5.3L Toyota 1994 FJZ80 Land cruiser

[ssyork]

ssyork submitted a new Build:

5.3L Toyota 1994 FJZ80 Land cruiser

I haven't been posting much lately, between just being busy and not building much lately. But here we go again with another 5.3L!
As some of you know I put my old truck up for sale in hopes of building a buggy one day. But I have to keep the family happy first! The wife and I made a checklist of what we wanted in a rig: solid front axle, 4 doors, 3rd row seat, daily driver, interstate drivable, good aftermarket support and Ls swap doable! With that list I found one rig that fit the bill, an 80 series Toyota Land Cruiser. I picked this gem up for $1k with a blown head gasket and started reading up on LC's. So if you don't want me to clutter up the driveway with a Toyota getting a better drive train than stop reading, don't reply, tell me and I won't go any further!

View attachment 170341

Read more about this build here...

 

[K85 Octane]

waiting for more....

 

[Stomis]

Schweet. Love them things. That thing is heavy to the point where a 6.0 might suit it. Just something to consider, especially loading it down with gear and a family. I always liked them and probably would have bought them if they sold them JDM/Aussie spec here with a diesel and 5 speed...

 

[max 02]

I will happily watch!

 

[ssyork]

Schweet. Love them things. That thing is heavy to the point where a 6.0 might suit it. Just something to consider, especially loading it down with gear and a family. I always liked them and probably would have bought them if they sold them JDM/Aussie spec here with a diesel and 5 speed...

After searching what fit our needs I have really come to appreciate them too. They are heavy! Basically as heavy as a burb. The 6.0 would be sweet, seems like most Ls swaps I've read on these are 6.0. One guy here in Denver runs a 5.3 and says it runs the hills fine. I won't be towing with it and I found this 99 silverado with only 123k miles for $1600. Runs super smooth (no tick on cold start), shifts through drive and reverse smooth without and lag. I really couldn't get it over about 10mph though! I'm going to throw the newer bigger injectors at it, no cats (no emissions here), 8" across x 12" long round intake with full 4" intake tubing and have it dyno'd instead of a mail order tune, so I'm hoping this helps.
I wish we could get the Aussie spec diesel, would love to add that to the fleet of diesels! My wife drives a '03 jetta tdi that I swapped to a 5 speed last summer and threw a good south bend clutch and tuner from kerma tdi. It is a fun little car. She can beat stockish diesel trucks off the line pretty well. It's always fun when you pull up next to a flat biller thinking he's cool and smoke him with a wagon! All while getting between 39-42mph with mixed driving. I drive a 2000 superduty 7.3 with a few mods, so adding another diesel would have been nice. They get $6-8k just for the engine and tranny though.
I thought about throwing my nv4500 & 5.3 combo into this, but it would have been a ton of work, especially getting a clutch pedal going. I bought a kit from Australia from Marks4wd. It makes the 5.3 & 4l60 the same length as the inline 6 and auto from the land cruiser. That way it retains the stock transmission mount, stock transfer case, stock drivelines and stock t case shifter mount. All while dropping around 200lb off the front end. I picked up the generic Ls swap engine mounts from Advance Adapters to use. The frames are boxed so they will just get welded to the inside rail, probably with some guessets.

 

[ssyork]

Here are some other pics. They made it nice that the top core support bar unbolts, motor ready to come out and the huge pile of exhaust getting sold/scapped. The only pic I have of the two motors sitting there. The motor mounts cleaned off and engine bay after 7 cans of degreaser and power washer! The new adapter mounted up to the 4l60. I am adding a part time 4wd drive kit to the transfer case and hopefully a low gear kit too. So it's not getting bolted back up for a bit. These come with 4.10 gearing stock. So with 35's it puts me right between the stock 3.42 & 3.73 burb gearing. I want the low t case gears so it will still crawl okay.

 

[jekquistk5]

Very cool.

 

[max 02]

We can get Deisel 80s here but they are all Rhd.
My freinds imported one from Japan that was 5 speed I drove it and liked it a lot,
but it was Right hand drive aswell.

 

[Greg Ducato]

Subscribed! I love the idea

 

[jeff in co]

I had a 94' LC too. Real nice rig but sucked gas! Full time 4wd with a straight six. Not fast and bad gas mileage. Other than that though, it was a fun truck!

Finally sold it because the 04' Tahoe with the 5.3 was larger inside, faster, and got better gas mileage.

Still miss that truck sometimes....

 

[Stomis]

Here are some other pics. They made it nice that the top core support bar unbolts, motor ready to come out and the huge pile of exhaust getting sold/scapped. The only pic I have of the two motors sitting there. The motor mounts cleaned off and engine bay after 7 cans of degreaser and power washer! The new adapter mounted up to the 4l60. I am adding a part time 4wd drive kit to the transfer case and hopefully a low gear kit too. So it's not getting bolted back up for a bit. These come with 4.10 gearing stock. So with 35's it puts me right between the stock 3.42 & 3.73 burb gearing. I want the low t case gears so it will still crawl okay.

I like how you've got this well planned. Im sure the 5.3 will do fine. These things look mean as hell armored up too. Plus the factory axles are stout as anything. I might have missed it but does yours have factory select-able lockers from and rear?

