5VZ-FE swap into '74 FJ40 Project

[AlexJet]

I have done some research and started a project of swapping "new" engine into my 1974 FJ40.
After considering several options I ended with 5VZ-FE engine for my swap. This is relatively simple engine without much of electronics and its been for over 10 years in Toyota production. It was first introduced in 1993 and stayed in production till 2004. This 3.4 v6 can be found in:
1993 - 2004 *Toyota Land Cruiser Prado
1995 - 1998 *Toyota T-100
1995 - 2004 *Toyota Tacoma
1996 - 2002 *Toyota 4Runner
2000 - 2004 *Toyota Tundra
One of the benefits of this engine is relative availability and support. It has 190hp and 220 lbft, which is compare to F/2F 105/125hp and 200/209 lbft. I know some people would say F engine is low rev engines and they are absolutely right, but if going to "modrern" fuel injection option you barely can find such tractor engine in any other vehicle unless looking for a diesel. So 5VZ-FE is not a bad candidate out on the market. With compression rate of 9.6:1 it well accept regular gas and even low quality gas which can be found in remote areas.
My expectations are to have reliable Toyota engine on classic Land Cruiser which I can comfortably use driving around the city, cruising highway, going camping and hitting off-road trails. Its my "fun" vehicle for the whole family.

 

[delmandi]

I've always thought the 3rz to be a better motor. But you may not get the same numbers.

 

[SSCR]

Good luck, subsrcibed!

 

[Fast Eddy]

For a driver it will be ok, but with a clutch it will suck off road. A F or 2F will make a ton of torque at 650rpm, but the little V6 and it's little flywheel needs 1500 rpm to match it, at least. With an automatic and dual cases it would work okay.

 

[73 FJ40]

I have been driving my 73 FJ40 with a 5vz out of an 02 4 runner for about 6 months now. Auto trans out of a 98 T100 with shifter out of an 88 FJ 60. Other suspension and axel swaps to make the engine & trans all work.. Money well spent to take something classic and old run like new.. Other than oversize tires, the rig looks absoulutely stock on the outside.. Next thing to tackle is the steering... Rig out drives the old steering. Wanders a little when running at 70 mph which it does with ease... Good luck with your 74. Many pics at ToyOnlySwaps.com facebook link if your interested.

 

[AlexJet]

The plan is to fit it with 4.7:1 Transfer Case, so it would not be an issue off-roading. I drove 3.4 v6 Tacoma with 4.7 TC, it was great.
Will post some pictures of the progress while doing it.

 

[SSCR]

I have been driving my 73 FJ40 with a 5vz out of an 02 4 runner for about 6 months now. Auto trans out of a 98 T100 with shifter out of an 88 FJ 60. Other suspension and axel swaps to make the engine & trans all work.. Money well spent to take something classic and old run like new.. Other than oversize tires, the rig looks absoulutely stock on the outside.. Next thing to tackle is the steering... Rig out drives the old steering. Wanders a little when running at 70 mph which it does with ease... Good luck with your 74. Many pics at ToyOnlySwaps.com facebook link if your interested.

Post some photos of the engine bay and the whole truck in general!

 

[Tigerstripe40]

How are you going to deal with the off set diff?
Are you just going to use the 8 or 8.4" centered diff?

 

[73 FJ40]

My 73 FJ40 with a 5vz in it.

The whole build can be seen at ToyOnlySwaps.com. Link to their Facebook. Since this was their firs FJ40 swap, they had to fab and figure out a lot. They weren't quick, but the job they did was fantastic.. I kept a factory look and all parts are Toyota.

 

[Tigerstripe40]

The whole build can be seen at ToyOnlySwaps.com. Link to their Facebook. Since this was their firs FJ40 swap, they had to fab and figure out a lot. They weren't quick, but the job they did was fantastic.. I kept a factory look and all parts are Toyota.

Very nice.
What t-case and rear end did you use?

 

[AlexJet]

How are you going to deal with the off set diff?
Are you just going to use the 8 or 8.4" centered diff?

