5.7 Vortec V-8 Swap / 86 FJ60

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looks like things are coming along well for you. love the play by play, especially the stuff you discovered list. it brings back all the memories of going through this process when i did the 5.7 transplant back in 2001.
one (another) item to put on your list is the csfi to mpfi upgrade. the fuel injection "spider" is so poor on these engines and destine to fail that gm has real fuel injectors to replace the oem junk. the oem csfi has poppet valves on the ends and it relies on fuel pressure to pop them open. pressure <45psi. the up grade dumps the poppets for real infectors.
the part # is pk93441235
available through dealers and gmparts direct.
check out this site for cool pictures GM VORTEC CSFI to MPFI CONVERSION

devo
 
Yeah I never paid that much attention to the vortec 5.7 until I bought one, and was a little suprised when I swapped out the upper and lower intake gaskets. Not a big fan of the "spider"... I'll check that info and the web page above.

I have all my parts for the fuel plumbing...finally. Still waiting on a tub bender for 3/8ths stainless tube, and also waiting on the braided -6 and -8 hose. I do have the 3/8th stainless tube.

Exhaust is complete: 2 pipes from manifolds feed into a dual inlet single outlet mangaflow and then exits just rear of the drivers side rear tire. Exhasut runs real close to frame rail on RH side so we will have to figure out a reasonable route to plumb for fuel. I removed the factory hardline prior to exhaust work.

Can someone tell me which fitting on the passenger side of the fuel tank is the supply and which is the return? I've not been able to get back to shop for a week or so and the last time I was there I just plugged the two push on hoses to keep from leaking. Anyone have a parts pic that shows one from the other. I don't recall but it seems as if both hoses were the same size... Let me know if anyone knows offhand.

Starter wiring looks to be simple. Batter cable to large stud on starter and small wire that has a connector on it to the solonoid...don't see how this could be any different. On the alternator I have a pig tail that plugs into the socket on the GM alternator with about 4 wires coming out of it. On the toyota side I have the white wires with the eyelet and then additional wiires that have the large plastic connector at the end. Anyone have specific wiring notes on this?

I also beleive we can get Ign on reference at the coil (+) wire. Engine harness / PCM need Ign on reference, so does the SPAL radiator fan controller. I've not been able to get down to the shop and check with a voltmeter but I assume that the coil (+) wire has IGN on power.

Also on the firewall, passenger side, there is a fairly small metal tube which I belive ran to the charcoal canister and I'm guessing back to the fuel tank. Don't we need to cap this or plug it back at the tank, assumign I'm right? I'll try to post some pics of this...

All my shop manauals are down with the truck or I would be looking for this info. Would apprecaiate any details on the Alternator wiring and info on the fuel hoses at the tank. I expect we'll be back at work next weekend, not able to work the project this weekend.
 
I'll get some pics/info for ya RE: the PM you sent me. May take another day or two...:D
 
Also would be enterested in what people with external electric fuel pumps are running as a fuel filter between the tank and fuel pump. I'm going to run one of the FM fuel filters like comes on a 98 yukon between the pump and engine. But I'm concerned about potentially having some type of filter between the tank and pump, that's not to restrictive, but does offer some utility. Would be great if it worked with AN fittings/ push lock hose, or something other than a barbed type fitting and push on hose.

I haven't used one for that purpose, but CM makes some nice fuel filters:

CM Filters, Fuel Filters#

All different styles, 8 or 1 micron filtering, AN fittings. Pegasus is a dealer I think.

Just thought I'd post that up....I love the project, looks great! Good luck :p
 
Thanks guys... on the fuel filter...I am concerned about too much restriction between the fuel pump and the tank. I noticed that one or two others were runing one of the small cylinder type fuel filters... I'll look around to see what might work. I'll be running one of the standard GM filters between the pump and the engine, easy to replace and easy to buy.

I have every thing to proceed at this point ....except the -6 and -8 hose I've ordered. Summit now tells me I might have them on the 13th?