I do like 80s but my heart really pines for a 70 series 2 door when it comes to land cruisers.

 

[ssyork]

I had a 94' LC too. Real nice rig but sucked gas! Full time 4wd with a straight six. Not fast and bad gas mileage. Other than that though, it was a fun truck!

Finally sold it because the 04' Tahoe with the 5.3 was larger inside, faster, and got better gas mileage.

Still miss that truck sometimes....

I've heard that they sacked the fuel down and under powered. I have yet to drive one! The guy in Denver that had one with a 5.3 on 35's w/stock 4.10's says he averages between 15-17. I ordered a part time 4wd kit when I ordered the adapter kit. Comes with hubs and a spool basically for the t case. So it will be like an old school rig, except a push button instead of a lever. Then I can also use 2wd low range. The exchange rate is killer right now with Australia. I paid $1524 shipped for the adapter kit, part time kit and $200 was shipping. Advance adapters wants $1500 just for the adapter kit, plus some shipping plus it can take up to 6 weeks. Mine was ordered on a Tuesday and showed up the next Monday!

 

[ssyork]

I like how you've got this well planned. Im sure the 5.3 will do fine. These things look mean as hell armored up too. Plus the factory axles are stout as anything. I might have missed it but does yours have factory select-able lockers from and rear?

I do like 80s but my heart really pines for a 70 series 2 door when it comes to land cruisers.

I agree with the looks. I'm going to use a guy in California called 4x4 labs. He sells his bumpers in kits, then I can weld them up. Tightest tucked bumpers I have seen. I think I might leave the fender flares on for now, I already sold the factory running boards. Not sure on what design for sliders yet. I sold all the engine parts, sliders, hitch and front bumper for $1400 so far! Since I only paid $1k for it I'm pretty happy about that.
Mine doesn't have factory lockers. I picked up a new arb compressor on Craigslist and am going to use an arb for the rear. Not sure if budget will allow a locker in the front yet. Figured that would be an easy add when $ (wife) allowed!
The axles seem to handle 37's and the stock motor pretty well. I figure 35's & aluminum wheels should work okay. I'm pretty sure it's a 9 1/4" ring gear. But metric.
I will have to look up pics of a 70 2 door. I really don't know the LC line up yet!

 

[jeff in co]

I've heard that they sacked the fuel down and under powered. I have yet to drive one! The guy in Denver that had one with a 5.3 on 35's w/stock 4.10's says he averages between 15-17. I ordered a part time 4wd kit when I ordered the adapter kit. Comes with hubs and a spool basically for the t case. So it will be like an old school rig, except a push button instead of a lever. Then I can also use 2wd low range. The exchange rate is killer right now with Australia. I paid $1524 shipped for the adapter kit, part time kit and $200 was shipping. Advance adapters wants $1500 just for the adapter kit, plus some shipping plus it can take up to 6 weeks. Mine was ordered on a Tuesday and showed up the next Monday!

A dog! And mileage was around 12...maybe 13 if I recall.

 

[Stomis]

I agree with the looks. I'm going to use a guy in California called 4x4 labs. He sells his bumpers in kits, then I can weld them up. Tightest tucked bumpers I have seen. I think I might leave the fender flares on for now, I already sold the factory running boards. Not sure on what design for sliders yet. I sold all the engine parts, sliders, hitch and front bumper for $1400 so far! Since I only paid $1k for it I'm pretty happy about that.
Mine doesn't have factory lockers. I picked up a new arb compressor on Craigslist and am going to use an arb for the rear. Not sure if budget will allow a locker in the front yet. Figured that would be an easy add when $ (wife) allowed!
The axles seem to handle 37's and the stock motor pretty well. I figure 35's & aluminum wheels should work okay. I'm pretty sure it's a 9 1/4" ring gear. But metric.
I will have to look up pics of a 70 2 door. I really don't know the LC line up yet!

Luke @ 4x4labs is an awesome guy. I dealt with him a bunch because they manufacture the OM617 mercedez diesel to toyota transmission adapter I was going to use in my trooper project. He has great contact and tech support and is an all around good guy to support!

 

[Greg72]

A dog! And mileage was around 12...maybe 13 if I recall.

No wonder Toyota went with the V8 in the later models....

My 2001 LC gets 10 City / 15 Highway (it's the V8) and the motor is famous for going 300,000+ with minimal fuss.


-G

 

[ssyork]

Luke @ 4x4labs is an awesome guy. I dealt with him a bunch because they manufacture the OM617 mercedez diesel to toyota transmission adapter I was going to use in my trooper project. He has great contact and tech support and is an all around good guy to support!

Good to know. There's always some question in the back of my head when dealing with new vendors. I just reasearch the best I can.

 

[ssyork]

Added a little more Chevy love to the Lc the other day. I've always hated windshield sprayers that are 1/2 way down the hood. Especially with snow/wet they seem to bring the suck. So I stole all the wiper mounted sprayers from the donor truck.

 

[ssyork]

Also what do you guys think of a badge for the back something like this

 

[Stomis]

Get a TOY-LET sticker for it.