New to the club! - Land Cruiser "Mark 2" LJ79

[Tsavo]

Hi all! My name is Ewan and I'm out full time in Eastern Kenya.

I recently bought an old LJ79 from a friend who moved home for an absolute steal of a price. It even still has one of the original 'Mark II' badges! It's a '91 with 350k km but down the line I'm planning to fit an engine with more guts.

Planning for it for be an overlander with the rooftop tent, power system with some uprated off road/wet season capability. Safari hatches already installed which is a plus for me. Certainly has a few old car problems but a thorough checkover by a good mech didn't throw up anything severe. I'm working steadily on replacing old worn parts, fittings, bodywork etc. and so far so good.

I've been driving stock Toyotas/Land Cruisers for a good few years now but very excited to finally have my own. Lots of plans for upgrades so happy to have stumbled across this community to help advise on the various problems that I'm sure will crop up over the coming kilometers!

 

[Iwan]

Welcome Ewan, I'm Iwan! You have the 3l 2.8 non turbo l series motor. Quite rare the lj79 and it does take to a turbo which makes it comparable to the 1kzt newer 3.0 turbo power wise.

The good thing is that you can bolt on the the turbo from the 2lt with the manifolds, pump and oil supply parts which would make quite an increased power gain.. read quite a while ago that it makes the 3l quite a weapon and means that you could try that first instead of doing the swap provided your engine is in fine health.. Nice find man!

 

[Tsavo]

Hi Iwan! That's great to know. The old 3L motor definitely needs some attention but if it's possible to overhaul and fit the 2lt turbo then I'd much rather go down that route. I do like the 3L engine and sounds like a cheaper option. I'll look up the post later on.

First, however, I'm fitting a 2" lift IM suspension kit this week and some better tyres shortly after. Current springs are wrecked and previous owner had 235/85 A/T Dunlops which are horrible. Just need to figure out what size tyres I can fit on the stock 16" rims without them rubbing or damaging the tie rods... will be unmounting my spare tomorrow to get rim sizes. Any pointers would go down a treat. Cheers!