G'day guys,
I thought I would start this thread to have one place to put all my questions regarding my intentions of eventually ending up with a GTurbo in my 88 HJ61. I have been following the threads on here re: Turbos, GTurbo, etc, and have decided that with my limited turbo knowledge this is the way to go instead of the Mumba etc route.....
A bit of history - I live in West Aus, about 2 hours drive from GTurbo, and have previously had the following 4X4's:
Suzuki LJ80
Subaru Sports Wagon (not really 4x4)
80 Series Cruiser with the 1HZ (and LP Gas injection)
1982 FJ60
2000 HDJ100 (Factory Turbo Diesel - 4 speed Auto) with 3" Exhaust and Dtronic chip
1982 HJ60 with a 2H (in my Avatar - purchased for $500, and sold for $4500)
and my current 1988 HJ61 12HT with a 5 speed, and 483000 k's.... (Purchased for $3300) It is my only car, used as a daily driver, I tow a boat up to Exmouth once a year with it, and have so far done the following to it:
ARB bar with HID spots
Rhino 'Flat' roofrack
Delta Hurricane rims with 31x10.5 R15 Bridgestone Dueller A/T's
Custom rear bar
Dual Batterys
UHF
I have so far driven the HJ61 about 20000k's with no dramas at all - I get about 10.5L/100km, I had it Dyno'd and it produced 90hp at the wheels, it blows a puff of smoke on start-up, but nothing while driving after it is warm...it runs smooth and quiet....
My intention was to buy an Ebay front mount intercooler and pipe-work, parts to make a 3" exhaust, a Turbosmart Boost T, and then increase the boost to about 12psi to see how it goes for a few months, then get the GTurbo... however......
I rang Graeme earlier this week to get his opinion if the engine at 483000 k's would be suitable for a GTurbo, what intercooler size he would recommend to be the best, etc.... Graeme immediately stopped me and asked if I had replaced the pistons due to the factory fault with them causing the top ring to eventually break (unfortunately I had never heard of this problem before and thought the engine would be good for a million k's.....)
I rang around, but no one is keen to do anything other than a full engine re-build for $8 - $9000, which I simply cant afford.... I purchased the car at 460000k's, and looking at the sealant on the sump, at some stage the sump has been off as it doesnt look like how Toyota would have done it, so it may already have Alfin pistons in it.....
So, my first questions are:
If I take off the sump, is there any way I can tell if the pistons are genuine Toyota, or Alfin, by looking up at them from underneath??
Will looking up at the bore from underneath give me any clues re the condition of the pistons / rings - ie - does the rear in the top ring groove slowly start causing marks on the bore, or is it the sort of thing that is fine one day, and lets go the next???
Now my intention is to get the engine reliable (or at least me feeling that it is reliable), and then saving up for the GTurbo. If there is no way of telling if the pistons are Alfin from the sump, I will order an engine re-build kit (about $1200) and take the head and sump off, replace the pistons, rings, and big ends, possibly get the head reconditioned (another $1200)..... There goes my $2500 for the GTurbo..... Short of pulling the engine out and fully rebuilding it, is there anything else I should look at???
Sorry for the long winded post, but want to give as much info as possible....
Thanks heaps for any info!!
Drew
I thought I would start this thread to have one place to put all my questions regarding my intentions of eventually ending up with a GTurbo in my 88 HJ61. I have been following the threads on here re: Turbos, GTurbo, etc, and have decided that with my limited turbo knowledge this is the way to go instead of the Mumba etc route.....
A bit of history - I live in West Aus, about 2 hours drive from GTurbo, and have previously had the following 4X4's:
Suzuki LJ80
Subaru Sports Wagon (not really 4x4)
80 Series Cruiser with the 1HZ (and LP Gas injection)
1982 FJ60
2000 HDJ100 (Factory Turbo Diesel - 4 speed Auto) with 3" Exhaust and Dtronic chip
1982 HJ60 with a 2H (in my Avatar - purchased for $500, and sold for $4500)
and my current 1988 HJ61 12HT with a 5 speed, and 483000 k's.... (Purchased for $3300) It is my only car, used as a daily driver, I tow a boat up to Exmouth once a year with it, and have so far done the following to it:
ARB bar with HID spots
Rhino 'Flat' roofrack
Delta Hurricane rims with 31x10.5 R15 Bridgestone Dueller A/T's
Custom rear bar
Dual Batterys
UHF
I have so far driven the HJ61 about 20000k's with no dramas at all - I get about 10.5L/100km, I had it Dyno'd and it produced 90hp at the wheels, it blows a puff of smoke on start-up, but nothing while driving after it is warm...it runs smooth and quiet....
My intention was to buy an Ebay front mount intercooler and pipe-work, parts to make a 3" exhaust, a Turbosmart Boost T, and then increase the boost to about 12psi to see how it goes for a few months, then get the GTurbo... however......
I rang Graeme earlier this week to get his opinion if the engine at 483000 k's would be suitable for a GTurbo, what intercooler size he would recommend to be the best, etc.... Graeme immediately stopped me and asked if I had replaced the pistons due to the factory fault with them causing the top ring to eventually break (unfortunately I had never heard of this problem before and thought the engine would be good for a million k's.....)
I rang around, but no one is keen to do anything other than a full engine re-build for $8 - $9000, which I simply cant afford.... I purchased the car at 460000k's, and looking at the sealant on the sump, at some stage the sump has been off as it doesnt look like how Toyota would have done it, so it may already have Alfin pistons in it.....
So, my first questions are:
If I take off the sump, is there any way I can tell if the pistons are genuine Toyota, or Alfin, by looking up at them from underneath??
Will looking up at the bore from underneath give me any clues re the condition of the pistons / rings - ie - does the rear in the top ring groove slowly start causing marks on the bore, or is it the sort of thing that is fine one day, and lets go the next???
Now my intention is to get the engine reliable (or at least me feeling that it is reliable), and then saving up for the GTurbo. If there is no way of telling if the pistons are Alfin from the sump, I will order an engine re-build kit (about $1200) and take the head and sump off, replace the pistons, rings, and big ends, possibly get the head reconditioned (another $1200)..... There goes my $2500 for the GTurbo..... Short of pulling the engine out and fully rebuilding it, is there anything else I should look at???
Sorry for the long winded post, but want to give as much info as possible....
Thanks heaps for any info!!
Drew