Builds: Dan's FJ60 (1 Viewer)

[fj60dan]

A little history on this one. I bought this FJ60 from Jim @ Land Cruiser Restorations back in 2018. They fixed all the rust and painted it, but I didn't have the money for a swap or anything more. So the tired 2F remained. I'm not sure when I lost two cylinders, but it's been running on 4 for a while. I used to live pretty close to work, so the 2F didn't have to work hard as the max limit was 45 and everything was flat. Now I live 25 miles away and just can't drive it to work anymore. So a V8 is required otherwise it's just a pretty driveway ornament.

Beauty shot taken by Jim

So I had a TBI then a Sniper kit on it. Massive exhaust leaks meant it ran super-rich. I redid the entire exhaust in stainless (in preparation for a v8 swap) with v-bands and O2 bungs. This made it run better, but I still had a lot of knock from the non-recurved distributor. I installed the DUI distributor and used the Sniper as timing control. This worked great, except it was still only 4 cylinders.

With a forced week off from work, I decided it was the perfect time to start the swap. The 350 arrived yesterday and the 2F is now out as of a few hours ago.

 

[OG SUV]

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

 

[fj60dan]

Sorry it's been a while since I updated this. Engine is in. Now it's all those small things that need done. Getting it done slowly as I wait for more small things to arrive. Next step is getting the exhaust routed. I'll try to take pictures as I go if I can. Kind of just get working on it and forget!

 

[Seth S]

I love the logic jump. 25 miles away...need V8. Aristotle would be proud.

What trans you running?


And am I seeing this correctly? It looks like if you hit a bump your differential is going to smack your bottom pulley?

 

[fj60dan]

I love the logic jump. 25 miles away...need V8. Aristotle would be proud.

What trans you running?


And am I seeing this correctly? It looks like if you hit a bump your differential is going to smack your bottom pulley?

25 mostly highway miles

I'm running the stock 4 speed for now. Eventually, I'll get a 5 speed for it if I feel the need.

The picture does make it look like it'll smack it, but there's a ton of clearance on the bottom. The air cleaner is super close to the hood though, so there's no going up with my current set up. I'll try to get a pic tomorrow of the clearances if I remember.

 

[cheeese]

Did you adapt the Sniper to the 350 somehow or sell it to fund the swap? That's a nice clean looking truck and it will be great to have it running strong again. Can't believe you were able to deal with it running on 2 dead cylinders even for 25 miles!

 

[fj60dan]

Did you adapt the Sniper to the 350 somehow or sell it to fund the swap? That's a nice clean looking truck and it will be great to have it running strong again. Can't believe you were able to deal with it running on 2 dead cylinders even for 25 miles!

Originally I planned to keep the sniper and just use it. I bought a two to four barrel adapter, but decided to upgrade it as I already put so much into this. Kind of glad I did as there isn't much hood space for the air cleaner I have, and the spacer would have lifted it up too far I think. I will be selling the old one with the Red Line adapter eventually.

 

[fj60dan]

Small progress yesterday. Finished a bracket for the oil cooler. Fits just below the AC pipe on the evaporator. No pics with it on just yet as I took the radiator back out to give me more room to get the exhaust together today. Sadly I had to grind down my best welds to get the cooler to fit as I hadn't accommodated the welds in my measurements.

I got the oil cooler super cheap on Amazon a long time ago, so I figured I'd go ahead and use it. Also, Rustoleum champagne bronze is not a direct match for the Toyota color, but I wasn't really expecting it to be. Hopefully, it's not too garnish once the front end is together.

 

[fj60dan]

Lots of work done over the week. Sorry for the lack of updates and only one photo.

• Exhaust is almost wrapped up. The driver's side is completed. The passenger side is almost done; I hope to have that done this next weekend.
• Oil cooler is mounted and grill is trimmed to fit. The paint really doesn't match, but it's not that visible behind the grill anyway.
• Electrical is coming along. The fans are wired in. I need to wire up the AC input for the Sniper so it keeps the fan on.
• Waiting on some clamps for the heater hoses and rad hoses, but the plumbing is all done.

Almost ready for a start, but just taking my time to ensure it's all good.