Engine swap in some little village in Sierra Leone!

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

tell me about it, i have a Powersmoke 4X F250 and that damn thing is BRUTAL even on rough roads let alone in the wilds ... love the power, hate the ride (wife won't even ride in it on pavement)
we both prefer the 70.
 
You can always look for women's finger nail polish remover. Most of it use to be acetone.

Hello,

In fact, modern finger nail polish remover is mostly ethyl acetate. Someone noticed/decided acetone is too harsh on skin and nails and looked for a suitable replacement.

Use remover only if you cannot find acetone.

Was the article specific about using acetone only? MEK would be a good substitute if acetone is not available.

Perhaps I could be the posterboy for "cruiser addicts alternative therapy"?

This is just my left hand and I've been involved in research:

My thumbnail demostrates the "hammer blow technique in isolation" (applied the day before yesterday) while my fingernail demonstrates the "hammer blow + repeat paint thinner technique" (applied maybe a decade ago).

I bet there's no nasties left alive in either of those areas of my body now eh?


:cheers:
(I'm tackling other body parts as we speak.)

You have my vote for therapy posterboy. I guess we agree the pain is worth it.





Juan
 
OK, truck is running and has been for the past few weeks. The current issues to be resolved are as follows:

Loses prime on the fuel system over time. Once started it will restart no problem even if left for a few hours. If I let is sit overnight it will need a little priming to make it go. If it sits for a week as it just did it's like getting an engine to go aver replacing the fuel pump and all the associated stuff. This is a rotary injection pump 3B. I have run the fuel return line direct from the pump to the tank. Does this need some kind of "anti'drain valve" of some such thing so it doesn't loose prime? Is it possible to loose prime through the filter head/priming pump (it seems fine)? There are no obvious wet areas anywhere that I can see. Any ideas where to look and what to check?

Steering pitman arm needs to be removed and reoriented. Looked for acetone in Freetown when I was there a couple of days ago to make Don's super anti-seize compound (50% acetone 50% ATF). No luck. I have someone looking to see what they can find for next time we are there.

A/C pulley needs to be changed. The current pulley, as was used on the old 3B no longer lines up with the crank pulley. I need a pulley that sends the belt a further 1/2" forward. I looked in Freetown when I was there and they found one which will move it 1/8" and one that will move it 1/2" forward. I assume that eventually I'll find the right one. Anyone know of an on-line source to find these pulleys by measurements rather than application?

Oil leak on the reconfigured oil pan. It looks like it will loose a liter every 1000kms till I get it straight. On line for the next oil change, probably will be done at 2500kms as this is an ex-Japan engine and no one knows how it might have been serviced prior to my having it. How much will the silicone bridge? How close to dead flat do I need to be?

The exhaust gasket is not making a good seal. This is primarily because the gasket and the turbo manifold are not made for each other. See the photo and you'll know what I mean. Is there "generic" exhaust gasket material around that one can make a gasket from? I don't imagine any silicone can take the heat from the exhaust manifold.

Engine mounts and throttle linkages are to be replaced with parts in transit.

Also, an action shot of the typical mudhole on the main road to where we are and the mine. This is a road regularly traversed by mini-vans and all sorts of trucks and buses so of course for the Land Cruiser there is really no challenge at these holes. Occasionally though, the holes get deep enough and soft enough that trucks start to get stuck and then things can get bad fast especially when two trucks are stuck beside each other as happens too often.
SANY1333.webp
mud hole.webp
 
Oil leak- I would try making a gasket out of leather- It could handle the heat and won't fall into the oil pan if punched through with a punch at the bolt holes. Silicone will squish out but if you put some on both side and let it kick off you might get more adhesion and less likely to squish.

Exhaust gasket- Maybe you can fashion a copper gasket out of old piping or sheet copper. Motor cycles sometimes have copper head gaskets. I don't know if it will take the exhaust heat..
 
Got the cork for the oil pan, got material for an exhaust gasket. Got about 1/2 of what I need for a complete primer setup but I also got a fuel check valve so maybe that will help things out.

I found acetone at a science supply store. Is there anything to be aware of when using that? I was going to mix the acetone and ATF and put it in a small container that I can shove up under the pitman arm and let the nut and shaft end soak for a day or so. It won't come close to the seal so no worries there. Will I end up with the shaft end corroded off or some other equally unpleasant result?

