Update time.. It has been over a month since I worked on the LX450. I got busy with work, family, and other projects. One of those projects was building a 12x12 storage building to store some stuff I have collected over the last 4 years. I started out designing an 8x8 storage building and finally settle on a 12x12, and I still don’t think I went large enough. Below are a few pictures of the building construction.
Enough of that.. I received my parts from Mark’s 4wd very quickly.
Including the motor mounts…
First thing was to test fit the new Mark’s 4wd (MFK1765EM) mounts..
Passenger side looked good.
Except for the firewall.. nothing that can’t be fixed with a few blows from a hammer.
Driver’s side mount fit ok
First issue… No clearance between the power steering pump and the steering gear box. I removed the power steering reservoir and that helped a little bit, but the pump pulley than hit. This issue was discussed by Brentok in one of the earlier post. It appears he was correct…
I really like the design of the motor mounts and that they use the factory rubber mounts, so I consider either relocating the power steering or using a remote reservoir and smaller power steering pulley. Before I went that route I decided to see if I would be able to use the stock transmission mounts and drive shafts with this setup. So I installed the transmission and transfer case adapter and discovered that this setup shifts everything back a couple of inches.. This would require new or modified drive shafts, in the end I decided that the Mark’s 4wd mounts were not worth the extra effort.
While I was thinking about what I would do about motor mounts, I decided to start on the rebuilding of the 4l60e core I have.
Teardown
Power wash time for the engine bay..
Before
After
Reassembly of the 4l60e.. not sure what I was thinking, but I did not get many pictures of this process. I think I was focusing so hard on making sure that I did this right, that I forgot to get any pictures..
Once again.. I was focused.. so we are here now
Replaced 4l60e parts..
Wiring..
Converting the GM harness to stand alone.. This is not a difficult process.. this is the 4 one I have done… it takes a little while to do it, but it can save you lots of money…
Went with a aftermarket fuse box on this build.. I have used the factory GM fuse box before.. it saves you money and time.. but is big and would not fit where I wanted it to on this build.
Cleaned up the LX450 harness..
Bolted the Transmission, adapter, and Transfer case together..
Cleaned up the engine and about ready to bolt it all together…
and started on the transfer case shifter bracket.
Welded the plates to the new motor mounts.. the plates help spread the load and reduce the vertical welds on the frame..
Installed the motor, transmission, and transfer case all together.
Mounted the electric fans..
Fuel Filter…
Transmission cooling lines
I installed the drive shafts and determined that a lift kit will be needed for the front drive shaft.. It is very close, but I think a 2” lift would give me plenty of clearance.. so I will be researching lift kits this week..