Meet Frank The Tank, An LS-Swapped Land Cruiser Panel Truck
Not your average 80-series LS swap.
Before the purists cry foul of another 80-series Toyota Land Cruiser with an LS V8 under the hood, hear us out. The latest video from the guys at Fullboost takes a detailed look at ‘Frank the Tank’, an 80-series Land Cruiser, built by Mark Boxer of HoonTV.
Ahead of talking about the powerplant, we’d be remiss not to mention that this is a panel truck. This essentially means that the factory body panels at the back are deleted and fitted with replacements that are much lighter – a practice that really sells the Baja pre-runner aesthetic. The conversion came at the cost of the rear doors, making this a two-door Land Cruiser.
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While swapping an LS into a Land Cruiser is nothing new, the number of conversion kits available made the job incredibly easy when it came to ‘Frank the Tank’. The Marks4wd kit that Boxer used allowed him to keep the same airbox, fuel lines, headers, and tower shafts from the factory car. Allegedly, Boxer wanted to add a turbo to the LS, but he opted to keep everything roughly stock – only adding minor components like a new exhaust and cam.
From the exterior, ‘Frank the Tank’ was painted in a bed liner finish. Sure, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen Rhino Liner used on the exterior of an offroad vehicle, but there’s much more than meets the eye when it comes to this Land Cruiser. Along with the extensive modifications involved with the panel truck conversion, the guys also added new bumpers and fender flares to add to the pre-runner look.
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After all was said and done, Boxer said that there’s not much that he would change in the future with such a bulletproof setup. He mentioned that there were plans for other engine swaps like a 1JZ, but the amount of engineering experience behind the LS swap made it a no-brainer.
Source: Fullboost via YouTube
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