diesel conversion?

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Joined
Jun 26, 2005
Threads
2
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How much of a disaster is it to convert a gas 60 to diesel? Also is it worth it to get a diesel that was OE for the truck or put in a different make diesel, ie. cummins, bmw or benz? i am tired of paying 3.50 a gallon for gas but dont want to ditch the truck so i am considering "greasel". any ideas are appreciated, thanks --ROB
 
Search your little heart out for this one.

There is much info. here.

It's gonna cost you ten grand minimum! It's up to you to decided whether it's worth it or not.

TB
 
10,000 grand minimum???? :confused: ...my ass! :) You can do it for less than half that if you want to do it yourself , it cost me about 2,000.00 CDN to convert my fj62 to a bj62 and I get 28 mpg imp. hwy consistantly . Of course it will cost more to use a 12ht or 1hz but a 3b with turbo works well , it may not be a power house but it is pretty much as powerful as the 3fe I replaced .
I am soon going to start on a WVO or BIO set-up


Let the flameing begin ...., Daryl :flipoff2:
 
HZJ60 Guy said:
Search your little heart out for this one.

There is much info. here.

It's gonna cost you ten grand minimum! It's up to you to decided whether it's worth it or not.

TB

did you do a conversion or is your a BJ/HJ from factory? I was thinking of doing this - dreaming mostly. My concern is WA smog police - what paperwork do you need to convert to diesel?

thanks!

rob
 
I have been pondering a conversion like this for a while now.

First of all, search for other threads. They give mucho information on theses conversions.

Secondly, I think that getting an OE diesel would make the conversion much easier. Then, you don't have to change all of the fuel lines, nor the gas tank to the correct fuel. Other than that, I don't think that it would be too much more difficult with an OE gasser.

:beer:
 
sl33py said:
did you do a conversion or is your a BJ/HJ from factory? I was thinking of doing this - dreaming mostly. My concern is WA smog police - what paperwork do you need to convert to diesel?

thanks!

rob

Rob, I bought an already imported into the US HJ60. Then I had a 1994 1HZ put in it.

When I had to license and register it here in the peoples republic I filled her up with bio deisel and drove her around for a couple hours and then took the emmissions test. Passed with flying colors, and that old 2H was on its last leg too.

To all of you do it yourselfers, sure you can do it cheaper. But if you're going to try and buy a 1HZ/HD/HDFT/FTE you're going to spend 8 grand on the engine alone now a days boys.

Maybe go with a 13BT, but nothing smaller that's for sure.

TB
 
sl33py said:
did you do a conversion or is your a BJ/HJ from factory? I was thinking of doing this - dreaming mostly. My concern is WA smog police - what paperwork do you need to convert to diesel?

thanks!

rob

One thing to watch for is that usually the smog police will only approve an engine that is the same year or NEWER than the one you pull out, at least that's B.C.'s requirement when I checked on the FJ55 to 3B conversion.
 
I bought my 1986 12H-T 5 speed for approx $8500au 5 years ago. It would be less for you lot in the US with the US-AU echange rate, but import costs would come into it.
The advantage with importing one from Japan or Australia is that you would get the diesel, 5 speed, F.F. diff, sliding side windows, front quarter vents, plus ALL of the lesser gear that would be required for the conversion.

Just an idea. Keep an eye out on Aussie eBay for an idea on prices.
http://cars.ebay.com.au/

There are quite a few 2H engined vehicles, but the 12H-T isn't as common as I think that a lot of people that have them don't want to sell them. Rusted 60 series cruisers are becoming more common, so might be the reason for a sale.
I know of one that has quite high milage (480,000 kms) that has come up for auction for three weeks and still hasn't sold. If it was cheap enough then it might be good to rebuild.

http://www.fowles.com.au/auctions/lot.aspx?Auction=DQ4WD14&Number=1771628

As I said, this is high milage and is a bit knocked-around, but they are available.
I dont know if that one is a manual or auto, but all our 60 series have FF axles, and sliding rear windows.

