72 FJ40 converted to a 3B (1 Viewer)

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Joined
May 4, 2009
Threads
9
Messages
87
Location
Dallas/Austin, TX
Hi MUD,
I bought my FJ40 about 2 years ago from a seller here on Mud. Drove it for a while until this past spring when I was having trouble getting it started. I noticed it had water in the gas tank with a fuel leak. Replaced the tank but still couldn't get it to run properly. Compression tests showed 2 dead cylinders so now the I'm on the hunt for a 3B replacement. I've got a lead on a good donor in Canada and will be bringing it South in the next few weeks.

I'm looking at the following

82 BJ 3B motor
Motor mounts, Crossmember
H55F transmission and transfer case
Altenator and starter
Radiator Hose kit
Thermostat
3B wiring harness

Will start disassembling the FJ 1F motor once I buy the 3B.

I've read the following links and have a good idea on the swap.


Anyone have any thoughts or pointers? I'll put a few pics up as it stands today.

Thanks
Chris
 
Before swapping your engine out I'd try unfreezing your rings in the dead cylinders. Might save you a ton of work. I had an engine in the garage that sat and had zero compression in one cylinder. A gallon of metal rescue and a can of carbon cleaner later and it was running on all cylinders. Should have done a thread on that.
 
Started tearing it down yesterday. Drained the radiator before needing to stop for the night. Today I'll take the fan off along with the alternator.

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Make sure to get the 40 series vac canister. It might be easier to forgo the 3B wiring and just set up your own glow and Edic stuff. I have the old FJ choke cable connected to the edic for a manual shutoff - pretty slick and dead simple. There are also some complications putting the H55 into the earlier trucks.

Hit up @gerg for a turbo:cool:
 
Make sure to get the 40 series vac canister. It might be easier to forgo the 3B wiring and just set up your own glow and Edic stuff. I have the old FJ choke cable connected to the edic for a manual shutoff - pretty slick and dead simple. There are also some complications putting the H55 into the earlier trucks.

Hit up @gerg for a turbo:cool:

Thanks John in Utah. That's great help. Do you have a build thread I could read into?
 
The H55 will need its own crossmember. You can fab up your own, or you can try to source the later model transmission mounts and brackets that bolt to the frame.

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Another thing to think about is that unless you have incredible luck, your H55 will come with a 60/70 series top cover which has the shift tower 3" further back than the 40 series. You will need to cut your doghouse to allow for the difference, or a buddy of mine mounted his 3B 3" further forward than usual. There is plenty of room and it actually makes working on the engine a bit easier since the last cylinder is not crammed up against the firewall.
 
Another thing to think about is that unless you have incredible luck, your H55 will come with a 60/70 series top cover which has the shift tower 3" further back than the 40 series. You will need to cut your doghouse to allow for the difference, or a buddy of mine mounted his 3B 3" further forward than usual. There is plenty of room and it actually makes working on the engine a bit easier since the last cylinder is not crammed up against the firewall.

Thanks for the tip on the H55 and the 60/70 series top cover. I'll check on that. I did see @DanS HJ-45 did move his 3B and H55F forward 3 inches without any issues. I was hoping to do the same as well.
 
Yep! That's my buddy Dan! He did a great job on that rig... I actually rode in it after the rebuild... Very to notch work.

If you do move the engine forward, I'm not sure the oem transmission mounts still work, but I'm sure someone here knows if that's the case.
 
Yep! That's my buddy Dan! He did a great job on that rig... I actually rode in it after the rebuild... Very to notch work.

If you do move the engine forward, I'm not sure the oem transmission mounts still work, but I'm sure someone here knows if that's the case.

Absolutely he did. I hope to put together a cruiser that is 10% of what he did. It's amazing looking and from the videos, drives just as nice.

Thanks for the tip on the OEM transmission mounts. I would be skeptical if it would work.
 
Make sure to get the 40 series vac canister. It might be easier to forgo the 3B wiring and just set up your own glow and Edic stuff. I have the old FJ choke cable connected to the edic for a manual shutoff - pretty slick and dead simple. There are also some complications putting the H55 into the earlier trucks.

Hit up @gerg for a turbo:cool:

Vac canister isn't a big deal. A universal one is $40 bucks. I think you have your choke cable connected to the pump and not the edic itself. The edic being the electric motor that normally has that role.

Moving the engine forward has several advantages. I was able to reuse the original drive shafts by doing so. I just swapped ends on the tcase ends to match the flanges there. The cross member posted was also on early model 60s as well but if your 3b bellhousing is aluminum you won't be able to use that style crossmember.
 
First paragraph of this link has my original conversion. I was very green back then to diesels and didn't take the easiest path. That being said it's never given me any issues in all those years and I've been all over the country in it....a multitude of times.

Meant to get you some photos of that bj60 I have available as a donor but I'm still out of town for work and have spotty reception when I have free time.

 
I may have an OEM vacuum canister, bracket, and sensor off of a BJ42 for sale at some point if you want to go that route...
 
Vac canister isn't a big deal. A universal one is $40 bucks. I think you have your choke cable connected to the pump and not the edic itself. The edic being the electric motor that normally has that role.

Moving the engine forward has several advantages. I was able to reuse the original drive shafts by doing so. I just swapped ends on the tcase ends to match the flanges there. The cross member posted was also on early model 60s as well but if your 3b bellhousing is aluminum you won't be able to use that style crossmember.

Thanks for that information about moving the engine forward. How far did you move yours? I was mostly concerned about the re-using the original drive shaft. Great to know I could re-use it.

When you did your swap, did you pull the tub/body off and restor it as well or just engine swap. I'm sure I'll find that info in your thread. Just curious.
 
First paragraph of this link has my original conversion. I was very green back then to diesels and didn't take the easiest path. That being said it's never given me any issues in all those years and I've been all over the country in it....a multitude of times.

Meant to get you some photos of that bj60 I have available as a donor but I'm still out of town for work and have spotty reception when I have free time.


Take your time on the pics for the donor bj60. Still weighing my options.
 
Here is the engine bay as of this AM. I'm ready to pull the engine out but I've got a question. Can I pull the transmission and t-case at the same time? Just hook it up to the hoist?

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