Tammy is my 1VD-FTV swapped, 80 series Landcruiser that I have owned since 2019.  The 80 Series shape is still by far my favourite Landcruiser shape and platform and it also holds strong sentimental value to me as well – with Dad owning one of the first ones released.  All of my early 4WDing was done in Dad’s silver GXL (and I even learned to 4WD in it too).  So you can see why I had to have a Silver GXL at some point in my life too! 

I had always intended for Tammy to be my ‘bush basher’…something that I can setup to do the hardest tracks in Australia; which leaves my 200 Series for towing and touring.  So I set out to build her to be a weapon.  Along with the standard mods of suspension and tyres, she also has front and rear Air Lockers, Warn High Mount winch and a camp  setup ready to hit the tracks for weeks at a time without being too heavy to do day trips.

She has taken on Tassie a couple of times; all the hard tracks in and around home and also the High Country.  But the old 1HZ engine combination just doesn’t cut it by today’s standards.  I fully rebuilt it after I bought it and also added a turbo, but she was still a slug…especially when I would jump back in the 200.

So it was time to get in the shed and do an engine swap…but what to do?  I thought about doing a Coyote swap (Ford V8 from a Mustang), but it was unproven in the bush.  So I thought “why not a 1VD?!”

I began to source all the parts required for the conversion (which has not been commonly done to this point) and with the assistance of Hagen from Offtrack Concepts, began to complete the conversion – all in the shed at home – all within 7 weeks!

Tammy is now one of the toughest 80 series Landcruisers in the country and equipped with the power, ability and setup to tackle any track in Australia with ease!