15b-ft or not to be? (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Nov 30, 2005
Threads
3
Messages
50
Location
Kambalda Western Australia
Just after opinions. At the end of this year I wish to repower my BJ42. The problem is the number of options that I have. I could rebuild my 3b and turbo charge it. This would cost around $5,500(AUS) in total I figure. I can get a rebuilt 13bt for $5,500(AUS). I have a fuel injected Holden V8 in a VR Commodore (wrecked) that I could drop in. The full conversion kit, that covers absolutely everything, would cost around $4,500. I have another use for that motor if I don't do that however. Last but not least, I can get a 15b-ft for $8,000 to put in there.

The simplest option should be the 13bt as it would drop straight in. It should use the same engine mounts and bolt straight up to my h55f 5 speed. The V8 would be nice, certainly make a fun car, but like I say I already have another plan for that and it would be a waste of the rest of the vehicle. All the diff, axles, brakes, wiring harness, dash, etc. If I do get a Torana I'll gut that car and move most into the Torry.

The one I like the most is the 15b-ft but there could be some big complications with that. Mainly mating to the gearbox. But if I am going to spend $5,500 on a 13bt then for another $2,500 I can get the latest and greatest of the same type of motor.

Opinions?
 
Ok I may be an old man now, but I think power is overrated and a 13BT is the ideal motor. More fuel efficient than the 15BT? What else could you do with $2500+what you save on fuel? I can think of a million things, even in Aussie $$$. Not to mention the savings in headaches because of the compatibility of the 13BT with the H55, as you note...

My .02/opinion, as you requested.

B
 
Well, you get a lot more power and torque plus a 16 valve motor. Are they electronically fuel injected? I'm not sure.

My real issue is that it doesn't sit at 110km/hr nicely. I have to push it to get it there, it uses a lot of fuel as a result, it is hard to overtake as you need 120km/hr for that and even the slightest hill will push you back to 100km/hr.

Thanks for your comments.
 
gearing will help you out, I agree with the diescipel and unless you need to tow a yaght or something , which i'm pretty sure it would do, but not at 100 or veen 80kmph. A 13bt is awesome, if you want just get some bigger tires, my 3B does 110 fine, of cousre I would rather cruise at 80 on side highways and use my GPS.
 
I'd go the 13bt route. If you really need more power, you could consider investing that 2,500 into something like an intercooler, propane injection, a better exhaust system, different gearing/tyres.... lots of options.
 
wooouuu if I think like a child ..

15B-FTE for sure .. !!!!!! :bounce: only thinking in all this power in a Land Cruiser .. awesome .. !

Back to the reality, the 15B-FTE is a electronically controled and very new engine .. maybe in the swap way it come with a lots of mating problems ..

13B-T is your smart way .. but you like those little thinks that makes a happy life .. you know my answer ..
 
Well, with 16 valves and electronic fuel control then the 15B-FTE would be more fuel efficient than the 13B-T.

I guess the other question should be why do I have issues keeping it at 110km/hr? From what I have read of other people's experiences the 3B does this fine, and without burning stupid amounts of fuel. I have recently had the injectors and injection pump reconned, so I suspect I must be down on compression.
 
how many km's on the old girl? I would still rather have a mechnical fuel pump then some electronic thing. I think thats what makes the diesel awesome, even in a a nuclear explosion, you could get an old mechnical girl going, an electrnic one would be fubared.

Putting a 15B in it would be cool, but I dunno, maybe a 12ht or something toyota that is bigger is a better choice to replace a tired 13bt.
 
Michael,

My BJ 44 is powered by a 13B-T. It has NO problems pegging the speedometer needle to the hilt. I know it is not the safest thing to be doing in a 40 but it will do it with no problems. I am running 35s with 4.11s and a H55. Good power and a solid engine tranny combo to boot.

Hills! This combo in a 40 laughs at them. It will still accerlate in 5TH GEAR UP long but modest hills. It will hold steady on steep grades no problem in 5th gear.

I'd go the 13B-T route and spend the extra savings on nice upgrades such as mentioned above about the intercoolers.

If money wasn't a concern! I am with Tapage on the 15B-FT. I could only imagine what that would do. I guess it is the kid in me too.

13B-T works great in a 44 and would be a excellent choice for your 42.

.
 
The 15b-ft is complete with a radiator(the new speccy one they designed up) and intercooler.

The old girl has done about 400,000km.
 
Yah I think you may be down on compression since 400k kms seems to be the witching hour for 3Bs and injector rebuild is usually the main power thief. But the only way to find out for sure is of course a compression test...

