kpwemu
New Member
- Messages
- 35
- Location
- Sunbury, Victoria, Australia
In my latest research development on 1UZing my Zephyr ute, it has been put to me that I should consider grafting the Lexus half cut onto the front of the ute. This would solve the complicated issue of fitting evrything into the Zephyr engine bay and it would allow me to use all the Lexus luxuries that would normally have to be thrown away. This has not been discussed at length, but simply put forward as an idea worth exploring. I believe this would consist of removing the Zephyr outer guards and virtually cutting away the front section of ute. Basically, the Lexus half cut would then have the outer guards removed and the two sections joined at the chassis rails, retaining the whole Lexus engine bay intact, complete with all the Lexus front end components. Then somehow ( I still don't know how this is possible) attach the Zephyr outer guards back onto the Lexus inner guards as well as rejoining the grille, lights, bumper etc. It would obviously mean fabricating sections so that the bits can be joined together. I'm told that this is possible, and should pass an engineer's inspection (in Victoria Australia ) as cars this age don't have to comply with our strict ADR rules. The biggest problem is that the track width of the Lexus is 21 cm wider than the Zephyr. They said this can possibly be overcome with different offset wheels. The body width of the Lexus is only 6 cm wider than the Zephyr. I like the idea, but I'm very sceptical as to whether it will work. I don't fancy the idea of going over a bump and my car splits in half. I have seen an advertisement for a company in Victoria that grafts Holden fronts onto 55-57 Chevs so I guess that it must be possible. Anyone tried it? I'm keen to get opinions. Kevin