Builds Amateur Franken40 Build (2 Viewers)

[DirtSniffer]

The mighty 2F proved to be too much for my little loader, sketchy ceiling hoist ftw.

Close call while trying to drag the rear end with the tractor to turn the frame around, rolled over the hunk of wood holding a front tire and towards 's 4Runner. Saw my life flash before my eyes fearing the consequences. Luckily, a strategically placed toolbox saved the day. Maybe I'll just make the 50 point turn by hand from now on...

The other patient is on the operating table, awaiting me to finish harvesting it's organ donor. Hope to start on the frame soon. Yard is starting to look like tent city.

 

[DirtSniffer]

Nothing big to report, but I got the axles pulled and removed the Aussie from the rear diff to put in the 80 and all I can say is I'm glad I won't be dealing with a C-clip axle again. What a pain. Hopefully I can get these sold to fund some coilovers soon...

Feels weird having it stripped down to the frame again. It was just starting to look like a cruiser again.

Progress may be a bit slow next few weeks, I want to focus on baselineing the 80 and get it ready to take on some trips so I'm not stuck working on the 40 every weekend. I'll be picking away at the frame, however.

 

[DirtSniffer]

Christmas can be any time of year when you have a credit card

Also, chop chop...

 

[Mike Shull]

I can’t wait to see what is inside…and whatever it is welded to the Cruiser.

 

[DirtSniffer]

And just like that, more of my hard work is undone...

On another note, I am somewhat tempted to freshen up this '79 2F. The other I have is from a '76, and I did get it running before stripping the rig. But this '79 should also be a good engine and has the threaded holes for a 60 power steering pump, which I have. But I believe the 60 pump is known to struggle with bigger tires. I'll probably try and get it running when I get to a decision point and do compression tests to make up my mind.

 

[DirtSniffer]

Ruff Stuff brackets came, front frame brackets should work well. Stick out about as much as the motor mount. The Barnes adjustable mount I got for the top link, however, sticks out a bit and would probably interfere with the driveshaft. Maybe. If I end up splitting the frame channels, I could drill, plate, and weld nuts on the inside of the frame for the joint bolt and shave off an inch or so which would work. Or find another bracket. But I like having the option to adjust anti squat.

 

[DirtSniffer]

"buy that 80" they said
"It'll be fun" they said

 

[DirtSniffer]

I'm still alive... 80 distraction is coming along. Getting more time welding thicker steel on this bumper has me wanting a welder upgrade and 220v ran to my work area before I attack the 40 frame.

Trying to decide which hard top sides to hack. Each have good and bad qualities. White rear radiuses are solid, but pillars are rotted on inside. White curved window frame has a few rotted edges that will need attention. Red one has more rot on radius but better pillars and perfect window frames. It also seems to have been hacked to work with the hatch door. Ambu mount holes are Bondo'd over. I'm thinking I'll keep what white radius and patch the pillars, and use the front half of the red sides. Got someone coming to buy my green sides and they want the better radius I cut out to patch it...

 

[DirtSniffer]

No going back now...

 

[DirtSniffer]

Well, it's now winter and the 80 managed to distract me all summer. Lucky to have the extended fall this year to wrap a few things up. Just picked up the FJ60 short shaft, will try to find a home for the block and head.

However.... With the pause in the build and after thinking it over more, I have made the decision that this thing just needs a diesel. There are a number of options I am considering, but am hoping to work out a deal on an engine in the next few weeks. Hopefully an update soon. I may be putting together a pretty sweet package with this transmission and my other 2F if I decide not to hold on to them for a future project. Oh yeah, just sold that '76 2F I was going to use as well... I guess the good thing about this taking so long is I'll have everything well thought out to the point I won't be making major changes down the road. I'll chalk up all the wasted time (and money) as "learning experience".

Pic of the 80 because no build thread, yet. Coastal front bumper with custom headlights hoops and rocker chop sliders so I could cut out the cancer. Hopefully hit a few trails this winter with it.

 

[DirtSniffer]

Having a hard time deciding on what to do.