Its still going to be Land Cruiser 9.5". The plan is to recenter the diff.

 

[AlexJet]

I need to put more background to this as I can see some people having a specific questions.

 

[Mark W]

We have discussed this swap a few times around the campfire or at the shop...

One of the guys who hits the trails with us has a very nicely done 3rd gen mini-truck with a 3.4 swap. He also has the Toyota supercharger on the engine. Runs 5.29 gearing and a double tcase. 39.5x 18 boggers or 42x15 swampers depending on what he has in there at the time. When he runs with us it will usually be with a couple of '40s on 39.5x18 boggers, one with a 350, 5.29s and lots o' levers in the cab, the other with a 400 and 4.88s.

What we keep coming back to is how high and hard he is revving the motor going down the trail or through the obstacles any time that there is an call for torque (mud and slop, water, inclines or whatever). The V8s will be loafing along and the 3.4 will be singing.
The V8s and built 2Fs not only have more low end, but they have a broader and flatter powercurve.

The 3.4 is a great motor and the power that it has with the supercharger is impressive. And when it comes to fuel mileage on the trail, it beats the V8s nicely. That is probably the only reason we keep pondering the swap. On the longer trials, fuel range and how much you have to haul becomes a major concern with the built up rigs.

The bigger motors are definitely a lot friendlier on long slow trails. On back roads and the like where you are operating at higher speeds/rpms anyway this is not really a factor. But when your average over a 10 hour trail day is 7mph, it works out to a lot more shifting and more work driving the 3.4 powered rig compared to the V8s and 2Fs.


Mark...

 

[AlexJet]

My initial plan was very simple, at least I thought so.
After I made a decision on the Engine, I looked at Transmission options. It was not long when my search showed that there is no way I can mate 5VZ-FE with Land Cruiser 4-speed Manual. My obvious choice was to look at the engine transmission choices Toyota did offer. It was either Manual or Automatic. Auto was rulled out imidiately as I like "real man" transmission when you control the gears instead of the computer, plus Manual is simplier and more reliable in the long run, especialy in remote areas. If you miss a gear you can still drive using the other to the civilization. Some will argue that, but I base my decision on personal preferences and experience.
It was an easy choice to stay with Land Cruiser Transfer Case. Very reliable and conveniently having passenger side drops. Best place to get the adapter was Marlin Crawler. They deal with both Land Cruiser and Tacomas. Short call reveal that adapter does exist and should do a trick. No problem, everything should of gone as planned.
Problens started when I was about to place an order. Unfortunately for us, Land Cruiser enthusiasts, such adapter can not be ordered. Why? I asked the same question. Based on what I found out Marlin did sourced them out from his sub-supplier and that supplier went belly up in 2011. They stop shipping parts without giving out any notices. Marlin found it too late when was trying to place another ordrr in 2012. I understand Marlins frustration, but I was in big dilema now. I have 2 parts I can't mate. Talking to Marlin reveals also that we may never see such adapter in the future as demand was very little and when they will find new supplier, they may not want to go that route. So waiting wasn't an option either.
I start calling everyone I know who may have a solution for me. Advance Adapters basically turned me down saying they only provide what they have and mainly working with Chevy parts, but I was mating Toyota v6, not Chevy v8. Then I called Inchworm and "bingo". I found understanding on anither end of the line. After spending 1/2 hour with sales person on the line browsing through different options and not able to find what would work for me, he asked to wait for a couple minutes as he was going to talk to his technical person. The guy name is Josh. He did spend allot of tine trying to understand what I want and what I need, then gave me several options from his perspective and we did found a solution. It wasn't easy on my side as it would involve more work, but it should work and have benefits I was planning on in the long run (5-year plan).
I decided to go with beffed up Mini-Truck gear driven TC with upgraded to 4.7 gears. It has passenger drop front and center rear. This means front is good. Now with the back. Having offset diff wouldn't be a problem if I run long wheelbase vehicle, but 40-series is shortbase and this would make an issue on the highway at speeds above 100km/h. We looked at what can be done and agreed that axle need to be modified. I did not want to go with smaller Tacoma or Mini-Truck axles. I kike by beefy Land Cruiser one, plus I just put new gears and Detroit locker there. I could of get Diamond new custom axle, but it was expensive and lead time was too long. So Josh contacted Dan at RuffStuff. Another "bingo" on people cary about tgeir customer. Dan worked with Josh to find proper components for my rear to work. So tge plan is to re-center the rear using my Land Cruiser 3rd member. In a benefit I'd have beefed up tubes and chromoly shafts.