Also I need some one who can search for an appropriate A/C pulley. All the on-line A/C places ask what vehicle it's for and do not sell the pulley or clutch assembly by dimensions. Here in Sierra Leone A/C is a luxury most folks do without because it cost too much fuel to run it. I found a pulley here that was at 1 1/2" so there must be something out there at 1" as well. Here are some pics of what I have. The compressor is a Nippondenso 10P15 if I'm not mistaken and it was quite common on Japanese vehicles in the late '80's and '90's. What is needed is the same pulley or pulley/clutch assembly but where the "V" belt groove starts at 1" instead of the 1/2" as shown here. Isn't there a guy on 'mud somewhere who is an auto A/C tech or something like that with contacts for parts?
SANY2603.webp
SANY2604.webp
 
Charles, acetone will not hurt any metal items. It will melt some types of plastics though, which you're already aware of. The one thing to be aware of is that it will evaporate if left in an open container. I don't know just how fast though. Maybe put a measured amount in a cup and see how much evaporates in a 24 hour period.

When you do this project I'm very much interested in the results, also the evaporation test if you do that.

Don
 
fwiw, I've been using the acetone/atf mix for a while. I just put it in an old windex bottle so I can spray it. It definitely works.

Only real negative thing I have to say about it is that the red stain will at some point find it's way onto an article of your wife's clothing and you will be blamed for it. :lol:
 
Hi Charles. I got Steve at EBI looking for a pully for you. He's got a lot of old parts but needs time to dig through it. He says the 3B AC pulley is a pretty rare item. A new guy overheard our conversation last night and said he knows a machinist who can make them if he has an original. Let me know how much you want to pay for one.
 
Hi Charles. I got Steve at EBI looking for a pully for you. He's got a lot of old parts but needs time to dig through it. He says the 3B AC pulley is a pretty rare item. A new guy overheard our conversation last night and said he knows a machinist who can make them if he has an original. Let me know how much you want to pay for one.

John, it's not really a 3B specific A/C pulley. This is for the compressor. The crank pulley is fine. The new engine compressor mount moves the compressor backwards on the engine by 1/2" making the pulleys out of alignment, The old mount doesn't fit the new engine as the timing cover bolts are in different positions. It probably needs a wander through a wrecker or an A/C guy who will take clutch assemblies out of the box to measure them. Honda also used this same compressor model and I'm sure others did too.

I'll probably have a 3B A/C pulley/compressor mount setup available when this is all up and running.

I'll mix up some ATF and acetone today and see how it works. I'll record levels before and after and see what happens on evaporation.
 
Last edited:
John, the compressor has to move forward on the engine by a mere 1/2"

You're right! I will have a complete 3B engine mount set available when this is all over. I'll give first dibs to the one that finds the pulley I need!
 
The magic potion is not working on the end stud & nut on my radius arms. Did it work well for you? Got one arm off yesterday. The RHS is a real bugger. I am having to use my floor jack and wrench to turn the nut about a 1/4 turn each cycle of the floor jack. Feels like someone used loctite red. Can't use any heat or it'll destroy the bushing. Gave it a good soaking of Wurth's last night. I'll see if that is any better today. It's cold today for wrenching on the pavement - only 3C.
 
It could not be a left hand thread could it?

Doug
 
FWIW, I used oxy acet torch and heated up the nut to remove and also heated up the pitman arm to remove. It did not damage the seal, I put a different arm on there and torqued it to spec and it has not leaked yet. You better have a puller to get the arm off, I needed a pretty heavy duty puller along with heat to get it off. I actually had the puller on with a large amount of pressure already applied and then hit it with the heat and POP it came off.

But I understand, where you are it is probably pretty hard to get a seal if you do damage it.

Charles, you are volunteering correct?

PM sent

Cheers,
Daryl
 
i have used heat in the past and had the arm crack ...
be cautious, it would suck if it cracked some time after instalation.
 
Good point, just don't heat it red, getting it 3-400 degrees is adequate. Move the flame around quickly.
 
It could not be a left hand thread could it?

Doug

Nope. But when I got the 24MM nut off I could see there was crap on the threads (not just rust). Cleaned it up with a wire wheel and the nut ran fine until it got to the nylon lock ring. I suspect it was loctite red on there. :mad:
 
The pitman arm nut has been soaking in the ATF/acetone mix for over 24 hours so far. I've had to top up the acetone once as we suspect it is evaporating. I'll probably give a yank on the breaker bar tomorrow and see if anything happens.
 
Well the nut is turning but it\s not coming off?!?!

Is it possible that it is stripped? We didn't go at it with a 5' bar or anything just a regular breaker bar and socket. It turned but not too willingly, not that I was expecting it to turn easily anyways.


I can turn the nut either direction with the ratchet handle with difficulty but it doesn't move off the spindle!

What to do?
 
Back
Top Bottom