In other words, was it worth it?

I ask because I'v been going back and forth between the 80 and the new BJ74, the diesel is a real pleasure to drive off the road, and efficiency blows the 1FZ out of the water, but around town and on the short hwy trips it's kinda even so far.