Dozer's Grey Ghost Gets a Vortec (FJ62/5.3L/4L60E)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Oh, yeah - pics! @Dsellers picked up the new (older) pump today and installed it. Still figuring out the crossmember but should have it sorted by the end of the week. Anchor 8642 transmission mount for the AA adapter arrives from Rock Auto on Wednesday. Everything should be bolted in ready to start making connections by end of next week when I get home.
PS Pump1.webp
PS Pump2.webp
 
For the transmission lines I have used compression fitting on the hard lines to adapt to -6AN or Barb with great success. They are rated for high pressure and are leak tight. We use them all the time in high pressure applications at work.
 
Finally back in GA and got eyes on the Cruiser tonight. @Dsellers has done a great job with the work so far. We'll be hard at it Sunday and for the rest of the week, so expect a lot of posts and pictures - and questions! - over the next few days.

First question: I've exhausted this forum and Google trying to figure out the size of the transmission cooler inlet and outlet holes on the stock (or CSF 2708) radiator. I replaced my stock with a 2708 and want to put a -6AN adapter in the trans cooler inlet/outlets but I can't figure out the size. Can anyone help me out here?

@FJ60Cam, didn't you use the CSF for a bit?

Thanks!
 
Really good day today. Hot as balls in southeast Georgia, but it was awesome to finally wrench on this beast myself and to watch my brother work. Got the radiator and Derale powerpack built up and mounted, and built up some of the lines for the power steering cooler and transmission coolers. Got the battery tray and battery back in, and Dakota built a sweet tray for the ECU, TAC, and fuse boxes.

The new condenser and a bunch of -6AN adapters come in tomorrow so we can mount up the external transmission and PS coolers and run all of those lines. Pictures to follow, but here's what we started with today and a pic of the Derale mounted on the radiator.

Sunday Start.webp

Derale on CSF.webp
 
I did have a CSF, but never found the cooler fittings.

If you can find (or have) a set of the FJ62 lines, you can dissect them and pull the fittings out and use regular transmission cooler hose.
 
And finally, @Dsellers brainchild: a home for the ECU, TAC and fuses...

ECU Home.webp


And a shot of the whole bay at the end of the day:

Eng Bay ECU Derale.webp


And, because I think they're so cool, the Lokar shifter (12"):

Lokar.webp


Until tomorrow...
 
Oh yeah, on the question of the trans cooler fittings, @NCFJ got back to me on another thread. It takes 14 x 1.5 to -6AN adapters, so I've already ordered a couple from Summit. I hope I don't regret making everything -6AN all around; it sure looks good and gives a very clean and heavy duty feel, but it has cost quite a bit extra and I worry about serviceability on the road. Stopped in a couple of shops today looking to see if they had the adapters and they all looked at me like I had three heads.
 
All the AN stuff is reusable, all you require is a new length of hose to replace a bad hose. Even the high pressure hose on the PS. One can be built on the side of the road with a length of hose, the right wrenches and a pair of vice grips.
 
Excellent point. I need to ensure that I'm carrying a few spare feet of pro-lite hose and 16, 17, and 18MM wrenches, along with vise grips, in my tool kit.

Don't get me wrong, I'm super happy with the AN fittings and the hi-speed hose. I just feel like I'm adding a bit of extra labor and cost when I was trying to keep costs down, but I have a feeling I'm not the first to spend a bit over budget to make it better. And smile about it.
 
Dozer18 said:
Excellent point. I need to ensure that I'm carrying a few spare feet of pro-lite hose and 16, 17, and 18MM wrenches, along with vise grips, in my tool kit.

Don't get me wrong, I'm super happy with the AN fittings and the hi-speed hose. I just feel like I'm adding a bit of extra labor and cost when I was trying to keep costs down, but I have a feeling I'm not the first to spend a bit over budget to make it better. And smile about it.
Click to expand...

It's worth it. Trust me.
 
Hit the first good snag today. After waiting for a bunch of 3/8 to -6an compression fittings that I thought would fit on my Derale external cooler and my power steering low-pressure lines, I found out they won't. Was able to crimp the line on the low-pressure hose out of the ps box, and I ordered another Derale external trans cooler with female NPT inlets so I can use 1/2 NPT to -6an adapters on that. (That means I have a brand-new Derale 13504 trans cooler for sale!) The 4L60E hard lines are good with the 3/8 compression fittings, so at least we can use them on that.

The major problem now is the return line on the PS pump. It's fixed to the pump, so I can't take it off and have it crimped in a crimping machine the way I did the low-pressure hard line off the box. Anyone have any idea how to get a -6an male fitting on that thing? It appears to be a 10mm line as opposed to anything standard (definitely just larger than a 3/8 but not quite 1/2). @NCFJ, how do you get male -6an fittings on your PS pump return lines?