The "hot-rod" supply-shop I orderd a tubing bender from, sat on my order for almost two weeks and only now after I called them again, related "no...we don't have any in stock and don't know when we will"... *&^$%$*&$ I wanted to say *&#^$% you!!! but live and learn... cancelled the order and won't be doing business with them again unless I have to. Ordered one from drillspot.com tonight, will call tomorrow to speak to a humanoid to verfy "in stock"..

Appreciate the effor Philos1...

Plumbing for fuel and misc crap is all that stands in our way now.... Hope I don't have any leaks or other issues between now and the finish line.
 
about the before the pump filter.
i ran one for years. just an inexpensive napa filter before the pump. a mtor savy friend of mine told me that the pre-filter might cause the pump to "cavitate" thus leading to poor fuel delivery and a short pump life. my pumps were lasting about 20k. i just bought my new walbro pump from muscle motors and jack told me that running a pre-pump filter is the only way to go, protect the pump. if you filter pre-pump you really don't need a filter further up the line. i'm changing my fuel line and plan to try it out.

devo
 
about the before the pump filter.
i ran one for years. just an inexpensive napa filter before the pump. a mtor savy friend of mine told me that the pre-filter might cause the pump to "cavitate" thus leading to poor fuel delivery and a short pump life. my pumps were lasting about 20k. i just bought my new walbro pump from muscle motors and jack told me that running a pre-pump filter is the only way to go, protect the pump. if you filter pre-pump you really don't need a filter further up the line. i'm changing my fuel line and plan to try it out.

devo


I follow what you are saying but I think I'll go with a very unrestrictive filter between the tank and pump (which is really for the most part little or no pressure), and I'll run a GM fuel filter designed for the vortec setup between the pump and the engine. The issue is not that I'm trying to double filter the setup, its the idea that you can't place a good "somewhat restricitve" filter between the pump and the tank without causing problems.

All the GM setups I'm familiar with use whats called a "sock type filter" or otherwise known as a strainer between the pump and the fuel (in-tank pumps) and then they use a regular fuel filter between the pump and engine.

Electric external fuel pump do not have a lot of power pulling the fuel to the pump, but they do have power between the pump and the engine (pressure side).

My idea is to minimize the potential contamination of the fuel pump.
 
i do understand. the pre pump filter i was running was about 40 microns, just enough to catch the big stuff and not restict flow to a frame pump that depends more on gravity flow than pull power. i use a oem tahoe filter up stream. it was the idea i was cavitating my pump that made me re-think my fuel system. i'm going to do some more research on this before i actually change anything.
i'm not going to beat this fuel filter thing to death that's for sure.
the best improvement i made over all to my fuel delivery system was changing to 3/8 inch line.

devo
 
I plan to use -6 hose and 3/8th tube... same thing... for the fuel setup. I bought one of the small cylinder fuel filters which has -6 fittings on it. Waiting to get it now. I think it was a russell brand. I want to get this thing running.... Only lack some misc wiring, to include the alternator, the solonoid at the starter, complete the fan setup. Then we are waiting on the -6 and -8 hose I need for part of the fuel system and the oil cooler lines. Plus have to figure out what has Ign on (+) power under the hood to tap into for the engine harness and the electric radiator fan controller, which I suspect will be the POS connection that powered the coil.

We may get part of the fuel system setup tomorrow, and wrap up as much as possible.
 
More Updates

Getting Close:

First I wanted to ask about the Alt wiring. See in the first pic below the wires that use to connect to the Green connector at the Toyota Alternator. Can someone tell me where these wires should go on the GM alternator. I've read differnt things and have asked around. In the 2nd picture you'll see me holding the wires that connect to the pigtail that plugs into the side of the GM alternator. I believe one of these ties back into the pos (+) battery connection stud at the rear of the alternator (I belive its the one marked S on the connector , I'm going off some notes I found, and have not yet looked at the pigtail close enough or maybe the alternator to see if the terminals are marked. The third pic shows the main ALt wires connected to the stud on the back of the GM alternator. I used a "reamer" and enlarged the toyotat eyelet to make this work. I may change this later to add some thicker wire because I've doubled the Amps at the Alternator compared to the OEM toyota alternator and the GM alternator I'm using.

