FJ62 destruction --> turbo HZJ62

[NQCruiser]

I am using a BEP Marine VSR (voltage-sensing relay). Let me show you the comparison with another brand

BEP Marine 300A VSR
- 300A continuous, 1250A instantaneous rating
- marine-grade, sealed
- $135 on Ebay, + 2nd voltage gauge (~$30) or aus dual digital volt gauge (~$65) = up to $200
- on (combine batteries), auto (voltage sense mode), off (isolate batteries)
- auto mode- isolates Aux battery until Main reaches 13.7V
- control switch on unit housing with wiring/plug for remote switching (both on/auto/off)
cable/connectors


dual gauge showing Auto (voltage-sensing) mode readouts. top is Main, bottom is Aux

I've just been reading a thread on an Australian forum about the BEP gear - looks pretty robust and seems to be also quite inexpensive compared to the more recognised brands. The thread was mainly to do with a few guys that had had serious failure of winch solenoid packs that caused the winch to engage without any input or control by the remote switches, causing massive damage to bullbars and chassis rails as a result. In most cases there were no isolators between the winch and the battery, so the winch couldn't be stopped, so it just started ripping the bumper to bits.

I'm keen to hook one up now after reading it all, but I saw this setup and was wondering where the Dual Battery Readout came from? I saw the brand is made in Australia, but is it mounted in something (BEP Part?) or is it just a screen? The display is so well lit I can't see the background!!

Awesome rig by the way, I'm a details man too!!!

 

[esh]

Thanks!

The dual voltmeter is a small round gauge I got off Aus Ebay (from RGB Electronics). Search for "dual battery monitor"


Here is their voltmeter product page-

RGB Electronics (Australia) >> LCD volt meter


BTW, system has worked great for the few months it has been installed.

 

[rover67]

Nice rig!

FWIW my Dual battery setup has been working well since I installed it. Lots of heavy winching in the snow with the isolator combined.

 

[esh]

Update!

After 260,000 miles, the power steering box started to really go. It has been loose since I have owned the truck.. around 174,000, but finally got crusty/sketchy enough and acquired a steady leak lately. Shipped a spare FJ60 box off to West Texas Offroad for a rebuild. Since OEM cheap kit is $70 (the more comprehensive is about $120) and WT charged $140, I went that route.

Great job on the rebuild and the wagon drives like a sports car now!

(may have also changed some oil here and there as well, but that's about it for work done lately)

Hopefully some major updates will be coming as the '79 FJ40 is ready to hit the snow. I have a benz OM617 5cyl turbo diesel to put into the '85 pickup, and then the 62 will get its 40 gallon tank, gauges and other goodies.. and some resealing around the engine.

Hauled the OM617 back home in the back of the 62 and still got 19.5mpg after filling up. Have been driving it a little harder lately, maybe 65-68mph, and it seems to love that range even if economy drops about 1mpg.

 

[esh]

I didn't see these in this thread, so...

replaced my Infinity 4x speakers with 2x coax higher end Focals, front only. I might add rears somewhere but the fronts are sweet. Kind of did a crappy mid install, so that will have to get redone at some point. I am probably losing some mid tone punch as a result.

also built a metal frame for the front of the platform and finally pulled all the hilarious 2x4 setup off. Saved a ton of space and built in a little containment cage for the fridge in the design. simple project.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Brilliant. How much vertical space is there between the platform and the roof? Can't be more than 3', that fridge isn't short.

 

[esh]

That is the lowest location for that fridge. It is a 40L Waeco, and I designed everything around it. I think if you used an ARB it would be taller, so you'd lose more sleeping space (gain more storage). Can you tell I am a huge fan of Waeco's?

With a 4" memory foam pad made up as a bed, it is plenty of space lying down comfortably or propped up against the front seats to read or watch a movie (or edit photos or edit maps and adjust routes, or or..), but you cannot fully sit up. Otherwise it isn't as bad as a setup as you might imagine. Top of the bedding is at the top of the front seats (base of the headrest).

Maybe a Sahara high roof will come along one day. Or a troopy body. I've been wanting to get one or do a body swap onto the 62 frame.

The pro to this approach is you get a massive amount of storage space. I also have the rear half of the storage setup to exactly not interfere with the rear bench seat when I install that for non-camping mode.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

That is the lowest location for that fridge. It is a 40L Waeco, and I designed everything around it. I think if you used an ARB it would be taller, so you'd lose more sleeping space (gain more storage). Can you tell I am a huge fan of Waeco's?

With a 4" memory foam pad made up as a bed, it is plenty of space lying down comfortably, but you cannot fully sit up. Otherwise it isn't as bad as a setup as you might imagine. Top of the bedding is at the top of the front seats (base of the headrest).

Maybe a Sahara high roof will come along one day. Or a troopy body. I've been wanting to get one or do a body swap onto the 62 frame.

The pro to this approach is you get a massive amount of storage space. I also have the rear half of the storage setup to exactly not interfere with the rear bench seat when I install that for non-camping mode.

That's a good idea for a bed, the memory foam. I've got to get me one.

I've got a similar setup. The drawers are set up such that the bench seat will fit in perfectly, with a hinged section that flips forward to make the sleeping platform. I like your steel frame better. Thanks man!

 

[esh]

I have been DDing this for about a year now, but hopefully that will stop soon. I am swapping a motor into my normal DD, an '85 pickup. It is getting a Mercedes OM617 5-cylinder turbo diesel motor (at a shop getting balanced and blueprinted). So that should free up time to do longer term upgrades and maintenance.

Since the last update, I have swapped my power steering box out for a rebuild from West Texas Offroad. The original box finally started leaking enough that it became an issue, not bad for 250,000 miles without touching it. Like all Toyota stuff I've had, it gave me plenty of warning so I sent off a late 60 series box I had.

Oh, and some oil changes I guess? I also replaced an upper radiator hose with the same kind of silicon hoses used for the turbo. So far works great and no leaks. Plus I got to use some more fancy clamps that put nice even pressure along the circumference of the hose.


But the big mod was to get the truck a little more legal...!

I like how it turned out

Also removed my blingy whited out tail lights for the OEM ones. Just keep thinking about cracking them on a tree or something when I'm out in the woods.

So with the pickup underway, I might be able to get to my all new gauge setup and replace my fuel tank for the 40 gallon one I've had sitting and ready to go for a couple years now. Might have a trip in May to Arizona where that would come in handy.. 800+ mile range, yum.

 

[klinetime574]

You got some cool stuff going on!

I would offer to buy those other lenses from you but I'm a broke college student haha

Do you have a thread for the pickup? I'd like to drool over those pics too

 

[esh]

Finally some substantial progress!

When I got the 1HZ, I also bought a replacement fuel tank from Australia. It holds somewhere between 46-50 gallons.

So out goes the stocker, and with it all the extra rubber lines, the looped hard line that runs in front of the stock tank, and that plastic thing in the fender. I cut down the plate that runs through the rear fender well and filled in holes with epoxy so just the breather is left.

Found that the exhaust was routed so that it just interfered with the front corner of the tank. Tried some strategic shaping of the tube with clamps and a hammer, but it got messy and I needed to remove the cherry bomb for the big flowmaster I'd bought long ago. It's nice to get parts off the shelf and onto the truck. The flowmaster has a low note at low RPMs. I was hoping for silence but this is much less annoying for low speed drives on back roads than the farty noise the cherry bomb made.

Time got short for a trip so I dumped the exhaust down just in front of the rear axle. It doesn't seem to smell or cause any other issues so far. It does bang a little against the transfer case so I will need to go back when it gets annoying enough and support it away from the case a little. It's a pretty tight fit in that area for a 3" inside the frame.

 

[esh]

With the tank swap, I found the sender that came with the tank wasn't working. It was a stock sender cut and extended so the float could sweep from empty to full. I'd anticipated some aftermarket gauges because I wanted gauges that actually moved and gave readings that meant something, so I bought a VDO quad gauge made for marine use that shows fuel/volts/pressure/temp in ranges similar to automotive, with senders to match all around (12-120ohm VDO). The VDO fuel level sender has good instructions but I still managed to mangle one of the connections and in turn had the float against a wall so it wasn't moving. All fixed and ready for a test run. Oil pressure sender doesn't appear to work so I need to try another and see if that works. Water temp doesn't move much and stays between 140-180F.

I also moved the pyrometer to the stock tach location. Both gauges are held by some flat plastic cut to fit and holes drilled to screw into the stock mount holes. The Vanguard quad marine gauge comes with a nice piece of plastic to be mangled up, and the pyro has a bulkhead connection that makes it easy to mount. Overall it wasn't a very hard mod to make work. I would still rather deal with the flat FJ60 dash.

