'87 FJ60 Engine Swap

[FJ60Cam]

Fuel injection is basically a digital carburetor.

There’s some plumbing and electrical involved. AFI & Howell make a mostly bolt-on kit, with a little minor fabwork required.

 

[WSOPgold2012]

Fuel injection is basically a digital carburetor.

There’s some plumbing and electrical involved. AFI & Howell make a mostly bolt-on kit, with a little minor fabwork required.

Thanks guys. Will a FI conversion allow me to use a remote starter? Will it help with cold weather starting??

 

[3_puppies]

not sure on the remote starter setup, it would seem do-able but more involved than worth it.
these older rigs aren't like new rigs where somehow the starter "knows" to dis-engage when the engine starts. seems most newer rigs you don't actually need to keep the key in the start position anymore.

 

[FJ60Cam]

Will it help with cold weather starting??

1000% cold starting improvement

 

[Boss Hog]

My remote start is me walking outside, turning it on, pulling the key out of the ignition, locking it, & letting it run.

 

[Boss Hog]

As others have stated, there are a lot of threads on this topic. I started a huge discussion a year ago about all this when I bought mine. Take a peak...
What did you do with your 60 this weekend?

 

[tmxmotorsports]

No.... you have a manual transmission accidentally leave your truck in gear and you could kill someone. I worked in the car audio buissness for years and have installed hundreds of remote starts if you do that you are putting people at risk if a shop does it witch i highly doubt then they will be at fault and get sued along with you.

Thanks guys. Will a FI conversion allow me to use a remote starter? Will it help with cold weather starting??

 

[Seth S]

Thanks guys. Will a FI conversion allow me to use a remote starter? Will it help with cold weather starting??

Better option is to install something like a Webasto parking heater. You can install them with a timer so that in the morning before you drive to work it turns on and preheats the coolant and engine. So when you leave you just start up and go and have heat out he vents from the go.

 

[3_puppies]

No.... you have a manual transmission accidentally leave your truck in gear and you could kill someone. I worked in the car audio buissness for years and have installed hundreds of remote starts if you do that you are putting people at risk if a shop does it witch i highly doubt then they will be at fault and get sued along with you.

didn't even think about the manual trans and leaving it in gear...….that would be bad.

 

[Boss Hog]

Don't mind me. I'm just thinking out loud here...

I took a peek on ebay and I saw lots of fairly inexpensive decent-looking 5.3 engines. It certainly has me thinking...but I have a tendency to overthink some things.

I ran into a guy with a very sweet FJ43 a couple of months back. I stopped to chat (I was in the 60) and he told me swapping a 5.3 into HIS 60 was life-changing for him (as it related to the 60). It cut his time from Denver to the Western Slope by 2 hours. And I just bought some 62 mirrors locally from a guy that just got his 60 back with a new 5.3 conversion from Classic Cruisers. He loves it.

I dunno man. This weekend I was rolling with semis in the slow lane going East on I-70 through the tunnel in the snow. Somedays I do, and somedays I don't. I love the simplicity of my 2F. If I HAD to, I could keep it running in an emergency. I now drive slower in my other vehicles (F150, manual Outback, and Discovery) because I'm used to going slower in the 60. And I don't mind that one bit.

The world is so fast right now. We talk fast. Most Americans eat "fast food". We make snap decisions about people, places, and things and place a value on them without fully appreciating the moment. We are always in a rush to get somewhere because of an arbitrary deadline or time limit. I wish I could go slow more often. I'm tired of going fast all the time. Maybe I like driving the 60 so much because it helps me go slow. Maybe an engine swap would make me not appreciate going slow anymore.

I dunno man...

 

[Willard]

Don't mind me. I'm just thinking out loud here...

I took a peek on ebay and I saw lots of fairly inexpensive decent-looking 5.3 engines. It certainly has me thinking...but I have a tendency to overthink some things.

I ran into a guy with a very sweet FJ43 a couple of months back. I stopped to chat (I was in the 60) and he told me swapping a 5.3 into HIS 60 was life-changing for him (as it related to the 60). It cut his time from Denver to the Western Slope by 2 hours. And I just bought some 62 mirrors locally from a guy that just got his 60 back with a new 5.3 conversion from Classic Cruisers. He loves it.

