Builds Cummins R2.8 H151 Swap into 1993 FZJ80 (4 Viewers)

[PurpleFJ62]

Hello Mud,

I bet that title got your attention, I have been working on this swap for about 6 months at this point. To keep it brief, the goal was to design a system to allow the installation of the Cummins R2.8 crate engine into an FZJ80 Chassis that required absolutely no cutting or welding on the chassis.

This will be where I hope to also receive some assistance from veteran FZJ80 owners because I do have a few small problems that need to be sorted out, but we will get to that later.

I started with a locked 1993 USDM FZJ80, so no need to say it came with the 1fz-fe and auto trans. This project has been an huge challenge to say the least, almost every part for this conversion has needed to be designed from scratch.

The power players in the R2.8 swap community did not seem all that interested in helping me, so I had to be resourceful and think outside the box.

Here are the ingredients I will be using.

Here is the crate motor from cummins

Here is the new H151 transmission

At this point you may think that I have backed myself into a corner because as far as I know there does not exist any mounts or adapters to mate these components together. Even worse than that there does not seem to exist any useful drawings or CAD files on the web that would allow you to design what you need.

I began to research companies with CMM machines, as you would expect that were not too intrested in helping me after I said that I dont represent a multi-million dollar corporation, so I struck out on that one. Even then CMM's would only give me information on several dozen points in space, and what I really wanted was a CAD file that would allow me to design something that looked professional, not just a aluminum ring with holes in it.

I got lucky and made a contact at a company that has a blue light scanner, he agreed to scan my parts for me. So the H151, R2.8, and 1FZ needed to be cleaned, transported and scanned.

I built some dunnage to allow for safe transport and loaded everything up

The end result was well worth the trouble, even working on a budget and not opting to scan the entire engine in detail, I was able to deduce an incredible amount of information, way more than Cummins is willing to provide in their so called installation manual.

Armed with information about the 1FZ, R2.8, and H151 transmission I began to design motor and transmission mounts, as well as adapter system that allows the use of OEM 1fz manual transmission parts, obviously trying to keep it as much Toyota as possible.

To be continued...

 

[PurpleFJ62]

With the preliminaries out of the way we can get down to business. After doing about two years of research I decided on the R2.8. Some other engines that were considered along the way were the Cummins 4bt and ISB 3.9, both excellent engines but not the best for the 80 series. The 1hd and 1hdft from Toyota, and the M57 from BMW.

Turns out that in Eastern Europe the M57 is the diesel engine of choice for Nissan Patrols, these things are absolutely kick ass, but very much like the toyota diesels, very hard to find here in the states. I just have this mental block to putting down 8,000 dollars on a used engine from half way around the world, every used item I have bought has ended up costing more in the end then just buying new. So I went with the R2.8 since it could be had new and with a warranty, I might get lucky and get to fire it up before its expired even!!

Maybe someone on here will get lucky and find a clean M57 diesel, I would love to do a build with one of these in the future. Search for fastmotion.eu on google, they are even installing BMW diesels in boats over there.

I measured the 1FZ engine and figured out how to design motor mounts for the R2.8 that would put the rear plane of my adapter ring in the exact same spot as the 1fz, this would allow me to install the h151 and then modify the trans tunnel correctly.


These mounts utilize the factory toyota rubber, so that is one less crappy aftermarket part on my rig
Notice the drain hole to prevent water accumulation...

 

[sailingcruiser]

One thing to look into is a Jeep Cherokee 5spd. I have been researching and do not have the capacity to have the bell housings in my yard but both are aisin transmissions and while searching it looks like they may bolt to a Toyota trans. Thus you would be able to possibly use a existing trans adapter. I’m looking forward to your updates!!

 

[PurpleFJ62]

I thought about many different designs for the power transmitting parts. In the end I used the standard design being implemented in basically every R2.8 swap kit. This design allows the use of the OEM cummins starter and ring gear, all you need to do is heat it up and remove if from the R2.8 flywheel and place it on the flexplate. After the ring gear cools it will fit incredibly tight, just as it did out of the box.

