Mate of mine 'down the pub' reckons a 1uz-fe LS400 motor will bolt straight onto my 2003 bellhousing with no problems. Anybody know if this is true??

@Yoda or @PAULSV6 will be able to confirm but I.m pretty sure your mate is wrong! they have both put a Lexus engine in a Classic, I'm sure they both changed the gearbox

Not straight in no. But get ur me to do it for you

It went in on an automatic box I think

Think @Yoda put a 3.5GDI gearbox in of a pajero then had to modify props due to different size too from box to shafts etc.
Been told it's easier on pajero 2.8 td to drop LS 400 in.

Your mate down the pub is an idiot 😆 Him or someone he knows has probably read one of my comments on Facebook and not paid enough attention. Classic case of Chinese whispers I reckon.

Anyway... you need to either change the gearbox, which means altering gearbox cross member, mounts and prop shafts, or use an adaptor plate to mount it to your existing gearbox. One is being done this way as we speak. Although you'll be limited on power as most of us reckon the 2.5 gearbox will be maxed out on stock V8 figures.

The guys that have an easier time of things is Pajero owners. The auto boxes in those are the same as the Lexus box. So they swap the bell housing and a few other bits and the engine then bolts straight up to their box. This is why using a Pajero box in your L200 makes sense. It's just a lot of work to fit the box and keep 4wd.

There is an adaptor plate for a 2.8 manual box from South Africa but again it will be a lot of custom work to fit the box into your truck.

Thanks to everyone who replied on this!! So then @Yoda, I've seen some of your stuff on here and on Surf forum, you obviously know your stuff so if I may pester you with two more queries related to V8's??
1/If I use my L200 bellhousing will it bolt directly to the Surf auto box or will it need re-drilling?? And will the Surf torque convertor bolt to a L200 flex-plate??Or do I need to use a L200 auto bellhousing??
2/Toyota question now 😁 I've got a Aussie Leyland P8/Hilux bellhousing in the shed. This is off a 4 speed HiLux. Any idea if this bellhousing will work with a mk4 HiLux??
3/Last one, a complete straw-clutcher!! Anyone know if a Daihatsu 2.8 TD will go in a Classic?? Got a mint low mileage one here, will save me a lot of grief if it will go in 😎

Question 3 above, just to clarify.....the bellhousing is off an Australian Leyland P8 which had a V8 Rover fitted. The gearbox end is to fit an early Hilux with a 4speed box. I'm wondering if this will fit a mk4 Hilux box......I.e do the bolt holes line up!! Can't measure it yet because I haven't took the gearbox out yet.
And I know this is a Mitsubishi forum but if I can piece all this shit together it'll be going in my L200 😁

ER, surf forum? Not me pal. Never had a Hilux surf. Possibly you might be confusing me with Bushwacker who otherwise goes as Vince Lexsurf on Facebook. Who is also a complete and utter #####. Don't get me started on that though because that's a whole different story.

I'll try to tackle your questions as best I can though.
1/ why are you wanting to do anything with your L200 bell housing? Are you talking about putting an adaptor plate between the bell housing and engine? If so you wouldn't need an autobox too. At any rate your L200 bell housing will not bolt directly to a Surf auto box. Or any other auto box for that matter. For clarification, there are no auto L200s that will do this for you. Think that answers the flex plate and aut bell housing part.
2/Haven't got a fricken clue. I'm not a Hilux man.
3/Anything will go in with the same methods that I outlined in my first reply. I think you need to read that again anyway 😉. But nothing just fits straight in and bolts straight up. You have to fabricate.

If I might say, it's all got very complicated very quickly. What are your goals? Or do you even know? If you just want a 1UZ V8 in your L200 there is no need to start using Hilux parts. If you're exploring all engine swaps, which it sounds like you are, then my principles in my first reply cover all possible swaps. It's either a gearbox swap or an adaptor plate. Both require fabrication. The 1UZ makes sense because retaining 4wd is easier since it can be mated to a Pajero gearbox which already has a transfer case on the correct side.