I dunno man. This weekend I was rolling with semis in the slow lane going East on I-70 through the tunnel in the snow. Somedays I do, and somedays I don't. I love the simplicity of my 2F. If I HAD to, I could keep it running in an emergency. I now drive slower in my other vehicles (F150, manual Outback, and Discovery) because I'm used to going slower in the 60. And I don't mind that one bit.

The world is so fast right now. We talk fast. Most Americans eat "fast food". We make snap decisions about people, places, and things and place a value on them without fully appreciating the moment. We are always in a rush to get somewhere because of an arbitrary deadline or time limit. I wish I could go slow more often. I'm tired of going fast all the time. Maybe I like driving the 60 so much because it helps me go slow. Maybe an engine swap would make me not appreciate going slow anymore.

I dunno man...

I agree with this 100%. One of the things I like about the 60 is I enjoy the drive more in it than my F150. Exactly because of this reason.
I am in a great position right now and a dilemma. I am looking at putting fuel injection on the 60 for the easier starts and better drive ability.
That said, I like the simplicity of the carb.
Now i have a newer dilemma, this summer we are buying the wife a new vehicle and breaking down the 2004 Yukon we have. This will give me a 6.0 engine at my disposal for free.
I have been thinking of putting this into the 60. But @Boss Hog just reminded me why I will keep the 2f. That 6.0 will go into another project.
Simplicity of the 2F when in the remote bush is ideal.

Something to keep in mind.

After owning a LR3 that dropped itself into limp mode due to a poor battery and almost left me stranded.....Keep the 2F and maybe upgrade to fuel injection.

 

[Boss Hog]

I agree with this 100%. One of the things I like about the 60 is I enjoy the drive more in it than my F150. Exactly because of this reason.
I am in a great position right now and a dilemma. I am looking at putting fuel injection on the 60

The only time I prefer driving my F150 is in the snow (rust prevention for Walt) and on long uphill climbs. I prefer to drive Walt in almost every other situation I can think of...

 

[White Stripe]

I agree with this 100%. One of the things I like about the 60 is I enjoy the drive more in it than my F150. Exactly because of this reason.
I am in a great position right now and a dilemma. I am looking at putting fuel injection on the 60 for the easier starts and better drive ability.
That said, I like the simplicity of the carb.
Now i have a newer dilemma, this summer we are buying the wife a new vehicle and breaking down the 2004 Yukon we have. This will give me a 6.0 engine at my disposal for free.
I have been thinking of putting this into the 60. But @Boss Hog just reminded me why I will keep the 2f. That 6.0 will go into another project.
Simplicity of the 2F when in the remote bush is ideal.

Something to keep in mind.

After owning a LR3 that dropped itself into limp mode due to a poor battery and almost left me stranded.....Keep the 2F and maybe upgrade to fuel injection.

To be fair, Land Rover's are mechanical nightmares and comparing it to a LS motor isn't really fair. LS motors are pretty straight forward. I would argue they are almost as simple as a 2f, if not simpler in that the ECU will throw codes to help you diagnose problems. LS motor parts are really easy to come by at any auto parts store if their is a issue, and to be honest GM stuff like sensors and coils don't last as long as toyota ones but much much cheaper. And if you want to modify it their are a zillion aftermarket items for it. For example if you want a bolt on 200 amp alternator upgrade for the LS? 100 bucks, and easy to source. As far as being stuck in the slow lane, I have been pretty used to that until the LS. Not long ago I was on a freeway on ramp taking it easy going around the sharp corner. A new 4runner was tailgaiting me hard. As the ramp turned into the freeway, as expected the 4runner impatiently whipped over into the fast lane immediately to blitz past. I waited until he was at my front bumper and then I proceeded to wake up the LS and blow his doors off, and as the cruiser belched out the horses I busted out laughing like crazy enjoying the power.

 

[WSOPgold2012]

My remote start is me walking outside, turning it on, pulling the key out of the ignition, locking it, & letting it run.

Ya...your prolly not at 9700' where it hits -15 tho.