Unlike the factory R2.8 flywheel this uses dowel pins for alignment, these can be found at mcmaster carr.

Here is the finished product

I made sure that it could also utilize the factory cummins flywheel bolts. Next up was designing an adapter to mate the R2.8 and H151. Essentially it makes the R2.8 look like the 1FZ, so in this case the H151 trans is using a 1FZ bellhousing.

This is where things started to get dicey, the 80 series is designed for a long and skinny inline 6. It is not made for a chubby 4 cylinder, the problem is due to the indentation in the firewall. I cannot push the R2.8 back as far as the 1FZ was, this will have ramifications for the thickness of the adapter ring, and to a lesser degree the placement of the oil pan sump (this is still an unsolved problem).

This is the adapter, notice the cutout for the cummins starter, as well as alignment pins for both the R2.8 and 1FZ.

Final thickness is 3 inches, as far as I know this is the thickest adapter ring out there. The engine could have gone back a little bit more, maybe half and inch, however it would have made transmission installation more difficult because it would have reduced the amount the engine can tip down before hitting the firewall. Also serviceability would become harder, and at the end of the day the oil pan sump would still not be behind the steering rod link. So I am going to have to live with it.

For the connection to the 1FZ flywheel, I designed a massive hub that accept the OEM pilot bearing. It utilizes massive radii to minimize stress risers. It is aligned using alignment pins to the flexplate.
The smaller end is basically just a copy of the back of a 1FZ crankshaft. So potentially you could very well use this with the A442, however if you were going to use an automatic chances are that you would upgrade to something more modern. A problem in general for the R2.8 is that there is no access port to tighten torque converter bolts.

 

[PurpleFJ62]

One thing to look into is a Jeep Cherokee 5spd. I have been researching and do not have the capacity to have the bell housings in my yard but both are aisin transmissions and while searching it looks like they may bolt to a Toyota trans. Thus you would be able to possibly use a existing trans adapter. I’m looking forward to your updates!!

I spent several months pondering this option. It was not done for two reasons. First is the double offset transfercase, to my knowledge there are not any adapters allowing the use of the factory t-case with an easy to source stick shift transmission. Second, once you handle drivetrain parts from a land cruiser you will soon realize that what comes in a Jeep or 4Runner pales in comparison. An r150 next to an H151 is a photo I should have taken. The land cruiser components are a lot bigger. This in my opinion puts the 80 series into a tough category. Everything is bigger then what can be had from domestic 4x4's, but stuff out of heavy duty pick ups is too big to fit. Consider for a moment the NV4500, I really wanted to use this transmission, especially since I had one at my disposal. Bottom line, unless your willing to hack up sheetmetal, it wont fit, and it would require custom work to mate it to the t-case.

This is where the H151 shines, it fits in the tunnel, bolts to the t-case, and has the shifter tower in the correct spot. As well as utilizing factory clutch, slave cylinder, etc.

 

[sailingcruiser]

Just the bell housing. Check out the link.
BritishV8 Forum: Re: Toyota trans for GM V6 pattern Jeep and Dakota 2.5 bellhousings

 

[PurpleFJ62]

At this point I am finally ready to install a fully dressed R2.8 into the FZJ80 engine bay. Of course there has been no progress on a conversion wiring harness at this point to allow the factory combination meter to work. But getting to this step was a huge relief for me. Just knowing that I could actually make the damn thing fit and that someday it might be drive-able allowed me to once again sleep at night.

Notice that nasty EGR pipe and valve assembly, this is one of the reasons the engine does not tuck back against the firewall as good as the 1fz did. I was not willing to modify the engine so it stays.

Here the motor mounts are visible resting on the factory rubbers

 

[sailingcruiser]

That is some sweet work!!

 

[PurpleFJ62]

Next the big saws-all came out the the tunnel mod. Thus far, this was my least favorite part of the project. I dont like body work very much. Basically the idea was a follows...