Here's a look at the PS return line with the -6an compression fitting on it.

PS return line.webp
 
Despite the snag, it was another good day. We're going to fix the PS pump fitting problem by having a -6an fitting attached to the end of a 3/8 ps return hose and pushing the other end onto the return line and clamping. Not optimal, but will work fine on the low pressure return.

Had some fun working the DBW pedal issue today. Got a Monte Carlo pedal but the connectors are different. So, I bought a separate pigtail that will work with the pedal after splicing the cable from the TAC to the pigtail. (Part number for the pigtail is 13584094.) Here is the current connector from the TAC and the pigtail that will replace it:

Pedal connectors.webp


Here's the pedal (GM part 25830024):

Monte Carlo pedal.webp


And the pedal installed (but not yet connected to the TAC):

Pedal installed.webp
 
Also, got a new Delco condenser and mounted the PS cooler up to it today. Ordered up a new Derale 13614 transmission cooler that has female 1/2 NPT ports and will fit those with 1/2 NPT to -6AN adapters from my hose shop tomorrow after I drive an hour round-trip to pick up the cooler.

Here's the condenser and PS cooler:

Condenser.webp


Tomorrow, it's back to the hose shop to get the A/C hoses made. Here's a shot of all the GM and Toyota A/C system hoses that came off both engines. From left to right: GM low pressure, Toyota low pressure, GM High Pressure, Toyota high pressure, condenser to dryer hose, and the dryer.

A-C hoses.webp


Also have Gates radiator hoses arriving tomorrow along with the kit to hook up the LED bezel for the Lokar shifter. Oh, and the Dakota Digital tachometer interface. Lots more work to go!
 
Almost forgot to mention: we put power on it today and gave it a quick turn. The engine turned over just like we were hoping but of course we stopped short of a full crank. We should be able to get a full turnover tomorrow night if everything goes well. I'll post a video if we're successful, and a photo of me crying in my beer if not.
 
JohnCapoccia said:
Isn't the monte carlo pedal from a Gen IV? IIRC GM never put a Gen III in the Monte Carlo. Have you checked to see if it's compatible with your TAC?
Click to expand...
We'll find out tomorrow! Worst case, I'm out a $20 pigtail.

image.webp
 
Well, today was a mixed bag. We got a few good things done, but didn't get to test out the Monte Carlo pedal. We tried to crank, but had a problem that I need to ask you guys for some help with.

We're using a stock GM pump in the FJ62 tank, and it worked as advertised, sending tons of fuel onto the shop floor before any of it got to the filter. The high pressure line coming out of the pump is a hard line that bends to the passenger side as it come out; apparently, this line was threaded and did not have a ridge that you can easily attach a 3/8 push-on EFI fitting onto. So, my brother originally threaded a 14mmx1.5 to -6AN adapter onto the line. However, when it was leaking today, it was spewing not from the AN fittings but from the 14mm nut side. It's hard to explain, but it was leaking from behind the bolt where the hard line goes into the bolt. Maybe it worked for the original 40ish psi from the toyota pump but it certainly can't handle the 58-62 psi of the GM pump. So, what do we do?

My thought is that we need to cut the hard line right behind the bolt and put a 3/8 to -6AN compression fitting on. I'm confident this will work, but the question is, how do we cut the fuel line when there's fuel in the tank (albeit a little)? Can't cut it with a dremel or cutting tool without blowing up my truck; can I snip it and somehow remold the opening of the line into a 3/8-size hole? This is a showstopper for the moment but I know we'll figure it out; any and all thoughts or recommendations are appreciated.
 
On the positive side, we got a lot of random things done. I got all of the a/c hoses to the hose shop and should have the new ones back tomorrow. The Dakota Digital SGI-8E tach interface came in and we got that wired up and programmed.

I also learned the value of a good hose shop today. Not only is he doing my a/c lines, but when I took a short length of PS hose in today and asked for a male -6AN fitting on one end, he pretty much had it done before I could finish my request. Here's a shot of it installed:

ps hose adapter.webp


Also got the transmission cooler installed and the transmission lines completely done. Here's a pic of the hi pressure line going in, connecting to a 14x1.5 to -6AN adapter on the radiator:

trans line to rad.webp


A shot of the hi and lo pressure transmission cooler lines:

trans hard lines.webp


And the new condenser with the transmission and ps coolers mounted up and installed:

Condenser w-coolers.webp
 
Based on some leads I found on here, I also ordered some rear shoulder and lap belts today from Seat Belt Planet. Turns out I'm one of the lucky ones with a mounting port for the shoulder belt that has a captive nut behind the port. Should make mounting them up pretty easy.

Let me know if you want any info on these; the company seemed pretty good to deal with.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom