FJ70 w/ blown 1FZ-F

[Stiles]

I just bought a high-mileage FJ70 that came with a carbureted 1FZ-F engine in it of unknown mileage. I drove about 50miles and the headgasket went kaput. The truck was sold as-in, for running-vehicle price. I am most disappointed, of course :/ Its my second LC, the first being a LHD 5spd triple-locked 80 with a turbo 1HD-T in it that I did a considerable amount of work on before selling to a collector. This is a SWB soft-top 70 with coils in the front that I'd like to explore with and drive regularly for years to come. My home is at 7k' and I drive regular to around 12k'.

I know there are pertinent factors concerning the vehicle that are not described here. I would like to keep this truck for a long time, and in as reliable a shape as possible.

I graduate from police academy in a couple of weeks to begin a new career as a sheriff deputy. Not much time or money.

Advice for best practices moving forward, please, fine ladies and gentlemen of LC wisdom.

New HG in this engine? Find a rebuilt 1FZ-F? Find a 'low-mileage' 1FZ-F? New HG and a Holley Sniper efi instead of carb?
Different engine?

A considerably grande GRACIAS for any and all input on my blowed-up acquisition

 

[OGBeno]

HG is easy with these engines. Toyota gasket kit, essentials like water pump, thermostat, hoses, fuel pump, some other stuff and away you go.

Take head to machine shop and have them do their magic.

You aren’t finding a 1FZ-F in the US. And bringing one in for HG is a terrible use of money.

If you aren’t doing the labor yourself assume $7-10Kish

If you are doing it yourself assume $2-3k or so in factory parts and your time and machine shop costs.

 

[snapdragon]

You have a long, expensive road ahead of you, I was in this exact position with my cruiser.
Ended up rebuilding everything as the neglect and previous owners incompetence became apparent after owning it for a while.

My 2cents?

Rebuild entire engine and carb, but use all genuine parts. Aftermarket, (at least here in South Africa), don't last.
And the rest of your cruiser, upgrade systems like suspension, diffs, etc when they wear out.

Now I have a cruiser with about 50k km max on all parts, it runs like new, takes me on trips and in the mountains flawlessly and I can trust it again on long trips.
It was a long and expensive road, but now I'm done rebuilding EVERYTHING on mine it's an absolute pleasure to own and drive, a basically brand new 1990's land cruiser.

At first it's frustrating but looking back it was Hella fun and now I know this vehicle back to front.

Cheers

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

No time or money is not ideal for a cruiser that needs attention. If you have other means of transport, park the cruiser and collect all the parts as you can afford. Then dive in.

 

[Stiles]

Limited time and funding is more like it. Learning a $7-$10k contracted out priceline sets good expectations. May be a good time to learn this procedure...

 

[OGBeno]

Limited time and funding is more like it. Learning a $7-$10k contracted out priceline sets good expectations. May be a good time to learn this procedure...

Smart.

As a reference point: non-US 25+ year old Land Cruisers will only get **more expensive** as they get older. This is not a cheap hobby/lifestyle.

 

[Stiles]

Indeed. Its a s***ty hand dealt to buy a truck that immediately blows up

 

[OGBeno]

Indeed. Its a s***ty hand dealt to buy a truck that immediately blows up

Unfortunately, all of these non-US Land Cruisers, no matter what the seller tells you in terms of their history, are just old used cars. And most of the time the seller has no idea of the truck's past because, they are, used car sellers. They are going to make up whatever story they want to sell the truck to someone.

This kind of stuff happens all the time. We see a lot of truck coming through our shop with similar stories. Recent customer literally had truck delivered to their home and within 2 hours, began smoking, running rough, and then seized. Game over. (this was a HZJ70).

Caveat emptor.

 

[Stiles]

Timing is important, eh!

 

[LDRF]

Limited time and funding is more like it. Learning a $7-$10k contracted out priceline sets good expectations. May be a good time to learn this procedure...

If you have a place to park it and work on it, which sounds like you do, then do the work yourself.

There are lots of resources available on this forum and lots of helpful advice to be had.

P.S. where are the pictures????? We want pics!

 

[FJBen]

Man that sucks, but isn’t surprising. South American cruisers are notorious for being….well sh@t shows as many will attest to on here. Very similar stories. They put them together with anything they can find.

I saw this on BAT.

Swapped engine, coil spring install from later rig, you might have a lot to get straight on this one.

They are simple. Get a cheap commuter car and start learning and fix it right. You will be rewarded but it will be a long adventure.

 

[snapdragon]

If you have a place to park it and work on it, which sounds like you do, then do the work yourself.

There are lots of resources available on this forum and lots of helpful advice to be had.

P.S. where are the pictures????? We want pics!

Absolutely

 

[Stiles]

Man that sucks, but isn’t surprising. South American cruisers are notorious for being….well sh@t shows as many will attest to on here. Very similar stories. They put them together with anything they can find.

Yeah :/ as soon as l got it l wanted to sell it

 

[JuanJ]

Hello,

I am late to the party.

I am sorry to hear about your head gasket.

As stated above, it is very hard to get a 1FZ-F engine in the US. However, it is possible to repair it. You should get an engine manual: check the Resources section.

Important: always remember that in a 70 Series truck, every system and subsystem is designed to be disassembled, repaired and reassembled without too much of a hassle.

You can start by replacing the axle bearings and seals. Quite likely they are shot. But they are a good place to start.

There are engine kits available, and the manual supplies the information you will need to repair the engine. Check the engine mounts, and replace them with 1FZ mounts if necessary.

If you can have the carburetor tuned at the altitude you live in, it will handle 13k ft without much of an issue. Make sure you install an altitude compensator to help you with this.

1FZ-F carburetors have an electric control system for a thermostat, a fuel cut solenoid valve and an outer vent control valve. Chances are your carburetor's electrics are either not connected or crudely spliced.

Throw in a new accelerator cable and accelerator pedal spring.

It is possible that the engine swap included the transmission. If it did not, consider installing an H150F or H151F transmission.

The front suspension may need a serious overhaul.

The harness will need attention.








Juan

 

[Stiles]

Dang, Juan! Thank for all the great info!

 

[Meshal]

i wish i can send you an engine from saudi. I see a lot

 

[LDRF]

i wish i can send you an engine from saudi. I see a lot

Just crate it up and ship it - @Meshal you could be the Saudi Engine Pipeline!

Unless it’s new in box or rebuilt with OEM parts or a well taken care of low km engine (dreamers) you’d 100% want to rebuild it once received.

 

[Meshal]

Actually my friend is a master in building 1fz-f and the fe.

if people wants 1fz rebuild or part out i can help setting up a container with cars and engines.

if yall agreee, we can start a thread and collect requests.

keep in mind if you want to do a full swap with 1fz-fe i can takeoff a full engine with harness and ecu. we also can refresh with oem parts that is probably way cheaper than usa for sure.

I have no clue how much labor cost to rebuild an engine but here the machining is about 250 to 350$, and another 700 or around it to build the engine. and what we can add here is some cheap main parts. how? because i go to old stock stocks and see many many many Fs and 1FZs piston, rods valves, etc. sometimes new head for cheap.


think about it yall.

 

[snapdragon]

Actually my friend is a master in building 1fz-f and the fe.

if people wants 1fz rebuild or part out i can help setting up a container with cars and engines.

if yall agreee, we can start a thread and collect requests.

keep in mind if you want to do a full swap with 1fz-fe i can takeoff a full engine with harness and ecu. we also can refresh with oem parts that is probably way cheaper than usa for sure.

I have no clue how much labor cost to rebuild an engine but here the machining is about 250 to 350$, and another 700 or around it to build the engine. and what we can add here is some cheap main parts. how? because i go to old stock stocks and see many many many Fs and 1FZs piston, rods valves, etc. sometimes new head for cheap.


think about it yall.

I would be interested, but I'm all the way in Cape Town, South Africa.
1fz-f heads are becoming difficult to find, they are lower compression ratio to the FE. The chambers are different.
1fz carbs are becoming more readily available brand new, a year or two ago, I couldn't get a new one for love or money.
My cruiser Is completely redone, but I want to build a spare engine or at least collect the difficult to find parts for when I need to replace them.
Cheers
Warren

 

[Meshal]

haha i just got this pic from my part guy.
1fzf

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