I might make an effort to get bulbs to match up the night colors, but so far they don't really annoy me. Need to move the ebrake and high beam lamps on to the other panels on the dash. I have noticed not having the high beam indicator lets you forget easily.

blurry night shot-

 

[esh]

One last note. The less free flowing new exhaust with the muffler doesn't appear to affect EGTs one bit. I can cruise at flat 65mph with 650F temps. 62-63mpg is the coolest I can get it to run in 5th gear at about 500F. As you slow and lug the engine more, EGTs will creep up. 55mpg gets back to 650F. Overall I am pretty happy with the temps. They have moved toward lower temps at just a little higher RPMs since the engine was installed, as I expect the miles have broken in the engine rebuild and loosened things up just a little.

Now that I think I have working fuel level indications, I plan on filling up to 20 gallons for regular driving. You can really feel the weight of the extra fuel if the tank is full, so I'll only fill it for long trips in the boonies. 900 miles shouldn't be hard to get with mixed driving, which was one of the goals of the diesel conversion in the first place.

 

[kevinmrowland]

Ken, with all the nice pictures you take/expensive camera equipment you lug around, that's the crap you post up for us on mud?

 

[euclid]

Ken, with all the nice pictures you take/expensive camera equipment you lug around, that's the crap you post up for us on mud?

 

[esh]

My tach finally works! It had its ground hooked into 12V because someone must have made a "temporary" power source using black wire. I foam tape mounted it below the pyro that sits where the stock tach would. Want to integrate the tach's digital display into the area one of the idiot light clusters live at some point.

Also welded another muffler hanger to the frame to pull the exhaust away from the transfer case. It was banging pretty good against it at low RPM. The truck is crazy quiet at idle now with the big Flowmaster doing it's job nicely. Now that I know I idle at 400RPM and 600 with the throttle cable out, I need to increase idle speed. The More You Know...

Didn't get a chance to take more outstanding quality photos you all know and love.

 

[klinetime574]

My tach finally works! It had its ground hooked into 12V because someone must have made a "temporary" power source using black wire. I foam tape mounted it below the pyro that sits where the stock tach would. Want to integrate the tach's digital display into the area one of the idiot light clusters live at some point.

Also welded another muffler hanger to the frame to pull the exhaust away from the transfer case. It was banging pretty good against it at low RPM. The truck is crazy quiet at idle now with the big Flowmaster doing it's job nicely. Now that I know I idle at 400RPM and 600 with the throttle cable out, I need to increase idle speed. The More You Know...

Didn't get a chance to take more outstanding quality photos you all know and love.

Awesome!

I expect to see some good shots and video next time ;p

I like how technical the diesel is. Above my skill range at this point in time but you seemed to have mastered it!

 

[esh]

I think a turbo adds more complexity than anything. You should see all the relays and electrical parts that come out when the 3FE is removed. I have a lot of empty sockets in the wire loom.

My build is a little more complicated because I chose to add a bunch of things that make a trip nicer. It can be done with way less. I also fine tune endlessly.

I think getting a welding machine opened up a whole new set of choices and things to build more than anything else. Exhaust build or modification is now trivial, but it takes a lot of time to get right, especially crawling back and forth under the truck over and over.

 

[klinetime574]

I think a turbo adds more complexity than anything. You should see all the relays and electrical parts that come out when the 3FE is removed. I have a lot of empty sockets in the wire loom.

My build is a little more complicated because I chose to add a bunch of things that make a trip nicer. It can be done with way less. I also fine tune endlessly.

I think getting a welding machine opened up a whole new set of choices and things to build more than anything else. Exhaust build or modification is now trivial, but it takes a lot of time to get right, especially crawling back and forth under the truck over and over.

Yeah good point. Diesels are much simpler than a fuel injected gasser.

Fine tuning is the best part of owning a cruiser. I do it all the time. Whether I alter tire pressure, add some water to the radiator, or dust off the dash. It's an addiction and I'm hooked.

Sounds like you need an assistant! Welding robot maybe? lol

 

[kevinmrowland]

......Now that I know I idle at 400RPM and 600 with the throttle cable out, I need to increase idle speed. The More You Know...

Didn't get a chance to take more outstanding quality photos you all know and love.

You know Ken, I could swear I remember SOMEONE tellin you repeatedly that the idle was a bit low..... I think I even remember someone pushing on the throttle link to show you where it should be sitting.....

Jealous of the muffler, I FINALLY made exhaust hangers for ours last weekend (got rid of that nice ratchet strap that had been doing the job) and it's super nice now, but still no muffler though, I need to find the right one to fit where it needs to go and they charge way too much for those damn things.