3FE to 5.3 in 1992 FJ80 Build thread (1 Viewer)

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I completely agree. I am a little shocked on how complicated the 3FE.. I am to the point where the motor is ready to come out. 10 hours of labeling and hose pulling is crazy. I hope i did not forget a label!
Lots of labels, so many hoses. I keep laughing at myself, its like" I can't keep taking this truck apart, its got to stop at some point." I think I have crested that wave, parts are about to start going back on....
 
Lots of labels, so many hoses. I keep laughing at myself, its like" I can't keep taking this truck apart, its got to stop at some point." I think I have crested that wave, parts are about to start going back on....
Haha! I keep thinking the same thing! 3FE I like an onion that has layers over layers of hoses.

I am not looking forward putting back together. With that said it should go faster then tear down. I have respect for anyone who does not lose sleep over motor removal!
 
How much do you think you will have sunk into the LS conversion? Seeing your picks and my pure dread of getting every hose back to wence it came has me rethinking a rebuilt 3fe.
 
I went the moderately expensive route, so this project is north of $10k, New(rebuilt) long block, new trans/torq conv , adaptor kit from Marks4wd, as unending list of small parts and things. But, IF you had a known mileage donor motor and transmission you felt good about I bet you could get closer to 5-7k. But don't forget the lift, most of these LS swaps are done with a 3"(at least) lift. You can do it with a stock height cruiser but I think you are going to need some non truck motor parts for that,(f-body or corvette intake for one), different accessory drive. I'm trying to build a daily driver, mall crawler/overlander(I shudder every time I say that word) and not a rock crawler. So it really depends on your end goal.

But for what its worth, the number of hoses to get in the right place on a ls swap is about 1/10th the number of hoses to get in the right place on a proper 3fe refresh. Thats my opinion anyway, I'm sure others can reassemble them in the dark. I seriously would consider rebuilding the 3fe if I didn't live and play from 5-10k feet altitude. Over passes at 8k and up is a real test in everyone stuck behind yous' patience. Real talk, I have been passed by 40ft Diesel pusher RV on the inside of a turn going up Teton Pass, truck will not pull over 20mph over the top of that, loaded or not.The other big draw for me is the improvement in fuel economy. The 3fe is a 10mpg motor, especially with a lift and bigger tires, I expect to almost double that with the new motor. Hell, In 10-15 years, battery tech is going to make a electric swap pretty cool too and those kits are going to be likely available for an LS engine mount based platform, I don't think the F motors will get as much attention in that department. /2 cents
 
@masong. Thank you for the through Explanation. I was not aware of the lift requirements. That would add another 2k to the immediate cost of getting the thing road worthy.

The most I plan to lift is 2 inches later down the road.

I think I might start looking for the path of a 1.9 VW diesel to see how possible that would be. I cN pick one up cheep with low miles and I hear they can be lightly tuned to run 250hp with 300lb torque. 4bt is too much money.

With all this said, if I can effectively source a 3fe I'll likely go that route.

I live in flat WI and figure elevation and hills are not a concern.

Your build is definitely a bucket list build though. Really nicely coming along!!
 
Two hours later and I still have all my fingers. Definitely not a fan of the angle grinder, they bite hard.
View attachment 2594126View attachment 2594127

Like Jack Burton says, "it's all in the reflexes".

I am curious, could you explain why a suspension lift makes an ls swap easier. I can see how a body lift would help but I don't understand how a suspension lift would help.
 
@masong. Thank you for the through Explanation. I was not aware of the lift requirements. That would add another 2k to the immediate cost of getting the thing road worthy.

The most I plan to lift is 2 inches later down the road.

I think I might start looking for the path of a 1.9 VW diesel to see how possible that would be. I cN pick one up cheep with low miles and I hear they can be lightly tuned to run 250hp with 300lb torque. 4bt is too much money.

With all this said, if I can effectively source a 3fe I'll likely go that route.

I live in flat WI and figure elevation and hills are not a concern.

Your build is definitely a bucket list build though. Really nicely coming along!!
You can install a truck motor without a lift and with the truck intake. It's very tight. I had my oil pan modified, I had to tweak the oil pickup also. I also had to install a hood scoop to clear the evap purge valve. If I didn't have to have emissions I wouldn't have needed the scoop.
 
Like Jack Burton says, "it's all in the reflexes".

I am curious, could you explain why a suspension lift makes an ls swap easier. I can see how a body lift would help but I don't understand how a suspension lift would help.
You can install a truck motor without a lift and with the truck intake. It's very tight. I had my oil pan modified, I had to tweak the oil pickup also. I also had to install a hood scoop to clear the evap purge valve. If I didn't have to have emissions I wouldn't have needed the scoop.
Doesn't the driveshaft have better clearance in a lifted LS swap 80 as well? What was your front driveshaft solution.?
 
I was looking for original Toyota style wiring connectors and found hi-1000.com in Japan which specializes in wiring for cars and motos. They have pretty much everything for modifying these Toyota harness connections. Original female style wire connections so you can keep a clean and tidy ship. This connection was for my severed ignition wiring under the dash where I removed the Ungo door lock/alarm/imobilizer. Will use some of these on my IH1, IH2 connections as well. The 187 size are for the heavier gauge wires, 090 for the smaller connections. They fit identically to OEM and lock in to the connectors the same way. Male and female ends are available.

Type F187 female connectors
Type F090 female connectors

6BA8E561-CB69-4066-8A42-4EC335E21BBB.jpeg
 
I never liked the Hella rocker switch my 80 came with, replaced it with a diff-lock switch. Obviously no lockers(yet) but it was a simple swap and sometimes you need an easy win when you feel like your project is moving slow. Hopefully I can find one of those rectangle oem Aux light switches for the blank to left of the diff lock.
1E9831B0-4DE3-4E66-9D08-83FC621DF037.jpeg
 
Little Update, Got the motor hanging in the engine bay for engine mount placement, thanks to @cruisermatt for building me some mounts. Looks like I am going to need some different exhaust manifolds than the factory, what options have people tried? I am running into the Driver side frame rail with the OE ones, do I need Blackhearts? ave folks used those?
Seems like that's the ones I've seen in photos but hard to tell ?
E1C4E690-58B8-4156-A617-4B4E2D1DFA60.jpeg
4075BAC8-BDCE-4832-85B4-A5F5FB794924.jpeg

oh, and a photo of slotting the crossmember on the Benchmaster
8620B5D8-F066-472C-BE7C-993F5A3C4949.jpeg
 
Little Update, Got the motor hanging in the engine bay for engine mount placement, thanks to @cruisermatt for building me some mounts. Looks like I am going to need some different exhaust manifolds than the factory, what options have people tried? I am running into the Driver side frame rail with the OE ones, do I need Blackhearts? ave folks used those?
Seems like that's the ones I've seen in photos but hard to tell ?
View attachment 2617064View attachment 2617065
oh, and a photo of slotting the crossmember on the Benchmaster
View attachment 2617069
The Hookers are what I used and several others. Summit has since come out with what looks like a clone and they are even cheaper:

 
The Hookers are what I used and several others. Summit has since come out with what looks like a clone and they are even cheaper:

I ordered a pair of the summit 9084 which come with a different shaped flange and o2 bungs, they seem identical in shape to the 9080. Thanks for the tip!
 

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