1984 BJ42 Story and Modifications - 3B to 15BFT (1 Viewer)

[AlbertoSD]

Greetings,

I wanted to initiate a thread about my 1984 Euro Spec BJ42 and hopefully tell the story and provide some details about the modifications that I have done to the vehicle. This is an ongoing thread that will also include the current state of the engine swap from 3B to 15BFT. This project is FAR from being done, but I thought this was as good time as any to start the thread.

This is not intended to be a full restore/refurbish of the truck, but rather fix some issues and enhance the capabilities of the 42. Hopefully, this will serve at least the following purposes:

1.- To remember and document what I have done to the truck
2.- To help somebody with the same or similar questions
3.- To document to the best of my ability a power plant swap from a NA 3B to a factory turbocharged 15BFT (found in Dyna, Coaster, and Mega Cruiser)
4.- To thank and acknowledge a lot of people from this forum who have helped me tremendously

So let the story begin...



-Alberto

P.S. This whole build is dedicated to my brother and fellow Land Cruiser enthusiast Chris Delancy R.I.P.

 

[AlbertoSD]

One afternoon I was chatting with my brother from another mother Mauricio @Spallet about what my dream 40 looked like. I kid you not, the very next day, he sent me this link from a 1984 BJ42 that was in The Netherlands. I couldn't believe it, one day later. It is not perfect, and it needs a little work, but, it is all there, it is a 1984 (the last of the last). After a little consideration, I decided to buy it (mind you, the truck was in The Netherlands and I am.....well, here in the U.S.)

Here are some photos provided by the seller when we first saw it:

It has a lot of cool features from being a 1984. A powerful naturally aspirated 3B, factory H55 5-spd transmission and split case, front disc brakes, factory parking brake on the rear drums, factory PTO winch, factory interior mat, and a factory/dealer added electric power steering like the ones City Racer seem to offer for sale, too.

Electric Power Steering for '73 and later Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 - https://www.cityracerllc.com/products/electric-power-steering-for-toyota-land-cruiser-fj40

More to come...

 

[AlbertoSD]

After coordinating the logistics for shipping and importation, the BJ42 got picked up and put into a boat to the U.S.

 

[AlbertoSD]

And finally got delivered to Galveston, TX where I picked it up with my friend Fernando @Fern1109.

 

[CRZR45]

Following!!! Love the project! I know it will be amazing and probably make me go down this rabbit hole on my Bj73! You always do amazing work!!!

 

[AlbertoSD]

Following!!! Love the project! I know it will be amazing and probably make me go down this rabbit hole on my Bj73! You always do amazing work!!!

Good to hear from you, my brother!!!

Hope to make this one nice....I have a lot of progress done already, but need time to catch up.

Thank you for the kind words!!!

-Alberto

 

[AlbertoSD]

Once we got to the port, I checked the fluids, checked tire pressure, and headed to Austin, TX about 4 hours away, which turned to be more like 6 hours with traffic.

Truck ran GREAT, didn't overheat, kept up with traffic (yes, even with the 3B), and everything worked as expected. All smiles, and more than once caught people taking photos of the truck and giving me thumbs up. What a day!!

Love how the radio was upside down (It was not even plugged in....hahaha)

 

[AlbertoSD]

First things first, the BJ42 came with a MOMO steering wheel. While this might be a thing for some folks, it was not for me.

Luckily, I had asked the seller to send me the original steering wheel that came with the truck (which he still had).

Before

After

Ahhhh.....much better...

 

[bottombracket]

Subscribed and here for the journey!

 

[greenbeast]

Wow, that is clean!!! My BJ45 also from the Netherlands. Is it 24V?

Gonna be fun to watch what you do Alberto!!

 

[roma042987]

Very nice! I like!

 

[FJBen]

Looks amazing Alberto. Will be fantastic with a 15bft!

Tall guy question…I was under the impression that later 80+ 40 series had more legroom. Is that correct?

 

[AlbertoSD]

Subscribed and here for the journey!

Thank you, Galen. This all wouldn't be possible without your help!

Wow, that is clean!!! My BJ45 also from the Netherlands. Is it 24V?

Gonna be fun to watch what you do Alberto!!

Thank you, Jon!!! Hope to make this one nice. First I am hoping to get it mechanically sound, and sometime in the next two years I will pull the body off and try to replicate Roma's magic

Very nice! I like!

Thank you, Roma!!! More photos coming soon.

Looks amazing Alberto. Will be fantastic with a 15bft!

Tall guy question…I was under the impression that later 80+ 40 series had more legroom. Is that correct?

Thank you, Ben! Leg room, I am not sure on what the previous ones were, but, I am 5'11" and I don't think it is a comfortable ride. I will definitely have to modify the seats to get extra room.

 

[AlbertoSD]

I like the wheels that came on the 42, but the perfect 40 (in my head) has the regular gray 40-series steel wheels. I love the split wheels, but not sure I want to deal with the hassle of them again (I had them on my 70 for a little while).

