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- #61
I'm guessing the Katz inline Radiator coolant heater I tried was kinda similar to this...Im not overly concerned with a warm cabin....I'm more concerned with cold weather starting....
'87 FJ60 Engine Swap
- Thread starter WSOPgold2012
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- #62
where's Buena Vista...Califo Cali?
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- #63
That's the place. We escaped the front range and headed for the Arkansas River valley earlier this year. PM me if you want to come out, shop is open normal business hours during the week and I'm also available on most weekends.
a lot to be said for staying with the proven engine swaps....5.7 family of GM engines, and the 5.3 family of GM engines along with related GM automatic transmissions. If you don't have any mechanical skills...its going to get expensive if you can't do some of the work yourself. And you need to understand who is going to work on the truck once you do a swap. I like my 5.7 swap....its been a pain in the @$$ sometimes but overall I like it. If I were to do a swap tomorrow in a FJ60 or 80, it would be a GM 5.3 or 6.0 SBC with the matching GM auto transmssion and I would use the GM radiator fan along with teh GM matching fan clutch.
I'm going through the same contemplation. Here in TX you can get run over trying to get on a 75mph highway. Currently researching a 5.3L with GM 6 sp auto. I've driven 2 5.3L chevy's over 200k miles each with zero issues so I feel the motors are reliable. As for resale, restorers are listing fully restored swapped 60's at $60k+
What gets overlooked in these swaps is the off road characteristic of the V-8. Everyone who loves the straight six loves it
for it's "tractor like " power band. As long as a V-8 is aver 1200ish RPM it will have more torque than the six. At 500 rpm
the six will still chug up a wall where the V-8 will stall. It's important to match the powerbands of the engine to the motor.
The V-8 will way out perform the six in town and on the highway but unless you add depth to the low range in the way of
deeper gearing like a 3 or 4:1 option, the six with be more comfortable rock crawling. We've overcome that somewhat with
the automatic trans. The torque convertor will spool up keeping the rpms over 1200 when going slow but that also builds heat.
If you stay with manual behind the V-8 , hard trails will test your clutching skills. Obviously the deeper the first gear, the less
clutching you'll need. Plan the package as a complete package. Look at gearing as part of the equation. If you keep your
3:70's in the rear look at t-case options or doublers
for it's "tractor like " power band. As long as a V-8 is aver 1200ish RPM it will have more torque than the six. At 500 rpm
the six will still chug up a wall where the V-8 will stall. It's important to match the powerbands of the engine to the motor.
The V-8 will way out perform the six in town and on the highway but unless you add depth to the low range in the way of
deeper gearing like a 3 or 4:1 option, the six with be more comfortable rock crawling. We've overcome that somewhat with
the automatic trans. The torque convertor will spool up keeping the rpms over 1200 when going slow but that also builds heat.
If you stay with manual behind the V-8 , hard trails will test your clutching skills. Obviously the deeper the first gear, the less
clutching you'll need. Plan the package as a complete package. Look at gearing as part of the equation. If you keep your
3:70's in the rear look at t-case options or doublers
I've had the chance to briefly drive a few V8 swapped cruisers with manual transmissions over the last couple of years and this was surprisingly noticeable. They are awesome on the road or at speed, but I preferred the 2F in my 60 when idling along a trail.
...So I guess the best compromise of power and low end grunt is probably a Toyota turbo diesel
I have the 5.3 with 4.10's in the rear, the vortec will idle low, way low when needed. Now the old 5.7 I had not so much. I think Georg told me they had a vortec idling all the way down to around 300 one time just trying to get it to stall out. Not sure what the torque looks like when its down at 5 or 600 but it is possible for them to idle down there
with the 4l60 you probably couldn't stall a 5.3 . The converter won't let the engine drop that low. It's more a concern for those keeping a manual tranny. Gearing will take the load off either, however, the auto will run cooler on long, hot steep trails. The engine will benefit
the same way
So much good information here.