1. Cut massive hole in floor to ensure H151 would fit
2. Working backwards, fabricate new piece of metal that would have holes in correct spot and accept bolts for the sifter boots
3. Remove gearbox and weld in
4. Install OEM stiffener plate
5. Seam sealer then primer and paint

This is where I started

Gearboxes installed

Plastic is useful for the first template since you really need to be able to see through it, afterwards you can transfer to paper or directly to metal.

Next is the messy part, trying to tig weld this thing in

Here i'm checking the fitment of that stiffener plate, not bad for my first try

Next I struggled and made a big mistake. Living in the north has made me paranoid about rust. I put primer and seam sealer down before welding in the black plate because I was worried about rust forming between the body and the plate, this made it basically impossible to weld the plate in because the paint and seam sealer was burning and messing up my welds. I dont have a spot welder so I driller little holes in from the hop and tried to plug weld the plate. In too deep to turn back to got a rivet gun. After it was all said and done I sprayed some OEM color paint on the bottom so nobody would ever notice I did anything.

It matches much better after its dry...

Still have not put green paint down on the interior, need to fabricate center consoul brackets...

 

[cody c]

Cool build thanks for posting.

Alternate to the Toyota there are hydraulic (fluid filled) motor mounts that apparently reduce felt engine vibrations better than others.

I have a 91 6BT / NV4500 /AA / split case in mine, wishing I had an HF2AV though

 

[Kaninja]

Great work! Following this build for sure. Thank you.

 

[PurpleFJ62]

Anyone thinking about putting a diesel into their 80 series needs to spend about a week reading an excellent build thread by rock40
Builds - Euro 1HD-FT Turbo Diesel/H151F 5 Speed Manual LHD 96' USA Swap

Here there is some productive conversation about the changes that need to be made to the gasser to allow the diesel engine to operate correctly. The biggest concern on my mind after reading the cummins installation manual was the spec given for the fuel line diameter. The FZJ80 fuel lines are much smaller than the 1HD fuel lines. At this point the angle of attack is the same for the R2.8 and 1HD swaps, you need to get fuel lines of the correct size for the lift pumps. Both engines use lift pumps that are mounted on the engine instead of a high pressure pusher pump mounted in the tank.

But lucky for us, Toyota has already done all of the work. We just need to get a set of diesel fuel lines and the diesel fuel tank pickup assembly. Both are available from Dave at Japan 4x4, and whats even better is that they simply bolt in, no muss no fuss.

The diesel lines are much simpler than the gasser ones, no EVAP crap to deal with. Also a lot easier to install, just look at the difference in size and complexity.

Dont forget the anti-sieze if you live in the salt belt!!

Sorry that I dont have any better pictures of this at the moment. But it puts the fuel feed and return close to the R2.8 injection pump. Still need to make some short connector lines to connect the two.

Still cannot get the fuel tank filler pipe out, seems I need to lift the body off of the chassis for that , this is another problem I need to deal with in the future. I tried to find an OEM diesel filler pipe, seems they are no longer available.

 

[PurpleFJ62]

Cool build thanks for posting.

Alternate to the Toyota there are hydraulic (fluid filled) motor mounts that apparently reduce felt engine vibrations better than others.

I have a 91 6BT / NV4500 /AA / split case in mine, wishing I had an HF2AV though

What kind of floor mods were necessary? I hope that my statement about the NV4500 not fitting without mods was accurate. At the time the best available information led me to that conclusion. I love those 6BT engines, they are monsters. My tow vehicle has one, it just keeps going...

 

[goranvolvo]

that crankshaft adapter is pretty long and handling a lot of weight it will be really hard to balance everything that way at high RPM bolts will be at a lot of stress

 

[PurpleFJ62]

Last thing for tonight is my transmission mount. As I mentioned earlier I was not interested in doing cutting or welding anywhere on the body or chassis, except where it was not avoidable, like for the h151 shifter. If I had the means to do a frame off resto then I might have taken a different path.

