1992 FJ80 6.0 Vortec Engine Swap

[RockJock82]

Arbs are stronger. No worries about snapping a rear shaft and having to gut the housing to repair it. Check out Lowrangeoffroad.com they sell them

 

[clanlino]

I'll be on the lookout for a good deal on some axles... on the meantime my FJ80 is out of the transmission shop and back to Steel Nutz for some more add-ons... will be posting pics and videos soon...

 

[inkpot]

Probably about the same cost. Depends if you wanted e-locked or ARB. pros-cons on both.

I paid $3k for a elocked donor truck. Put the open axels on it and sold it for cheap. all worked out in my case and feel fine with the route taken.

This!!! We have done several of these swaps. Owners have all been very happy with results and cost. John

 

[clanlino]

Swap is complete! Everything looks and sounds great!
I'm taking it for a little trail ride this weekend..

Have the referee's inspection on Monday... will post results next week

Big thanks to Mike, Logan, Alex, Jeremy, Scott and Reid from "Steel Nutz Off Road" for all their hard work and also to Jonathan Robinson for all his help and wisdom!

 

[RockJock82]

Right on!

 

[clanlino]

Got some small stuff done today.. installed roof wind deflector, Slee Rotopak carrier, interior LEDs, 20" LED bar, new driver seat belt, and my new dual cup holder.. will post more pictures and a video of my 80 soon...

 

[clanlino]

A pic of the roof wind deflector and also got a plastic cover to protect my LED bar..

Bottle opener from cruisercrap.com

And 2 of my favorite stickers

 

[clanlino]

First time out on the trail...

 

[clanlino]

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[9780LC]

Good idea. I did dynamat and dynaliner to help cope with the heat that the cats put out.

 

[clanlino]

Got most of the floor done and mounted the Yodateq LED rear brakets...
More to come tomorrow...

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[clanlino]

Gents, it's been a while... but a lot has happened since my last post. Some good and some not so much... My FJ is up and running and I've put about 800 miles on it... the Referee at San Jacinto college is the biggest ass you can imagine.

Long story short, I registered it in AZ and I'm good to go for 5 years... my AC is blowing some cold air and I'm ready to upgrade my brakes, re-gear it and then work on my tachometer... everything I'm running is GM now to include the fuel tank... need someone to make a custom cluster for me... please let know if you of such person please.

The next step is an overhaul of the front axle and finally some much needed love to the exterior...

I will like to say that I would not do this ever again... at least not without knowing what it takes both financially and logistically.

However, I love it and can't wait to put more miles on it..

 

[Rwhat]

I'm sure it's not the ref being a ass. It's more like he's doing his job and your conversion didn't pass the inspection.

As far as regs out of state. IF you get pulled over they might question your Arizona tags and California DL and insurance policy.

 

[RockJock82]

If you'd rather keep your factory instrument cluster I can probably help you. Shoot me a PM. Did you go what a custom tank trying to use the GM fuel pump?

 

[cruisermatt]

Also curious to know what tank and pump you used.

 

[clanlino]

I'm sure it's not the ref being a ass. It's more like he's doing his job and your conversion didn't pass the inspection.

As far as regs out of state. IF you get pulled over they might question your Arizona tags and California DL and insurance policy.

I used a star smog location to verify that i had all the CA smog complaint equipment, and we were in contact with the ref before and during the process. After the first inspection he ask for a couple of things to be fix and we did.

After completing everything on the list and spending about $2k on this he came up with a new list of things and essentially told me that the whole vehicle needed to be Chevy from underneath... he wouldn't accept the use of the Toyota transfer case! He told me that the whole power train need it to be GM. So.... that's part of what happened.

Also, I work in AZ and California and have residences in both states... so no problem.

 

[clanlino]

If you'd rather keep your factory instrument cluster I can probably help you. Shoot me a PM. Did you go what a custom tank trying to use the GM fuel pump?

Thank you.. I'll PM you.

 

[Heckraiser]

thank god I don't live in California. Is there any sort of appeals process? Could you take it somewhere else? He knows the transfercase has nothing to do with emissions, right? Lol.

 

[clanlino]

Also curious to know what tank and pump you used.

We ended up using a tank out of an S10 and a the stock GM pump that came with it. We also changed the filler neck and even down to the gas cap to pass the evap test.

Everything that is "smog" related passed with flying colors, but he made and issue out of the transfer case not being GM...

 

[Rwhat]

Ok, sounds like he was being a PITA. He should have said it up front. Supposedly the law is the transmission has to be run also.
Although it seems like a grey area on some of the stuff I researched.