I love the Orion too. It’s the main reason I haven’t tried going the H55 route. Looks like I’ll have to go nv4500 if I want to keep it and get a 5speed. Might have a 12 inch rear driveshaft hahah. I guess if you got a shorter motor in there you could push it all forward.
78 fj40 , 1kz-te , h55f , orion
- Thread starter beerfart
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I love the Orion too. It’s the main reason I haven’t tried going the H55 route. Looks like I’ll have to go nv4500 if I want to keep it and get a 5speed. Might have a 12 inch rear driveshaft hahah. I guess if you got a shorter motor in there you could push it all forward.
Why not just run a split case with 4:1 gears and keep your life simple? Not than there is anything wrong with NV4500s, but no fancy adapters required if you keep it all Toyota, it'll all just bolt in.
I think the 4:1 gears for split cases have high range reduction, and I’m already on 4.88 gears in the diffs
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- #104
Yes , putting in the shorter 4 cylinder diesel allowed me to move the engine forward enough to fit the longer h55 + adapter and keep the origional drive shafts and parking brake .
I figured. 2f is way long
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- #106
A small block chevy is only a couple of inches longer than a 1kzte . With an electric fan on the front of the radiator and no fan on the water pump it might fit .
haha I think if I was going through all the trouble of a motorswap, the 5.3 would be a must haha
First, I want to say that I am VERY impressed by your build. I think this thread is amazing and I could not stop reading it. Thank you for sharing and posting.
Being a complete novice at swapping engines, I am still looking to move forward with a 1KZ-T or TE swap. The only piece that makes me nervous is the fabrication of the motor mounts. Can you share a bit on how they were designed. I see that they are weldments and I assume you used mild steel.
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- #109
I marked and measured the original transmission and engine location before removing it . You want to be sure that the center line of the of the rear output shaft on the transfer case is exactly where it was in all 3 directions when you put the new engine / trans in . You also need to know exactly where the centerline of the crankshaft is [harmonic balancer] and put the front of the new engine on that centerline . The alignment and angle to the floor of engine/ trans is very important . Basically the crankshaft center line needs to be parallel with the frame center line . I have seen many engine swaps where the engine is not parallel and this is a bad idea [ it needs to be closer to the drivers side of the frame but parallel , this makes room for the front driveshaft ] and engine level side to side . The output flange on the transfer case needs to be exactly the same height , in the same location front to back and side to side , and at the same angle to the floor as it was before [ the engine /trans center line will be angled up towards the front of the engine ]. On an FJ40 the center of the cone shaped stamped steel cover on the back of the transfer case is the same centerline as the crankshaft . It can help with alignment . Take as many measurements as you can and write them down . I also put a lot of marks on the chassis and frame to measure from and align to . Then I used floor jacks , bottle jacks and cherry picker to place the engine on center line , leveled the engine side to side off the front of the cylinder head with the lifter cover removed . I welded mild steel plates to the frame to strengthen it before fabing motor mounts . I used FJ40 motor and transmission rubber mounts . I used the old ones to fab it all up then replaced with new . That was so long ago I don't remember how I did it all , but it was simple to figure out . There might be more photos of the mounts in the video , I'm not sure but the video has all the photos I took in it . And Thanks for the compliment ! Good luck , engine swaps are fun.
Beerfart, that’s an amazing 40 series! Your fabrication skills are insane, very, very inspiring.
There‘s a recent series on making good power with these engines from YouTube user TRAV30387. It’s not cheep, but looks real fun!
I plan on swapping a 1kz into my mini truck when I geat tired of living life in the slow lane. I still need to accumulate all the critical pieces, like a shop, first though!
There‘s a recent series on making good power with these engines from YouTube user TRAV30387. It’s not cheep, but looks real fun!
I plan on swapping a 1kz into my mini truck when I geat tired of living life in the slow lane. I still need to accumulate all the critical pieces, like a shop, first though!
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- #111
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- #112
Youtube video link to FJ40 1KZT, Lock Hart Basin Rd., The Burr Trail switchbacks, and Escalante, Utah. Lock-Hart basin road