Anyways I measured my factory cross-member and put the points down on paper. In rock40's build thread he mentions that the h151 trans-mount moves 70mm forward from the location of the A442f's. With all this information at hand I designed a transmission mount, some care was needed to provide clearance on the front snout of the t-case, as well as a slight angle to put the drive-train at the correct angle.

If you carefully examine the OEM trans-mount you will discover that the mount does not sit parallel with respect to the bottom of the chassis. Im still not sure if the height is spot on, perhaps there is someone on here who has a factory installed h151 and can give me some kind of accurate measurement that I can check against.

I guess my time around BMW's influenced my design a bit on this. You dont see aluminum brackets with a ton of ribbing on most cars.

Ready to install

This is what really matters, does it fit? Got lucky on this one. Uses all factory hardware. Really hard to get a good photo from under the car that shows the entire thing.

Stay tuned for further developments as I churn through all the problems...

 

[Kaninja]

How many inches do you think the motor could be moved further towards the firewall with all the EGR crap removed?

 

[Bripars40]

Last thing for tonight is my transmission mount. As I mentioned earlier I was not interested in doing cutting or welding anywhere on the body or chassis, except where it was not avoidable, like for the h151 shifter. If I had the means to do a frame off resto then I might have taken a different path.

Anyways I measured my factory cross-member and put the points down on paper. In rock40's build thread he mentions that the h151 trans-mount moves 70mm forward from the location of the A442f's. With all this information at hand I designed a transmission mount, some care was needed to provide clearance on the front snout of the t-case, as well as a slight angle to put the drive-train at the correct angle.

If you carefully examine the OEM trans-mount you will discover that the mount does not sit parallel with respect to the bottom of the chassis. Im still not sure if the height is spot on, perhaps there is someone on here who has a factory installed h151 and can give me some kind of accurate measurement that I can check against.

I guess my time around BMW's influenced my design a bit on this. You dont see aluminum brackets with a ton of ribbing on most cars.

Ready to install

This is what really matters, does it fit? Got lucky on this one. Uses all factory hardware. Really hard to get a good photo from under the car that shows the entire thing.

Stay tuned for further developments as I churn through all the problems...

This is amazing! Keep it up!

 

[White Stripe]

Does the 2.8 have more power than the 1hdt?

 

[Dragos80]

With the preliminaries out of the way we can get down to business. After doing about two years of research I decided on the R2.8. Some other engines that were considered along the way were the Cummins 4bt and ISB 3.9, both excellent engines but not the best for the 80 series. The 1hd and 1hdft from Toyota, and the M57 from BMW.

Turns out that in Eastern Europe the M57 is the diesel engine of choice for Nissan Patrols, these things are absolutely kick ass, but very much like the toyota diesels, very hard to find here in the states. I just have this mental block to putting down 8,000 dollars on a used engine from half way around the world, every used item I have bought has ended up costing more in the end then just buying new. So I went with the R2.8 since it could be had new and with a warranty, I might get lucky and get to fire it up before its expired even!!

Maybe someone on here will get lucky and find a clean M57 diesel, I would love to do a build with one of these in the future. Search for fastmotion.eu on google, they are even installing BMW diesels in boats over there.

I measured the 1FZ engine and figured out how to design motor mounts for the R2.8 that would put the rear plane of my adapter ring in the exact same spot as the 1fz, this would allow me to install the h151 and then modify the trans tunnel correctly.


These mounts utilize the factory toyota rubber, so that is one less crappy aftermarket part on my rig
Notice the drain hole to prevent water accumulation...

DUDE!!!!


Where the hell have you been?

M57? I've been bugging a lot of people about that swap.

They are available and relatively cheap too. Ebay usually has some for sale, second or third hand cars are really cheap too (3 series that is).

Here is just an example. You can buy a whole car for that much money actually and sell everything else to recoup your investment.
I got a diesel 3 series and a TLC80. Both are in great shape though. This has been a dream for me for a long time.

 

[Kaninja]

Does the 2.8 have more power than the 1hdt?

2.8 ISF 161hp and 310 lb-ft of torque

1HD-T 164hp and 266 lb-ft of torque