kw90surf's Grad Present to Himself, 1991 FJ80 H150F Touring Build (1 Viewer)

[kw90surf]

Also, just acquired 3 more complete 3FEs that were otherwise going to scrap (they’re very rare here). One of them has 159,000km. So now I’ve got the good 3FE that’s in it, a 90k mile seized complete motor that I stripped, all of the ancillaries off another 180k mile 3FE, and 2 more complete 3FEs. Should be good for 3FE parts for a long time!!!

 

[onemanarmy]

As a shakedown I loaded up the 80 and took it on a 4 day 600km camping trip from Halifax to Guysborough to Bridgewater and back.

Time for driving impressions!

It's quite a transformation. The combination of the much deeper gearing, an extra gear, and elimination of the parasitic drain of the A440F makes a huge difference. Here's what I've noticed:

• The gearing is quite short, but in a good way imo. I'm in 5th by 60kph if I short shift (1800-2000rpm or so). First gear is very short.
• The portion of the rev band from 1000-1600rpm has been unlocked, and there's lots of grunt down there. I can lug it down to 1100rpm in 5th cruising through town, and when I squeeze the pedal slightly it will accelerate.
• The 3FE is surprisingly responsive and revvy.
• HUGE difference on the highway. I can cruise at 60-65mph (2500rpm) with my foot barely in the pedal. Most hills I squeeze the pedal a bit more and I can easily maintain speed in 5th, the odd very steep hill I'll either need WOT or to downshift to 4th, but then I'm good. The biggest difference here is that the 80 actually feels comfortable at highway speed now, I'm not constantly burying my foot/watching the speedo/downshifting/hunting for gears. I can pretty much cruise effortlessly without paying attention to speed and throttle. Like a normal car (almost).
• It will do 75-80mph comfortably now if I want it to.
• Cruising around town at the same pace as the auto (slow, short shifting), I barely need any revs or throttle. No longer spooling the converter.
• If I drive it hard it's actually peppy around town now, it's suddenly possible to be in a rush.
• It's WAY more fun to drive now. The 80 has 120% more character now. Feels overall a bit like a 3.0L pickup or 4Runner to me.
• It's still a 3FE. Wide-open throttle/full revs acceleration is still underwhelming. But it is improved.

As far as fuel economy, I've put 3 tanks through it so far and here's what I've got:

• All highway @60-65mph, being easy on it but trying to maintain speed on hills: 17.3mpg US / 13.5L/100km. (my buddy with a 3rd gen 4Runner 3.4/auto with similar mods only got 19mpg for the same trip)
• backroads @40-55mph, again mostly driving easy: 16.3mpg US / 14.5L/100km
• hard city driving (keeping up with traffic, shifting 3000rpm), highway 75-80mph: 12.3mpg / 19.2L/100km.

So it looks like if you're willing to drive it gently, there's fuel economy gains to be had. If you want to use the newfound extra power all the time, you're going to get the same mpg as before. I averaged 11-13 mpg with the auto in mixed gentle driving.

I think if the 3FE was offered here with a manual transmission it would have a completely different reputation. The auto really smothered its character in a lot of ways and with the manual it has come alive and it really feels like you're getting the most out of it. It almost has me second-guessing swapping it for a diesel. It's still slow compared to any modern vehicle but it's the kind of slow that pretty much all early-90's Toyotas are, Camry's, Corolla's, Pickup's etc.

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yep...classic toyota. sell the worst version of something, don't support it, don't advertise it then kill it/stop importing it while claiming 'low sales'

Hey numb-nuts mr. toyoda.....we'd buy the good versions. this would make us happy and make you more money.

Loving the 80 updates and trip reports!