My friend had 4 wheels and tires he was willing to sell so I ended up buying them. The tires are 32x11.5R15 and eventually I will be replacing them with 33x10.5R15 ones. The wheels and tires were used, and factory black, so I gave them a little color.

A little timelapse of the progress there:

 

[AlbertoSD]

So, now getting a little into the specifics, decision making, and rational on why I am making the choices I am making on this project.

I have decided to swap the 3B for a 15BFT as found in Toyota Dyna, Toyota Coasters, and Toyota Mega Cruiser. The 3B is a great little engine. I know I am preaching to the choir here, but, it really is. It is slow, and a little underpowered, but, it will run forever if you take good care of it. The 3B on this 42 ran SOOOO well, that for a while I thought about keeping it and putting a turbo on it. I had suggestions from many folks that drove my 42 prior to engine removal and they kept pushing for me to keep the 3B. It is probably the healthiest, strongest 3B I have ever drive.

BUT, at this point I had bought and paid for the 15BFT. It was already waiting for me and I had bought a lot of the additional parts to make this all work.

Why the 15BFT and not a 1HDT you might wonder?

First of all, while a 15BFT might seem like a new trend of sorts, but it is not. This engine has been around for ages and it was Toyota's choice of powerplant for the mighty Mega Cruiser (in both, the civilian and military version). The 15BFT is a very common engine in other parts of the world , and as it seems usual with any other diesel engine, not here in the U.S. The 15BFT is widely used as powerplant swap choice in Thailand, Indonesia, Portugal, Spain, Norway, Denmark, and they install these engines into all sorts of Land Cruisers (namely 40, 60, 70, and 80-series).

Second, the 15BFT is a direct drop in to where the 3B used to live. I didn't want to modify the frame of the BJ42 to keep it as a true survivor and the last of the last. This truck, being a 1984, includes most of the latest changes that Toyota did to the 40-series and I want to try to preserve that as much as I can (keep this in mind for later in the discussion).

I first saw a good write up from Stranden's Garage who I believe is in Denmark:

15B-F engine in a Land Cruiser BJ42 - https://strandensgarage.wordpress.com/2011/12/18/15b-f-engine-in-a-land-cruiser-bj42/

If you are interested in this engine swap, the link above is a GREAT resource to start.

Third, I can retain the same factory H55 I already have with the same bellhousing that I already have. Again, my main goal is to get this engine swap done, retaining as much factory items as I can, and keeping the 42 with most of its features, but an improved powerplant.

Here is a photo of my actual engine:

The engine has a little over 176,000 Kms (around 110,000 miles) and it seems fairly clean.

Again, I am not blazing the trail here, others have done these swaps before, and I know a few of us are in the middle of it as of this moment (at least 5 of us here on MUD working on this right now). I am just trying to document, for future reference, what I have done, why, and hopefully help others to cross this bridge without too many hiccups if they are interested in this engine swap option.

 

[OGBeno]

Looks like Galen's shop.

 

[AlbertoSD]

If you pay attention to the photo above, you will notice a few weird things. But, the main one being the location of the deep portion on the oil sump. This engine came out of a Toyota Coaster Bus application, so you will see that the deep part of the oil sump is located forward of the engine and the sump has some sort of "wings" to it:

All the Coaster applications are like above, the Dyna applications have the same sump configuration but the deep part is "back" (like a normal Land Cruiser sump), but it still has the wings. If you get a Dyna engine, you will need to trim the right wing to clear your front driveshaft. The link I posted previously shows what you need to trim.

Roma @roma042987 figured out that you can use a Mega Cruiser sump and solve all the interference issues (Thanks, Roma!). As you might imagine, you need the correct sump, and the correct oil pickup tube (on the Coaster engine the pickup tube is short and also located forward (I forgot to take a photo of it)). Furthermore, on the Coaster application, the oil dipstick is mounted on one of the wings of the oil sump. If you are considering this swap, and you get a Coaster engine, you will also need the Mega Cruiser dip stick and dip stick guide.

Photos of test fitting everything before assembly:

 

[AlbertoSD]

Looks like Galen's shop.

BINGO!!!

Yes, it is indeed Galen's shop. I couldn't have even started this project if it wasn't for Galen's help. BIG thanks to Galen @bottombracket for letting me mess his shop a little while I get this done.

Good to hear from you, Onur!

 

[AlbertoSD]

The cool part is that Toyota already had a drilled boss for the correct dipstick location. Toyota installed a freeze-plug type plug on this drilled boss, which you can tap from the inside out once you remove the oil sump. Once the new dipstick is installed, you wouldn't know it wasn't there to start with.

Photos, just for reference, of the new dipstick and dipstick guide:

 

[AlbertoSD]

Couple of photos of cleaning and assembling the new oil sump and pickup tube. Easy work, just tedious to clean all the previous FIPG. Toyota uses a stiffening plate (or baffle) on this engine so you have to clean 4 surfaces and glue them back together on re-assembly.