 

[WSOPgold2012]

1000% cold starting improvement

FI seems logical just for.cold weather starting improvement for me...also, not having to mess around with the choke so often between 9700' where it lives 7500' +5000' where she visits often would be an awesome added benefit. Thanks

 

[tmxmotorsports]

Be careful what you buy off ebay i was sent two junk engines one supposedly had 80k on it the other 37k both were junk and wasted 2 months of my time on the swap i am doing currently.

 

[WSOPgold2012]

Better option is to install something like a Webasto parking heater. You can install them with a timer so that in the morning before you drive to work it turns on and preheats the coolant and engine. So when you leave you just start up and go and have heat out he vents from the go.

I installed the Katz heater.....never worked. Had it reinstalled...didn't work either. Is the Webasto better?

 

[MANUCHAO]

I enjoy driving state routes as supposed to interstate fwys.....
you get to see more of the country side and lower speeds....
Having an LS engine does not translate to driving fast (er).....
It does give yah that option if you so desire/need it...

I like driving the 60 so much because it helps me go slow.

This rings true to me just cause its a 60 series period.....

LS motors are pretty straight forward. I would argue they are almost as simple as a 2f, if not simpler in that the ECU will throw codes to help you diagnose problems.

As with everything else.... once you understand how it all works....it is easy to fix... until it is not.....

Having a completely stock 60 series is a luxury now days, and props to the folks that go this route.....

To the OP....as stated before drive a few 60 series of different flavours..... Im sure you will not be disappointed......

 

[Boss Hog]

Ya...your prolly not at 9700' where it hits -15 tho.

Nope. But I thought you were here in Denver. It DOES occasionally hit -10 here though. Process is the same. Gives me time to finish my coffee before driving...

 

[Willard]

To be fair, Land Rover's are mechanical nightmares and comparing it to a LS motor isn't really fair. LS motors are pretty straight forward. I would argue they are almost as simple as a 2f, if not simpler in that the ECU will throw codes to help you diagnose problems. LS motor parts are really easy to come by at any auto parts store if their is a issue, and to be honest GM stuff like sensors and coils don't last as long as toyota ones but much much cheaper. And if you want to modify it their are a zillion aftermarket items for it. For example if you want a bolt on 200 amp alternator upgrade for the LS? 100 bucks, and easy to source. As far as being stuck in the slow lane, I have been pretty used to that until the LS. Not long ago I was on a freeway on ramp taking it easy going around the sharp corner. A new 4runner was tailgaiting me hard. As the ramp turned into the freeway, as expected the 4runner impatiently whipped over into the fast lane immediately to blitz past. I waited until he was at my front bumper and then I proceeded to wake up the LS and blow his doors off, and as the cruiser belched out the horses I busted out laughing like crazy enjoying the power.

I will disagree on the mechanical nightmare. Mechanically it as much as a nightmare as any modern fuel injected engine. I would change that to electrical nightmare. Every British owned vehicle I have ever had (I have had a lot) were horrible in the electronics. Mechanically they were fine. We had a joke about them, you could almost tell what day of the week they were built. Wednesday's being the best, Friday the worst.

I agree the LS motors are cheap to maintain, I have had a few of these over the years. That is not where I am coming from here. Sensors go, while cheap, they can leave you completely stranded in the middle of nowhere. Add in computer controlled transmissions and transfer cases and it get worse.
If I were to swap to a LS motor, I would get a new harness that omitted all that junk and keep it a manual trans. You get get the ECU reprogrammed for a fully manual trans. I will not be giving up the LQ4 sitting in my Yukon once pulled, it will find a new home somewhere.

Still I like the simple 2F. Closest I have had to this in all of the cars I have owned in a 6cyl was a carburated Ford 300ci. Great motor and as simple as they come, you could really not break the damn thing and believe me I tried. In the back bush, you cannot really go wrong, duct tape and bailing wire will keep you going 9 times out of 10.

The end of it is this. Freeway, ya do the swap without a doubt, you can pass safely and get out of the way faster of speeding cars. Plus you have the power for those huge hills.

Back country, I am more nervous of sensors that can break and prevent the engine from running than the speed my rig can go.

Personally I am originally from a province in Canada that is reducing the speed on some of their roadways, A good thing. Every ad you read is speed kills, yet we have Highways in the US with 75 MPH as posted limit, and it keeps going up.