Outer Limits 4x4 Board

would the 3.8holden be a headache to put in a 89 petrol hilux?

lotsa people do it so I would say its well worthwhile.

Not if your mechanically minded

depends if you have got the money....you gotta buy adapter kits, computer, wiring harness, vehicle speed sensor etc etc....it'll give you more ponies though.

Any mechanically minded person should be able to give it a go.

Its always a headache

I did a conversion on a 85 Hilux & it went sweet exept for one thing,

Gearbox!

The box has been out 3 times now, blown twice & complete bearing failer once. (manual 5 speed)
The factory box just isnt strong enough

If you dont go auto you should upgrade the box to stronger one ( Dyna i think)
Marks Adaptors will have all you need.

Oh yeah, give the tail shaft the flick & instal a one piece shaft.

i heard that people hav been puttin 2.8L supra motors in luxs and they r alot lighter so they do not bring down the front end as much as the 3.8 holden motor

The turbo cruiser gear boxes R151 i think should be able to handle the power... ruffs comp buggy had a 3.9 rover V8 infront of a G52, all depends on how u drive it.

+dj_hansen+ wrote:all depends on how u drive it.

Thats what i thought too but after the first box explosion we took it easy (on road) & the second one (rebuilt first one) died while crusing at 80km/ph.

It is a big job to do thoroughly. I took 9 months and about $6500 to do mine, read up on marks website for about half of what is required. I am very technically minded and am a fitter machinist by trade and found it a challenging project. I am a fussy bugger though. The holden auto is a good tranny option, especially for off road and helps provide a smoother power delivery to look after the rest of your driveline.

Dane wrote: I took 9 months and about $6500 to do mine,

Thats a long time.

I did mine in a 2 car garage at home & chain blocked the engine in with 3 poles.

3 months (on & off) for a nice neat job.

Yeah I did some other stuff to it as well, I reckon 5 months would be a reasonable time period for just the engine and tranny. I had the cab on and off e few times, and got rid of all the stuff no longer used. Depends whether you just fit the motor and drive it or build a custom vehicle. I made my own surge tank and heaps of stuff like that.[/img]

Kev80 wrote:

+dj_hansen+ wrote:all depends on how u drive it.

Thats what i thought too but after the first box explosion we took it easy (on road) & the second one (rebuilt first one) died while crusing at 80km/ph.

What was the problem... shearing teeth, collapsing bearings.. or everything?

I had a holden vn v6 in my hilux for some years.i fitted the hilux transfer case to the t700 myself needed a spigot ring shorten and splined output shaft of tranny and connector sleeve for shaft . I used the transfer off 4 speed hilux drilled 4 holes to match extension housing holes and bolted it together. I connected the speed sensor in the speedo to the holden computer to make the lockup converter work. I started by connecting it as is but when the speedo indicated 110 the engine shut down [speed limited by computer] so had to adjust reed switch in speedo to give 2 pulses per rev instead of 4. I used the vn motor and auto and had no problems with the electrical installation . Later motors post vp have different computers which require expensive modification to work in the hilux. I never had any problems with anything breaking except for diff pinion gears possibly due to the detroit locker. Early v6s are cheap but avoid the vn as it has rope seal rear seal and is prone to leaking. I ran 4.375 gears which gave 2200rpm at 100kph. T700 has 3 to one ratio first gear and motor has excellent low down torque.