Builds 1987 fj60 12h-t h55f conversion

[roma042987]

Looking great.

Thanks! I gotta admit I'm really enjoying seeing this thing come together.

I bought a powder coating gun and a big oven so I can finally do my own powder coating. Unfortunately the oven is three phase so it's too big for my house or Tucker's so I put it at a friends shop for the time being. I borrowed a scrap oven he had and finally gave it a shot this evening. It's a two stage gun from Eastwood and the color is cast aluminum.

 

[roma042987]

New front seal installed.

One of the front timing cover bolts was the incorrect length so I assume it was lost during the previous rebuild. In this picture it's the bolt in the 1 o'clock position. I'm going to order a replacement tomorrow.

Crank pulley installed.

I also powder coated the oil cooler side cover

 

[roma042987]

I cleaned up the oil cooler and flushed the core in the parts washer for a couple of hours. This engine has the three row core while some had only a two row core. Plated hardware, new lock washers, and gaskets and rings

The cooler is torqued to 18 lb ft.

New gasket from the overhaul set.

Replated plugs for the cooler cover along with new sealing washers.

 

[roma042987]

Side cover is installed and torqued to 13 ft lbs.

 

[roma042987]

Short block is almost done. I ordered new lifters from Toyota since I'm in it this far but only half have came in and the rest have back ordered. The side covers are powder coated and ready to be installed which will finish up the bottom end. I also ordered all 26 new head bolts but they have back ordered as well. I also still need to clean up the valve cover and run the injectors by the injection shop for a test.

 

[DanS HJ-45]

This is awesome. That is all.

Oh, and we should have chatted about the powder coating before you had the aluminum parts blasted. I have a technique that's double awesome. Not that those don't look amazing. And the best part is, they'll look amazing forever! You'll hose off the engine and it'll look just like that again!

Dan

 

[Michael B]

@DanS HJ-45 please feel free to share with all of us Mud stalkers. Because inquiring minds want to know!

 

[OGBeno]

This is an epic build indeed.

This is the CORRECT way/method of building this sucker.

Kudos.

 

[roma042987]

This is awesome. That is all.

Oh, and we should have chatted about the powder coating before you had the aluminum parts blasted. I have a technique that's double awesome. Not that those don't look amazing. And the best part is, they'll look amazing forever! You'll hose off the engine and it'll look just like that again!

Dan

Thanks Dan! I have plenty of other parts to powder coat, actually the valve cover is next so really interested in what you came up with for cleaning up the aluminum bits. pm?

This is an epic build indeed.

This is the CORRECT way/method of building this sucker.

Kudos.

Got a little care package from overseas today
10x 15601-68010

 

[waiting for time]

This is awesome. That is all.

Oh, and we should have chatted about the powder coating before you had the aluminum parts blasted. I have a technique that's double awesome. Not that those don't look amazing. And the best part is, they'll look amazing forever! You'll hose off the engine and it'll look just like that again!

Dan

Please share, powder coating is on my wish list too.

 

[DanS HJ-45]

@DanS HJ-45 please feel free to share with all of us Mud stalkers. Because inquiring minds want to know!

Thanks Dan! I have plenty of other parts to powder coat, actually the valve cover is next so really interested in what you came up with for cleaning up the aluminum bits. pm?

Please share, powder coating is on my wish list too.

OK. Here's a link to the discussion from the first time I tried it....

Here we go (FJ-40 getting a 3B/Turbo/H55f)...

But basically....

• DO NOT media blast the part
• Clean the part
• Clean the part more.
• Get the part as clean as you want it (it will never be perfect, and that's why this works so well)
• Put clear powder over the bare aluminum, including the little bits of dirt you didn't get removed.

The thing is, it will seal in a little bit of dirt and imperfection. Just a little though, so it will never look absolutely brand new. But it will always look this way after you give it a quick clean. Here's some pics:

Note that the engine those pictures came from got about 10,000 miles, then needed a rebuild. Then another 20,000 miles since ethen. They still look exactly like that after a quick spray with a hose. I use that technique anywhere I can, because it looks less "hot-roddy" to me than blasting and powder coating a single color. I do the solid color when I can't get the parts clean enough for my liking (such as on my 60 that's getting a diesel, the australian red dirt just wouldn't come out of the T-case halves, so it got a solid color). Just my technique, but it looks seriously stunning in person, even after there's dirt and grime on the engine after some miles in service.

Dan

 

[roma042987]

I like that a lot Dan. I actually bought some clear powder along with the cast aluminum color but at that point the parts were already blasted. I think I'll give that a shot on my next one, at this point if I cleared the valve cover for this engine it would be too much contrast.



The original lifters were starting to show some age on the contact surfaces. These minute cracks would eventually lead to delaminating and the premature cam shaft wear.

Picked up all new lifters from Toyota this morning. They weren't cheap but cheap insurance and much cheaper than replacing a camshaft down the road. The lifters were standard bore.

Powder coated the push rod covers black.

New gaskets from the kit.

 

[roma042987]

New lifters installed with a generous coating of oil. I also put a good bit of oil in the bores and on the camshaft.

I put a light coat of hondabond between the gasket and the covers but not between the gasket and the block. Installed with the original hardware I replated and torqued to 9 ft lbs.

 

[roma042987]

Still no head bolts from Toyota but the correct timing cover bolt came in from Toyota today. I was a bit disappointed it's white zinc instead of the yellow like all the others but I guess it's not the end of the world.

 

[roma042987]

I also spent a couple of hours cleaning up the valve cover this weekend and this evening managed to fit it in the oven with a fresh layer of powder coat.

 

[mongoose2231]

holy crap, great work! wow!

 

[roma042987]

holy crap, great work! wow!

Thank you

Well unfortunately still no head bolts from Toyota so to keep the momentum going I started working on some parts to go onto the new old stock long blocks.
Some new parts from Japan I tried some clear powder over the aluminum and zinc plated bits and it turned out pretty slick...no pun intended

 

[roma042987]

The clear powder...or the heat changes the color of the cad plated parts but still leaves a pretty nice finish. If anything it's just a nice additional layer of corrosion protection.

 

[roma042987]

I spent some time cleaning up the rocker assembly last week and noticed some wear on the rocker arm pads.
To keep everything in order I numbered each rocker and rocker bridge with an engraver and tuned them in to the machine shop that took care of the cylinder head.

 

[roma042987]

This was the only rocker that had a pit but the rest had a tiny bit of discoloration or sheen where the valve tip wore on the arm.

Two days later the rockers are back and ready for assembly. The machine shop actually hardened the refinished surface to reduce wear.