Builds 1987 fj60 12h-t h55f conversion (3 Viewers)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

With the trans and transfer out of the way and a good amount of parts off the floor, my next goal was to get this 12ht back together that I started on page 28. It had been on an engine stand for 28 months now untouched. I had an open carport when I first brought it home from work a couple of years ago and even though I had generously covered it in oil and a large garbage bag I had always been concerned of it getting moisture on the bare metal. At one point about a year and a half ago we had a cold snap where it got down to 7 degrees while I was out of town and a pipe had burst above the carport and sprayed water all over everything. I distinctly remember being super stressed out speaking to my wife on the phone trying to instruct her how to unwrap the engine and soak it down in wd40 once again, just in case it had gotten water in the bag. She followed my instructions and then wrapped the garbage bag with a big moving blanket and then a tarp. I ended up enclosing my carport last winter but the 12ht sat just like that until a couple of weeks ago.


This is where I had left off with the reassembly. Now my last 12ht I'd powder coated all of the aluminum parts and although I was happy with it at the time since then I had discovered the vapor honing process and HAD to have that machine to refinish all of the aluminum for this engine.

20200203_151733.webp


20200207_205250.jpg
20200207_205439.jpg
20200207_205446.jpg
20200207_211428.jpg
 
Last edited:
20200205_164249.jpg
20200205_170735.jpg


First little batch of parts.

20200205_170730.jpg


Now on this NOS long block most of the aluminum was in great shape with the exception of some over spray but I wanted to vapor hone the oil cooler housing, valve cover and front timing cover anyway just so it would look really nice. The remaining pieces to complete this engine (the parts from my blown up 12ht were in far worse shape. Here is a picture of the oil filter housing after degreasing and scrubbing in the parts washer.

20200205_165401.jpg


and again after the vapor hone.

20200206_082144.jpg
 
Oh and before I get too far ahead I brought this guy home a couple of weekends ago. It actually was :flush: rabbit hole/impulse buy, I had started looking for bolt bins to organize all of my hardware which led to me looking at drawers, then tool boxes. I then deduced since I'd outgrown my tool box long ago it would be a great time to upgrade and I could use my old box exclusively for hardware and save TONS of time and money since everything would be so organized. Plus since I'd done all the work in the garage it was basically a very sensible furniture purchase at this point to make the house look better which totally justified the cost. :rolleyes:

20200201_201558.jpg
20200202_115404.jpg
 
I had sand blasted and clear powdered the intake manifold for this engine a couple of years ago when I was doing a batch of other parts but the intake ''gassed" out and left a bubbled surface in the powder in some places. Also since everything was going to be vapor honed on this engine I decided to sand blast the powder and then run it through the vapor hone. Here is after the blast and then after the vapor hone. The Michael's sand blast cabinet @Michael B actually had a very fine media in it so it was pretty smooth already.

20200216_134745.jpg
20200216_134751.jpg
20200216_143655.jpg
20200216_143701.jpg
 
Vapor hone ALL THE THINGS.

Gorgeous work Roma.
 
Idler gears and camshaft went in next. It is easier by the way and preferred to install the two idler gears then the camshaft. I actually got ahead of myself and put the camshaft in first which just made it a little trickier putting the idlers on. As you can see timing these engines is super easy, at least when it’s on a stand and everything is clean and visible.
20200208_163358.jpg
20200208_203817.jpg
20200208_203811.jpg
20200208_204800.jpg
20200208_205002.jpg
 
Last edited:
Crank pulley was looking pretty rough so I sand blasted it over at Michael's place and bought some Chassis Saver paint for it. I don't have any previous experience with Chassis Saver but it appears to be similar to POR15 and yeilds a very tough hard surface. I've had belt wear issues before on powder coated pulleys so wanting to avoid potentially the same issue I only painted the area where the belt doesn't touch. Then I rattle canned the remaining contact areas in the grooves with a tractor implement paint. The idea is if needed this paint should wear off easier and not cause any issues.

20200214_073759.jpg
20200214_073810.jpg
20200215_082737.jpg
20200215_082749.jpg
20200215_123214.jpg
 
Last edited:
The finish on the oil pan and stiffening plate was to nice to refinish with the exception of the very bottom of the oil pan exterior from the engines being stored for 30 years. I decided to scuff the scraped up areas and put a few coats of the chassis saver on it. It's not show quality but I feel it's very well protected and I dont have to be concerned about a non factory finish letting go on the inside of the oil pan or media from blasting getting trapped in the oil pan baffles. It was calculated decision.
20200209_105618.webp
20200209_113118.webp
20200209_113126.webp
20200213_113055.webp
 
Looks good.

I belong to the fan club that thinks you can't have too many tool boxes or tools, I've broken my own self-imposed rules on that subject more than a few times.

Hope you get everything back running soon.
 
Looks good.

I belong to the fan club that thinks you can't have too many tool boxes or tools, I've broken my own self-imposed rules on that subject more than a few times.

Hope you get everything back running soon.

Fortunately they're all running great Elbert. 60 could use a set of tires before the next big trip though and the 40 could use a brake master cylinder at some point because the reservoir is seeping a bit. Heck I guess they always could use something or other but all three of mine are perfectly roadworthy right now. I actually did an injector nozzle job on the 40 a few weeks back just to get it back tip top. :)
 
Fortunately they're all running great Elbert. 60 could use a set of tires before the next big trip though and the 40 could use a brake master cylinder at some point because the reservoir is seeping a bit. Heck I guess they always could use something or other but all three of mine are perfectly roadworthy right now. I actually did an injector nozzle job on the 40 a few weeks back just to get it back tip top. :)

good deal, I've got my 60 road worthy, even though I still have a few projects to do that I've put off. Bascially one of those projects is to re-build the rear brake setup and see what happens with respect to the shoes staying in adjustment. Spent a good bit of $$ of new OEM parts....ones that I could get.

I hope to wrap up my outstanding projects by summer at some point, then I basically want to drive the thing and have "fun"... do some trips / explore ....etc.
 
Looks awesome Roma!! Great shop. Love the new vaping thang!!!
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom