FJ62 3F to Ford “Barra” Swap

[Cruisunder]

Extended the tank hanger by 20mm to allow space for the fittings on top of the tank. It’s a tight but good fit. Decided not to use the inspection door as the floor is corrugated and the pump cannot be inspected without breaking the cork seal open which can only be done when the tank is dropped.

 

[sneaky]

Great to see this coming together, very similar to the build I have planned.

Any chance I could get the name of the company who made the bracket on the gearbox, and the part number for the Lokar shifter?

Cheers

 

[Cruisunder]

Great to see this coming together, very similar to the build I have planned.

Any chance I could get the name of the company who made the bracket on the gearbox, and the part number for the Lokar shifter?

Cheers

Sure no problem:
Bracket: Custom Machine Works | Brisbane QLD - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063667955731&mibextid=ZbWKwL
(Custom Machine Works in Mt Crosby)
Lokar shifter: 16" model ES-6L80-BX-MB

 

[sneaky]

Thanks

 

[Cruisunder]

Put tank back, finished copper-nickel fuel lines and installed it all. So far I’m happy with the routing from rhs to lhs along the fuel tank cross member. Will add some thermal barrier once I’ve figured out where the exhaust pipe will cross over.

Engine and cross member mounts are welded in and painted. Soon, the engine will go in to stay.

In the meanwhile, I’ve fabbed a bracket for the throttle pedal to be installed using the original Toyota pedal mounting holes and bolts. Gonna try to also get the manual throttle to work with the new pedal. Report on that sometime soon.

 

[Cruisunder]

Good progress this weekend, the engine is in! She (the car) wouldn’t have anything of a Ford engine, so I had to rebadge it and delete Ford .
Happy with how it sits in the bay, heaps of space around it.

Ended up with 2x10mm spacers on the crossmember, not giving much, but just enough clearance in the tunnel.

Applied some heat to the shifter to bend it around and not hit the dash, it’s sitting nice and well within reach now. Just had to cut out a small piece for the shifter to fit in the designated floor opening but it will be easy to clean up. Next is fabbing an enclosed “box” to mount the Lokar shifter in and protect it from the elements. The plan is for the box to live sub-floor and to have a flange that will bolt onto the existing floor opening.

 

[Combat Wombat]

This is looking very well sorted.
Better than professional level!
Are you getting any input from an engineer so its mod-plated etc?

 

[Cruisunder]

This is looking very well sorted.
Better than professional level!
Are you getting any input from an engineer so its mod-plated etc?

Thanks! Yep made sure to know how to make him happy so modplating won't throw up any issues.

 

[Cruisunder]

One small step for any body else and one giant leap in satisfaction for me . Tcase shifter is now permanently (I hope) mounted and linkage attached and set to right length. Pretty fiddly to get it all in due to narrow spaces but very happy with how it sits and shifts.

 

[Cruisunder]

Ok, the mock-up box for the Lokar shifter (couple posts back) has turned out to be a decent but fun project. Contrary to @BurntToast ‘s build where the same shifter is placed above floor, I have chosen to have it (mostly) below the floor as I don’t have a pre-existing opening in the floor to feed the the cable through. I also wanted to restore most of the original look and use the old shifter boots to hide the shifter mechanisms. The Lokar shifter doesn’t like dust or moisture so the box needed to provide full protection. I also wanted it to hold a gear position sensor instead of mounting this on the trans pan which is the standard way.
After some light mods of the shifter openings in the floor panel, I used the floor panel and the 4 threaded holes that the old shifter boot mounts on as a template for the box’s lid so it could hang off the floor panel. I have exactly the amount of space between floor and trans to fit the shifter tail and cable.
The gear position sensor linkage was a bit fiddly to size up and put together (and probably not for those gifted with large hands). I also find myself constantly checking in what order all the parts should be installed. While testing the sensor I found I hadn’t considered that, due to the swing of the shifter lever, the cable needs some space where it enters the box to allow for vertical movement. So the stiff grommet has to come out and be replaced with a more flexible rubbery seal. Otherwise, the box is 90% done and seems to work as hoped for.

 

[BurntToast]

Ok, the mock-up box for the Lokar shifter (couple posts back) has turned out to be a decent but fun project. Contrary to @BurntToast ‘s build where the same shifter is placed above floor, I have chosen to have it (mostly) below the floor as I don’t have a pre-existing opening in the floor to feed the the cable through. I also wanted to restore most of the original look and use the old shifter boots to hide the shifter mechanisms. The Lokar shifter doesn’t like dust or moisture so the box needed to provide full protection. I also wanted it to hold a gear position sensor instead of mounting this on the trans pan which is the standard way.
After some light mods of the shifter openings in the floor panel, I used the floor panel and the 4 threaded holes that the old shifter boot mounts on as a template for the box’s lid so it could hang off the floor panel. I have exactly the amount of space between floor and trans to fit the shifter tail and cable.
The gear position sensor linkage was a bit fiddly to size up and put together (and probably not for those gifted with large hands). I also find myself constantly checking in what order all the parts should be installed. While testing the sensor I found I hadn’t considered that, due to the swing of the shifter lever, the cable needs some space where it enters the box to allow for vertical movement. So the stiff grommet has to come out and be replaced with a more flexible rubbery seal. Otherwise, the box is 90% done and seems to work as hoped for.
View attachment 3659821View attachment 3659822View attachment 3659823View attachment 3659824View attachment 3659825

Really nice work. I was considering using one of those modular PNDR modules. How finicky is it to get them to work? Where are you putting the indicator?

 

[Cruisunder]

Really nice work. I was considering using one of those modular PNDR modules. How finicky is it to get them to work? Where are you putting the indicator?

Thanks. When you get the linkage right making sure to get a maximum throw on the sensor lever, the electronics are a breeze, just push a set button while stepping through the gears. I've got some unused blanked off spots in the dash I can use for the indicator.

 

[Cruisunder]

Sealed the box and installed with shift cable.

Tailshafts were modified, retubing of front to add 110 (new length installed 780mm) shortened rear by 120mm (new length installed 970mm).

 

[BurntToast]

Sealed the box and installed with shift cable.
View attachment 3677220
View attachment 3677221

Tailshafts were modified, retubing of front to add 110, shortened rear by 120mm.
View attachment 3677222

Any slop in your shifter? Had to send mine to Lokar for rework

 

[Cruisunder]

Any slop in your shifter? Had to send mine to Lokar for rework

There is a fair bit of play at the base of the stick, left to right, yes, but shouldn't affect proper operation I would think. Hoping the shift boot will stiffen things up a bit as well. What did Lokat say to you?

 

[BurntToast]

There is a fair bit of play at the base of the stick, left to right, yes, but shouldn't affect proper operation I would think. Hoping the shift boot will stiffen things up a bit as well. What did Lokat say to you?

Mine was forward to back. Take a look in my thread if you’re curious. I could push the cable from one gear to the next with the shifter locked in.

They said it was out of spec and hopefully they rebuild it!

 

[Cruisunder]

As the chassis mount for the engine was moved further back on the rails, the original hard line part of the high pressure power steering hose could not be re-fitted. I don’t know why Toyota made the high pressure part of the system so long, but I opted for a short but flexible connection. Cooling is provided by the return line running across the rail under the ac condensor. The flared elbow on the hose side was cut off and brazed onto a 90 degree elbow, so it could run around the outside of the steering box outlet fitting. From here, a short piece of hose was used with an o-ring type fitting on the pump side.
Original line:

New line:

And fitted:

 

[Cruisunder]

Cleaned the radiator and condensor and added some paint. Fitted the Ford FG single fan to the radiator and used some hot water pipe insulation foam to fill the gaps. The plastic shroud was easy to trim and the final fit is great!
Also really happy with space between fan and engine.

Ordered a 90 degree aluminum 38mm joiner so I can make a bottom hose using two readily available bits of radiator hose.
Edit: installed here with original Toyota top and bottom radiator hoses to make it work:

 

[Cruisunder]

I sourced a standalone transmission cooler because of anecdotes of the original Ford cooler failing and mixing coolant into the transmission. Mounted one side to the hinges of the ac condensor using two of the four supplied metal brackets (for strength) and the other side using the special cable tie style straps which go though the condensor fins. Easiest to do this with the condensor still off the car.

As the cruiser was a manual, it didn’t have an integrated cooler to put this one in series with, meaning the trans would run at lower temperaures for longer, until warmed up. The Ford design has the trans running at pretty much engine temperature so, to shorten trans warm up time, I’ve opted to include a by-pass valve with thermostat (Derale 13011). The valve sends most of the warm oil back into the transmission until it reaches about 82C and then sends it to the cooler.

Used some AN8 to barb fittings at the trans side.

 

[Combat Wombat]

So much awesome.
Youre very neat with the install too, looks beyond factory.
Reminds me of an aircraft engineer I knew in Canberra. Very meticulous. Not a self tapper in sight (or any alloy/soft metal fastener)