I can spin 110 kms/hr all day long in mine, but also prefer slower. I've had it over 80 mph (kms/hr? 130+?) on flat ground. H55F and 33" tires. Hills kill me too, but I get over 25 mpg US on the highway.

What if your compression #s come out good? Will you just go for a turbo kit or homebrew on the current 3B? I would. And then you would really have some serious $$$ leftover for other things.

Seems like getting a 15BT into a LC is kind of a holy grail thing right now. Another Aussie lister has mentioned it--we of course in the 'States can only drool...

B
 
LOL old milo the green machine. How is the old girl?

I see you went with the 13bt after all, saw the right up in a mag here in Oz.

Also you inspired me to do my own bog job on my 42 cruiser. How the Mrs btw, in the good books or are you still sleeping in the troopy LOL!
 
Hi Milo:

You never mentioned what tires you're running in your 42. I looooove the 13B-T, and with the direct injection, I think you could tweak it a lot more than a turbo 3B. I would personally only consider doing a V8 swap if you're running huge tires and doing things like mud bogging. The 15B, I don't know anything about.

Best of luck. :beer:
 
Stone said:
Hi Milo:

You never mentioned what tires you're running in your 42. I looooove the 13B-T, and with the direct injection, I think you could tweak it a lot more than a turbo 3B. I would personally only consider doing a V8 swap if you're running huge tires and doing things like mud bogging. The 15B, I don't know anything about.

Best of luck. :beer:

1st good long road trip through the mountains this last weekend with my 13BT equipted BJ74 towing a military trailer with PTO winch and 60 FF axle inside. I was very happy with the performance. A fellow took his 13BT equipted BJ60 and was equally impressed. Mind you...no whiplash injures to report :D

gb
 
Stone said:
After listening to my PTO winch lever rattle all day, I don't think Greg could be convinced to trade his factory Toyota 24V winch for a PTO. :D

Have you fixed that yet? Mine is driving me nuts!!!!
 
R2HKS said:
LOL old milo the green machine. How is the old girl?

I see you went with the 13bt after all, saw the right up in a mag here in Oz.

Also you inspired me to do my own bog job on my 42 cruiser. How the Mrs btw, in the good books or are you still sleeping in the troopy LOL!

Heh heh, wrong person mate. You're talking about the old troopy in the 4WD Montly mag. A personal favourite of mine because it bears the same name as my nickname. I'm running a short wheel base BJ42. Didn't occur to me that there could be that confusion when I chose this forum name. Doh!

As for tyres, I am not running anything large. Just standard 30" Duelers on there.

BTW, I was wrong about the k's. It is only 250,000 km.

In the end it is going to come down to how much money I have at the time. If I have a fair amount then I'll go with the 15b-fte, otherwise it'll have to be the 13-bt.
 
Milo I dont think the 15BT will greatly increase your top speed to comfortably overtake.
It would be great for towing and unstoppable offroad but they wont rev any higher than other B variants.
The 15bt are designed to haul a 6T truck around and give them a maximum cruising speed of 100kph loaded,or unloaded.
All the economical power is around the 1500-2000 rpm range.

From memory the 14B and 15B have a great deal more torque but only slightly more HP than its smaller 3B cousins.
The cubic capacity is only slightly more also.

I think a 1HZ with 5 sp would do the job a lot better and probably cheaper.
I think in the lighter 42 series it would have exactly the power and rpm where you need it.
The 12HT would also be better but they are difficult to track down
and never cheap .

If you get the 15BT you would need to gear up or get bigger wheels to get any advantages.
 
The reason that it doesn't comfortably sit or overtake at 110km/hr is not because it is hitting it's rev limit but that it doesn't have the power to push the vehicle along any faster than 110 or so. The revs sit at a nice level (guessing about 2500rpm) at this speed. So more power and torque at the same speed will do the trick. After all, I don't need 200+km/hr out of it.

I can easily pick up a scrapped 1HZ for free being that I am in the mining game out here in the Goldfields. HZJ-75s are almost as common as flies around here. But it would need rebuilding and could well be beyond saving. However a brand new or recond motor will still fetch around 10 to 12 grand Australian. That tends to make the 13b-t look amazing at the price of 5.5k.

I do a lot of my serious driving down on the beaches around Esperence where we have some of the softest sands anywhere. The extra torque is a god send because it stops you from slowing down. That way you just chuck it into a higher gear and just chug along using bugger all fuel. If you have to rev the guts out to keep going (using the power rather than the torque) then you'll use heaps more fuel.

As for the 12HT, I am NOT putting one of them in my shorty. Are you sure you didn't mean a 1HDT?

All in all, I just like the way the 3b drives. A nice square little motor that produces heaps of low down torque. This is why the 15b-fte would be so good.
 

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