EDIT:
My Starting Point (1974 Land Cruiser FJ40) as it was in November 2012:

Donor vehicle (2000 Tacoma 3.4 v6 5VZ-FE with Manual Transmission R150F):

 

[1911]

... Then I called Inchworm and "bingo". ... I decided to go with beffed up Mini-Truck gear driven TC with upgraded to 4.7 gears.

Not trying to rain on your parade, but I'm running that transfer case on my FJC, and in my opinion it is on the marginal side of strength for the power of a 1GR-FE or a 5VZ-FE. It's great as a way of getting a low-geared alternative to modern chain-driven transfer cases, but the torque of a mini-truck is nothing like the later motors in question. I've already broken some teeth off of the gears in my Inchworm case in hard wheeling; to their credit Inchworm warrantied them and gave me new gears but you see my point.

 

[Fast Eddy]

Its still going to be Land Cruiser 9.5". The plan is to recenter the diff.

If you start with an fzj80 rear end, there is a combination of stock Toyota front shafts that will allow you to make a centered rear end that is about the same WMS as a '40 rear end. I forget which axle shafts though.

to their credit Inchworm warrantied them and gave me new gears

Luckily, it's not too hard to install them.

 

[MoCoNative]

I'm very intersted in this swap, 73FJ40 what kind of mileage have you been getting????

I have a 96 T100 and I get a good solid 20MPG all the time or better on the hiway, up to 25mpg, around 18 or less towing a popup camper and 4wheeler in the bed of the truck. I feel those are decent numbers. I've thought of doing this swap with an automatic into an FJ-60. A stock FJ-60 is only a couple pounds heavier than my T100, and most of that is probably the 2F.

Mark has a very good point on the powerband, my stock T100 is pretty worthless at times in rough offroad situations. It does great all winter and for putting around on regular old two tracks, but it is hard to get it crawl over anything, and 1st gear is annoyingly high when starting out with a load on a grade. But overall for a daily driver it has been a great truck.

I'm thinking a stock daily driver FJ-60 would be pretty neat with this combo, and it would fit very well in the longer chassis, maybe even without switching the rearend. Any thoughts on this? The last years of 4runners couldn't have weighed much less with this combo, they seem to get around just fine for normal driving.

 

[AlexJet]

Not trying to rain on your parade, but I'm running that transfer case on my FJC, and in my opinion it is on the marginal side of strength for the power of a 1GR-FE or a 5VZ-FE. It's great as a way of getting a low-geared alternative to modern chain-driven transfer cases, but the torque of a mini-truck is nothing like the later motors in question. I've already broken some teeth off of the gears in my Inchworm case in hard wheeling; to their credit Inchworm warrantied them and gave me new gears but you see my point.

You may had a bad case. We buikd FJCruiser on 42s with Diamond axles and run it through a very tough terrain with rocks up to 5' in size. Transfer Case holded very well.

 

[AlexJet]

If you start with an fzj80 rear end, there is a combination of stock Toyota front shafts that will allow you to make a centered rear end that is about the same WMS as a '40 rear end. I forget which axle shafts though.

Luckily, it's not too hard to install them.

I'm going with 58" which is matching very well HJ60 axle width I have now.

 

[73 FJ40]

T case and Trans from 98 T100. Rear axel housing & axel shafts, drums, brakes from 85 Pickup and rear diff from 02 Tacoma with TRD electric locker.