1979 BJ40 Story and Modifications

[AlbertoSD]

Engine, Transmission, and Transfer Case out

 

[AlbertoSD]

OK....now to the "not so good" part of the story.

Before I bought the BJ40, and even before I bought my current BJ70, I had purchased another CND BJ70 that I was told to be "mostly solid" and it turned to be a rust bucket (I guess the "solid" definition can be interpreted in many ways). I tried to sell the truck for the same price I got it, but it seemed like nobody wanted it (truthfully I totally understand why ).

However, it came with a good 3B diesel engine(12V), an H55 5-spd transmission, and all the accesories I would need to drop it in another vehicle.

That is when I decided to buy this BJ40 (even with a bad engine) as I already had an available drivetrain from the rusty BJ70. The goal became to assemble a running truck from these two.

Some photos of the 3B/H55 drivetrain. Looked ugly on the outside, but compression numbers were decent.

 

[AlbertoSD]

Started working on the 3B. Like the work I've done to the 3B on my BJ70, I wanted to replace the pre-combustion chambers as preventive measure. I have read many horror stories of 3B's that drop a pre-combustion chambers and end up damaging the engine. Also, I wanted to see the internal condition of the cylinder walls.

The plans for the 3B are:

- New Pre-Combustion Chambers
- Magnaflux Head, check for cracks, and resurface
- Valve Job
- New Valve Stem seals
- New Head Gasket
- New seals wherever possible (rear and front seal at least)
- Resurface flywheel
- New Clutch, Pressure Plate, and Throwout Bearing
- New Water Pump
- New Thermostat
- New Belts
- Refinish Valve Cover
- New Valve Cover Gasket
- Turbo (when funds allow)

I am sure I am forgetting a bunch of things on the list.

 

[AlbertoSD]

Some photos of the progress.

Three of the combustion chambers were cracked (at least that I could see) and there were no visible cracks on the head or between the valves. I guess the machine shop will tell if it is cracked or not.

 

[boozewz]

Subscribed

 

[Tapage]

cheap turbo from eBay and flipped manifolds .. plus some silicon hoses and adapters you won't gonna spend more than 500 bucks .. c'on .. now it's turbo time !

 

[lostmarbles]

Vent windows front and rear....
Sounds like mine. Where does it originally came from? Latin America?

Rudi

Hey Rudi,

Correct. I believe the truck came from Costa Rica or El Salvador (not 100% sure). I will have to look at the import papers. The previous owner imported it to New Jersey and I bought it already in the U.S.

!!

I thought this cruiser looked familiar..

Here it is when it was carrying El Salvador plates:



How could I ever forget this one! It was the source of tremendous frustration for the previous owner (and for those of us on ih8mud who were trying to help) with its engine troubles.

 

[AlbertoSD]

I thought this cruiser looked familiar..

Here it is when it was carrying El Salvador plates:

View attachment 795061

How could I ever forget this one! It was the source of tremendous frustration for the previous owner (and for those of us on ih8mud who were trying to help) with its engine troubles.

That's mine!!!

Thanks for the photo, Tom!...I didn't have that one on my collection

 

[AlbertoSD]

I wanted to clean the engine and get it ready for the head install.

 

[roma042987]

alberto id throw a new water pump on while you have it a part they are available from the dealer and fairly cheap mine was $140-160 cant remember exactly

 

[AlbertoSD]

alberto id throw a new water pump on while you have it a part they are available from the dealer and fairly cheap mine was $140-160 cant remember exactly

Will do, Roma!

After seeing what Wayne (crushers) ran into a 3B rebuild on his BJ70 refurbrish project:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/showpost.php?p=7974272&postcount=215

I wanted to open the oil cooler and see if there was any water/coolant sediment in there. Mine had some coolant that turned into gel but I could wipe it off somewhat easy. I am glad I decided to open it and clean it.

 

[AlbertoSD]

Cleaned the mating surfaces, put new gaskets and O-rings on the oil-cooler and assembled it again.

 

[AlbertoSD]

Then, following the steps outlined on the Factory Service Manual (FSM) and after looking at the procedure posted by Chris (lynchmob), I went ahead and replaced the injection diaphragm on the injection pump.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/diesel-tech-24-volts-systems/182948-3b-diaphragm-replacement.html

Part Number:

Toyota 22303-47010 or
Denso 090580-0041

Thanks, Chris (lynchmob), for the information listed on your thread!

The last photo was taken from the thread listed above and the photo credit goes to Tom (lostmarbles). Thanks, Tom!

 

[AlbertoSD]

Grabbed a wire wheel and started cleaning the cylinder block and applied some silver engine paint to it.

 

[crushers]

did you pull the cooler itself from the housing and check behind it and between the grooves?
i am enjoying your thread

 

[AlbertoSD]

did you pull the cooler itself from the housing and check behind it and between the grooves?
i am enjoying your thread

Hey Wayne!

I did. I didn't take many photos of the process, but it looked really good. I was able to find the correct O-rings and gaskets to put it back together.

Attached is a photo of the oil cooler cover with some Permatex gasket-remover on it. The paper gaskets on this engine gave me a lot of headaches to remove them!!!

Thanks, Wayne for sharing your projects with the group so we can learn from your experience.

 

[AlbertoSD]

Some more photos of the engine cleaned and painted.

 

[AlbertoSD]

Cleaned the upper engine surface and head bolts in preparation for the head install.

 

[AlbertoSD]

The machine shop finished the head work and found no cracks on the head. I was pretty happy to hear this

The machine shop also replaced the pre-combustion chambers, milled the head surface, valve job, valve stem seals, drilled and tapped a broken bolt on the exhaust side, magnafluxed and pressure tested the head, and replaced the head freeze plugs.

I purchased the Pre-Combustion chambers from Roo Dogs in Australia and the Toyota 3B head gasket kit was purchased from Onur (beno). Thanks, Onur!

 

[AlbertoSD]

Removed the water pump and worked on the head install. Followed the FSM on the torque sequence for the head bolts in stages.