For a while I was seriously considering trying to source a 15B-FT, but the FTs are getting harder to source. I did find an FTE, but after a lot of research came to the conclusion a manual pump swap was not feasible. Alibaba has wreckers in the Honk Kong area and next door in China with FTs, but shipping and freight forwarding, customs etc. seem to be a huge hassle and risk is high. Would need to source flywheel, bellhousing, and long shaft H55F as well (cruiserparts can get me everything I need for about $3500)

I did, however, find someone local selling a 12HT. This would be pretty cool, but he wants $6k and it doesn't have a flywheel, bellhousing, or starter to try and do a test run or compression test. So another gamble. I may be able to pull the injectors and throw a bore scope inside the cylinders to look for scoring, but that's about it. If I went this route, I could use my long shaft H42 for fitment and source an H55F later. It uses the same input shaft as the 2F H42, no hard to find long shaft like the B engines. My understanding is the 12HTs tend to wear out the ring lands on the pistons when they get higher in miles, so a top end may be in order regardless. Mileage and engine history are unknown.

BUT, Land cruiser heaven sells a complete used 13BT package with H55F and split case out of BJ74s sourced from their shop in Dubai for $7k + about $1k in shipping they would handle.

For the price difference and including an H55F, cheaper maintenance and rebuild costs, I am leaning towards the 13BT. It's also 12V. Then, if one day I come across a 15B-FT, it would pretty much be a straight swap. 12HT is a dream engine, but would end up costing at least $3k+ extra over 13BT not assuming a rebuild. Plus, I can have or sell a spare split case then. Is it worth the extra money and risk? Maybe...

Decisions, decisions...

 

[fjdiesel]

After the fact, I regret not going with the 15B-T... If I can come across one, it may still happen....

 

[DirtSniffer]

Hear me out: A merc OM606 turbo with a turned up OM603 mechanical pump. The brazil Bandeirantes came with merc diesels, so not complete blasphemy... Lot more power potential, and while somewhat rare, they actually came in cars sold here in the states (merc E300). There are a few companies that sell adapters for either the R150F or H150F. So could either run rf1a duals and build a centered rear diff housing, or import an H150F and run a black box and offset cruiser case.

This guy's defender with an OM606 has me kinda wanting to build the 40 body somewhat similar, too...

 

[DirtSniffer]

Well that does it, secured what should be a good running OM606 out of a '99 E300D that comes with a mechanical pump. Hope to pick it up in a few weeks. Then I'll be hunting for more parts.

 

[archie73]

There’s a couple OM### builds on mud. There should be some tech in them for you. No blasphemy- build what you want to drive.

 

[DirtSniffer]

12 hour round trip to Omaha somehow turned into a 15 hour round trip. Car and trailer got a nice salt bath from last night's snow. But she's home.

My first whirly boi

Mechanical 603 pump and filter housing, will probably send in as a core for a modified pump across the pond along with injectors.

 

[DirtSniffer]

Hoping to run an r150f on this, but comparing measurements of the r150f and H42, it looks like the shifter would end up about 10" or so further back assuming same bellhousing location. Quick measurement of the 2F shows about 36" from bellhousing mount surface to front of fan, and about 32.5" on the om606. Assuming about 1" for the adapter, I could get the shifter about 7.5" back from original location if I move the engine forward. Would make less room for an intercooler, though. There are other transmission options, but I'm still liking the idea of the r150f with a NWF ecobox doubler and gear drive case off the back.

 

[DirtSniffer]

Correction. That measurement was based off my H42 with a 60 top plate. 40 shifter is about 3.25" further forward. So would actually be about 10.75" back. I'm thinking that will be too far back. Will need to do some thinking.

 

[DirtSniffer]

Here is an r150f in someone's 40 with a 2UZ. Probably just a tad bit further forward than I'll be able to get it with the straight 6, but with a shifter mod similar to this I think it will work.

Also looking at nv3500/3550/4500, but shifter is only about 2" further forward on those at best. 3vz bellhousing would save me about an inch over the 5vz one. If I can get my hands on an r151f that would save me about another 3 inches as the shifter is further forward on them.

 

[DirtSniffer]

Turbo R151fs seem all but unobtainium. Cruiserparts does sell them from out of hzj79s for a relatively reasonable price, but the rear tail housing has a different mount pattern meant for a split case that went on H151fs. It appears the NWF black box would be able to bolt on to the back, and could then run an 80 case with 3:1 gears. Pricing things out, somewhat comparable to the r150f/ecocrawler/rf1a with 4.7 gears since I wouldn't need to build a centered housing. It also doesn't look like anyone makes custom length shafts for the 80 full float axles. Still looking into building a centered 9.5 full floater. I'm a fan of the full float 80 rear and would like to keep it stock-ish but also want a straight driveshaft.