Thanks for the reply Yoda, don't know where I'm getting you confused?? I am aware of Bushwhacker on the Surf forum 😋
Right, cut to the chase. After some thieving lowlife nicked my beloved Hilux I made the first mistake in this sorry tale----I bought an L200.....Lasted about a year before the motor started playing up big time. To try and save some cash (read that as not waste any more money on Mitsubishi engine bits) I had a look around my workshop to see what I could throw in it. Hence the admittedly confusing previous post 😊 I've got a 4.6 Rover lump, a Rover/Hilux bellhousing and a complete low mileage Daihatsu drivetrain. I also have access to a local guy who does nothing but Soarers and a tame Megasquirt man!! Fabrication isn't a problem, just didn't really want to spend time and money on adaptor plates and machining work if something was a bolt on job as the idiot down the pub led me to believe!! I only need the thing whilst I finish my new workshop so I'll probably get the tape measure on the Daihatsu at the weekend.......

Gotcha. Well I'm with you on not wasting money on another L200 engine. Been there. Done that. Not worth it. So, basic principles still stand. It's either a box swap or adaptor plate. Nothing drops in. The 1UZ isn't everyone's cup of tea so pick the engine of your choice. The advantage of the 1UZ is the ease of keeping 4x4. For any other engine you still need a left sided transfer case. That's where the Pajero box comes in handy. You have enough parts there that you could sell them and get a 1UZ kit. I don't know much about the Dihatsu engines. Are they good? I always tell people don't bother putting the Mitsi 2.8 in as its a lot of work for very little gain. If I had done a diesel, I would've still gone bigger CC. The RV8 - sell it.

Quote: Yoda wrote in post #11

---

. If I had done a diesel, I would've still gone bigger CC. The RV8 - sell it.

---

Fourtrak engine is a beast! Cast iron head and block and very reliable. Its actually a Toyota designed engine but why Toyota never used it I dont know. I used to be a Daihatsu man as an f78 Indy was my second ever car. I know they take a hell of alot of abuse but the rest of the fourtrak let it down. Crap gearboxes and body rot. Isuzu 2.8/3.1, fourtrak engine or the merc om602 would be my favourites for an engine swap where reliability is the main goal. If you want loads of bhp then something else would probably be better.

problem with the bigger is better way, is bigger is heavier. like the 4bt or the newer paccar type say from a daf or iveco 150bhp yeah theres bags of torque with it.
but there heavy as hell, the lil merc engines 5 cylinder there like 150 stock or something yeah ok loads less torque but you have a motor thats way lighter.
both tuneable and reliable just ones more useable in the realworld

Didn't know the fourtrak engine had a steel head. No wonder they are reliable. Don't see many steel heads around now a days.

Fourtrak engine is the one id want to fit. I remember when I first saw this vid back in the day on the dufflock forum ages ago when the guy had had enough of his hatsu. Shame but just goes to show they're hard to kill. Couldnt kill I by running it with no oil or coolant so had to resort to throwing mud into the turbo https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kFMQo4zEtkM

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bxpVuVV3ie0 even then it would probably live again by the sound of it lol

The 4G63 I'm told by MitsiArt is a good little engine. They have a Galant with twin turbos running 300bhp. It's the daily drive of one of the owners. Even the best engines can blow a head gasket. It's how often it happens that matters. I've seen Chevy V8s do it. But it's not common.

Some valid points made here. Bigger diesels are heavy. The torsion bar front end doesn't like the weight. This factored into why I went for the 1UZ. All aluminium. It made sense on so many levels. It seemed the only cost effective solution that allowed for a big displacement engine but which wouldn't be too heavy. I played for a long time with the idea of the 4M41. But it would have cost much more than the V8.

Once again we come down to the limitations of the L200 as a platform. Someone is going to do a bigger diesel swap eventually. My money is on it being the 4BT. But I've chatted to a very clever Pajero man on Facebook who put a 2JZ (Toyota inline 6 petrol engine in case you don't know) in his Pajero which is a cast iron block. Heavier than the 4M40 he took out. Eventually he got frustrated with how it handled and put a 1UZ in. Says it's night and day different with the lighter engine. The 2JZ he says was not only too heavy but it's a tall engine so the centre of gravity moved up. He says off road it effected the balance of the car. Since having the 1UZ in he's never looked back. I fear when someone does do the 4BT it will be the same result. It's not like doing it in a Defender which has coils. Which is why I kept coming back to the 4M41 as the diesel of choice. But there is no choice between that and the 1UZ. Putting it all like that I can see why the merc diesels are popular if they are light but can still give good power.