Goat 5.3

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satchel

satchel

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Jul 1, 2007
Threads
85
Messages
903
Location
Erie, Co
I've been saving a little for the good ol' 5.3/4L60E conversion in my beloved FJ62 "Goat". Having never done anything of this magnitude, I'm a little nervous about getting it started, so we'll see how everything turns out. I'll try to do my best to provide any information and document it as well as I can, but I know that I will be relying on all of you for help more than anything!

So far I have only removed the "dog house" and have not sourced any parts yet, so a long road awaits me, but at least now I have a new hobby.

If anyone is in the Denver area and feels like stopping by to watch/lend a hand, please feel free!
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Congrats on your swap I am in the process of the same thing right now. The biggest thing I can tell you so far is to measure, re-measure, re-measure again. Then go back and double triple check the measurements again to make sure you are good before you set the engine fully. Matter of fact I am heading to the garage right now to double check the tack welded mounts right now and finish welding them in. Good luck on the new year project.
 
Yeah, I'm actually really worried when it comes to welding up the motor mounts as I have absolutely no experience with welding nor do I own any of the equipment. I'm hoping maybe I can find someone locally to help me out with that.

I've noticed in other conversions that people have said they moved the motor really far to one side or the other to get the headers to miss things like the steering box. I originally assumed that the motor needed to go exactly in the middle, like the old one was, because I figured the driveshafts might have problems being moved left or right with the motor, but I guess there is more leeway with this than I originally thought.

Honestly, I'm not exactly sure how to know exactly where the motor will need to sit once I get it mocked up. Is there quite a bit of flexibility here?
 
The original motor is off-set to drivers side. The new one will require about a 1 to 1.5 in off-set to drivers side as well. You may also want to look at getting a Camaro oil pan to clear the diff better.
 
The offset is to keep the oil pan from hitting the differential. Honestly as long as your pockets are deep enough and you have some patience its not so bad. I did a 5.7 as its a little less cost on the wiring and computer side. The motor and trans are defiantly the less expensive part of a swap.
 
That makes sense that you would want to offset it for the diff. I'll certainly look into getting the camaro oil pan as well. I'm still a long way off from that, but I'm sure I'll have plenty of other questions by the time it gets here. I've saved up around 7k, and from what I've read that seems within the realm of reasonableness as far as these conversions go. I'm sure that can drastically change depending on what kind of surprises get thrown my way.
 
jacksfj62 said:
The original motor is off-set to drivers side. The new one will require about a 1 to 1.5 in off-set to drivers side as well. You may also want to look at getting a Camaro oil pan to clear the diff better.
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Kurtis said:
The offset is to keep the oil pan from hitting the differential. Honestly as long as your pockets are deep enough and you have some patience its not so bad. I did a 5.7 as its a little less cost on the wiring and computer side. The motor and trans are defiantly the less expensive part of a swap.
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mine needs it for both the Camero pan is NEEDED not a upgrade do it now cause mine hit the top of the axle AND the yoke:mad:
 
I'm not sure how much of a differance the 5.7 and 5.3 pans are but i kept my motor up high with the offset and I didn't have a problem with clearance with just 2-3 inches of suspension lift. now with spring over its really clear.
 
Kudos to you for just taking the bull by the horns despite that fact that you don't know everything. The truth is, that's half the fun, learning as you go. I learned to weld because I was sick of inverting my front shackles. I could see a solution, but welding was required so I rented (later I purchased) a welder and played around until I felt comfortable that I could make a weld that wouldn't fail. Enjoy the adventure, you will have a great rig when you're done, that 5.3 is very impressive little engine. With its six-bolt main bearings, crank-driven oil pump and deep skirted block it should be good for a very, very long time. 300 HP is never a bad thing either.
 
Hey man, I am in Parker, CO. Original owner of a 1984 FJ60. Getting ready to go in and replace all the gaskets from the head up. I don't know much about what you're doing, but have access to a welder. Let me know how the project is going, would love to learn a little more, good luck with everything.
 
Interesting question. I will have to check that out...
 
I'm pretty sure there is a wire in the harness that tells the computer when the 4wd is in 4hi and 4l0 Your obviously not going to have this but with a 4l60e I don't think its thats big of a deal. I run the 5.7 4l60e without this wire hooked up and it still shifts fine in 4low. It doens't seem to be as big of an issue with the v8 and auto as you can go a lot more places without dropping into low gears. When I do use the low gears a lot of times its just in first or locked in 2nd anyway. Other than slow crawls it does well without 4lo.
 
Kurtis said:
I'm pretty sure there is a wire in the harness that tells the computer when the 4wd is in 4hi and 4l0 Your obviously not going to have this but with a 4l60e I don't think its thats big of a deal. I run the 5.7 4l60e without this wire hooked up and it still shifts fine in 4low. It doens't seem to be as big of an issue with the v8 and auto as you can go a lot more places without dropping into low gears. When I do use the low gears a lot of times its just in first or locked in 2nd anyway. Other than slow crawls it does well without 4lo.
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Good to know! So the 4l60 can be held in 1st or 2nd gear just like the a440? How is the engine braking in 1st with the 4l60e?
 
Yeah, the steering box has been leaking like crazy ever since I owned the thing. I was thinking of just purchasing a new one from Toyota, didn't realize there was someone doing rebuilds on these. I'll look into that. Don't have any clue what hydrosteer is, I'll do some searching. What is the name of the company?
 
I'm looking to sell my 3fe and tranny when I pull it out here shortly, and I have someone that looks like they are interested in it. Is there anything I need to keep from the original setup or am I ok to sell it off? Would it be better to hold onto it for a while until I get the new one in just to make sure? I really don't have the space for my truck and two sets of engines/trannys laying around. Can my old ECU and harnesses go with it?
 
satchel said:
Yeah, the steering box has been leaking like crazy ever since I owned the thing. I was thinking of just purchasing a new one from Toyota, didn't realize there was someone doing rebuilds on these. I'll look into that. Don't have any clue what hydrosteer is, I'll do some searching. What is the name of the company?
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You won't want to buy a new one when you see what they cost. The place that rebuilt mine (it was also leaking) was West Texas Offroad. Here is their website:

redneck ram hydraulic steering assist

Hydrosteer provides an extra power steering ram for large tire applications. If you are staying with 33 inch or less, you probably won't need it. I didn't have them convert my steering to hydrosteer, I don't run big tires, they just rebuilt the box for about $150 or so.
 
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