Also see the ECM mounted with the fuse block. Hard to see in the mess but the ALDL connector is laying on top... I think for the purposes of getting the truck running we may just leave the connector under the hood for now. Also modifed the dipstick bracket to work. Other picture shows new tail pipe and the gas tank vent tube, that we have not done anything with yet.

Completed the plumbing on the power steering, finished the ECM mounts + fuse block, complete wiring of the SPAL fan and controller, completed wiring for the engine harness, we have power at Ign on through the pos (+) coil wire, cranked over engine to make sure starter works....it did, and of course complted the wiring on the starter, and installed o2 sensors.

Whats left at this point is to finish the fuel pump wiring and install the hose. We are going to run some high pressure braided hose for the fuel line, from the fuel pump forward to the engine. The reason is that my passenger side exhasut is to close to the frame to run the fuel line there. We were planning to route the passenger side exhast a little differently to allow for room, but I'll have to wait unitl I install a lift kit for a litte bit more room. The front driveshaft is just to close to the exhaust to route it any differently than we did . Once the lift kit is on (hopefully this summer) I'll look at changing the path of the passenger side exhaust. It's a real pain in the but for clearance on the passenger side of the engine. I did not want to run a pipe under the oil pan. I'll explore what options I have after the lift kit, and may be able to do a better job on the fuel setup.

I expect we'll be trying to get it running next weekend. I should have the hose I've been waiting on. Everything has come out pretty good so far, we'll soon see if we have any leaks or other issues. I hope not.

With luck I may be driving this thing around on Presidents day...
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can someone identify the two wires in the first pic on my post # 132 above. These are the two wires
that connect to the toyota alternator using the green connector....at least thats the way they were on my 86FJ60.

Looks like one is green with a ligth green stripe, and the other is white or use to be white in color.
 
Ok, tomorrow is the "big" day. We are looking to get the oil cooler plumbed up, & and the fuel hose plumbed up. For now I'm going to run fuel hose (braided -6 hose), later depending on what I can do with the exhaust I'll see about setting up stainless steel tube.

Hope the alt wiring works as planned and we should be good on cooling. Hope nothing bites in the @$$ but I've learned never to overestimate how good things will go.

Two important things I've learned so far. The radiator neck on the FJ60's suck.... The hood is one pain in the ass to put back on and adjust.

I'll try to program the fan controller (yes you have to program it) if the engine starts and runs fine right off hand. It has a turn off fan setting (low value) and a turn on fan setting (high value). My thermostat is 195. So I thought I would set the turn off fan setting at 185 and the turn on fan setting at 205. WHile I'm doing that we'll be trying to bleed the air out of the cooling system.

Hard to believe we are finally real close to seeing what's "goona" happen....hope we don't have any parts flying around... :) I'll post a shot of the "beast" in the roadway or otherwise have to admit defeat for the day...
 
Ok, its running.

But not running right. For one we have some kind of basic cooling problem we've not figured out yet. Best guess right now is that I have a reverse flow water pump...(not getting any coolant flow through the engine and heater hoses).

Got to get that solved before we can get to the "engine runs like crap" problem.

Truck did start right up,... I used one of the long shims on the starter and everything seems fine. We did figure out which wire is the "exciter" for the alternator. I need to get a heavier guage wire to run from the ALt to the battery.

Looking into the cooling issue now, got to get the cooling problem fixed first.
 
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elbert,
how did you plum the oil cooler from where the oil filter screws on?
i aways had trouble with my 195 thermostat. the coolant temp would go as high as 210. at that point the computer and spark modual would shut the fuel off and i would have to sit at the road side for 15 minutes waiting. only happened in the summer month. now i run a 180 thermo in summer and change back in the winter. no more summer issues. this doesn't speak to your flow issues. do you have the belt on right so the wp turns the right way? it's an oem pump right?

devo
 

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