Rodd
BTW: my 12H-T has now covered over 498,000 km's and still runs very well!
(over 309000 miles) I also get about 1100 km's out of 135 litres of diesel (684 miles using 35 gallons)
 
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I am hoping to do a 12H-T to mine one day. With fuel prices soaring, that day may now be sooner. I got a ton of good info on the International Forum, to the point I have a specific plan. I'm planning buying the 12H-T from Greg B and having Wayne (crushers) in Calgary install it. I'm sure it will take a year or two to come together, and I have to confirm that the smog police here in the PRK will be happy.
 
strangly enough I was just checking diesel engines on ebay. I've seen on these boards about an outfit putting a MB 617 into cruisers. I've got a diesel benz and it's a great engine.
 
I've searched the web for hours on Benz conversions. In the US we just can't get flywheels. All conversions I've seen done used the Benz tranny and were done on Suzukis and Jeeps. Only found one Land Cruiser done, and he was 2WD and hadn't installed a transfer case. . 4X4 Labs is supposed to be coming out with conversion parts, but it seems they have been in the devolopment stage for years.
 
fjbj40 said:
10,000 grand minimum???? :confused: ...my ass! :) You can do it for less than half that if you want to do it yourself , it cost me about 2,000.00 CDN to convert my fj62 to a bj62 and I get 28 mpg imp. hwy consistantly . Of course it will cost more to use a 12ht or 1hz but a 3b with turbo works well , it may not be a power house but it is pretty much as powerful as the 3fe I replaced .
I am soon going to start on a WVO or BIO set-up


Let the flameing begin ...., Daryl :flipoff2:


Man, That's great you live in Canada where there are Toyota diesels.
You should see what we have to pay here in the US for one :crybaby:

When you have to pay $6K to 8K just for an engine, you can hit 10 grand really easy, unless you cheap out and use a GM engine like I did. Even with a free engine, the conversion cost me $4K doing every single thing myself. Man those parts add up in a hurry.
 
I was on vacation in Newfoundland last month and saw a hj60/h55f with 161,000 km for sale...body was shot...engine was perfect.....1300.00 CDN OBO !!! almost bought it but wife would have killed me !
Daryl
 
Cruiserdrew said:
I am hoping to do a 12H-T to mine one day. With fuel prices soaring, that day may now be sooner. I got a ton of good info on the International Forum, to the point I have a specific plan. I'm planning buying the 12H-T from Greg B and having Wayne (crushers) in Calgary install it. I'm sure it will take a year or two to come together, and I have to confirm that the smog police here in the PRK will be happy.


I'm worried about the smog police also... it sounds like smog wouldn't be an issue on a 4BT. As I'm sure you know diesels are exempt in CA. The gray area starts I think in the non-usa specific engines. In the little research that I have done I have not found anything that relates any laws to this. But I'm interested if anybody else knows.

I would much rather do a TEQ diesel than lift my rig atleast 4" to fit a 4bt.

The only other thing would be parts attainabilty for a 12H-T etc... anybody have any insight on this????
 
I think I should start buying up the rusty old HJ's in town, so I can export the engines to you... ;)

I'm a bit surprised one of the reputable canadian JDM importers haven't started into the CDN export business yet.

BTW. I love my 12HT.
 
sl33py said:
did you do a conversion or is your a BJ/HJ from factory? I was thinking of doing this - dreaming mostly. My concern is WA smog police - what paperwork do you need to convert to diesel?

thanks!

rob


As long as the engine you transplant is the same year or newer than your truck, you should be fine as far as smog, unless the law has changed.

and I can vouch for the $10,000 quote. It aint cheap if you want it done right. The engine alone will probably cost you $8000 for a good 12HT from GS Cruiser Parts.

I'm sure it can be done cheaper, but I'm sure I wouldn't want to do it cheaper. I guess you go go on EBAY and find a rusted out BJ or HJ truck from canada and yank stuff out, that might be cheaper.

Fred
 
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