what is an HEJ43, you ask... i will explain.
earlier this year i finished and shipped an FJ40 resto that i did for a good friend, boltonski. the years of working 'together over the phone' on his truck was an excellent learning experience, and his patience, flexibility, and creativity made working with him an inspiration to try wild things with my own personal 40 restoration.
my first plan was to do a 2FE-H55 drivetrain and a basic tear down and rebuild back to a semi-stock truck. so i started collecting parts with that goal in mind. later, a local 80 went for sale at a very reasonable price, and i though it would be cool to put the 80 axles under the 40. then i caught the diesel bug and decided to look for a toyota diesel. now the 'while i am in there' syndrome is full blown, so plans have ballooned into something perhaps foolishly ambitious - stretched 40 body on a shortened 80 frame with an isuzu 4HE1T engine. hey, pioneers are just fools who succeed, right?
so i will start with the engine since that is probably the most exotic part of this build. as i said earlier, i was looking for a toyota diesel. i considered a 1HZ, then switched to the 1HD-F, heard the FTs were better, and even considered a 1HD-FTE. well, after 8-10 months of looking, i realized that spending $10k on the motor i wanted, or $5k for a motor that was good, but not quite what i wanted just didnt seem like a good plan. i started looking into the 4BD1T and 4BD2T engines out of an Isuzu NPR/GM3500, which turned out to be a pretty solid option. cheap, easy to rebuild, and theres a guy out there already making an adapter for a toyota bell housing. unfortunately, i found that the BD motors were terribly difficult to find in a descent and complete condition. i was expecting to need a truck to get parts from and i couldnt find one in buildable condition in a scrap yard. i dont have the space to part out a complete NPR, and people seem to think they are worth $5K+. no bueno.
so, after continued searching and some dreaming, and a compelling thread in the diesel section from astr, i started looking for the 4HE1T. this is a 4.75L 4 cylinder diesel that is far more common than the 4BD1T, and a lot more powerful than either the BD1 or 2. the HE is a direct injection engine with semi-electronic controls and an odd geartrain that puts the starter facing aft, so it is not exactly the easiest engine to modify, but i was able to find a shop that had a complete truck that would let me take EVERYTHING i wanted, all for one low, low price.
my current thinking is to build an adapter to go to a chevy bell housing to ranger overdrive to H55F. the engine is built for best fuel consumption at 1500-1800 RPM, and my goal is to match that range to highway speed. so, i need to make an adapter that will either keep the isuzu starter and move it counter clockwise to the bottom of the flywheel housing, or adapt another reverse rotation starter that is smaller, but has enough power to turn the heavy diesel. the engine produces max torque, 380 ft-lbs, at about 1800 RPM, which should be well more than plenty to keep the truck rolling. peak power is about 190 horses in the 2500-2700 RPM range, so there is plenty of room to work if i can keep my gearing low. the combo i describe will give me an overdrive of about .62:1 and a 10 speed transmission to get there.
more to come, but here is a teaser...
earlier this year i finished and shipped an FJ40 resto that i did for a good friend, boltonski. the years of working 'together over the phone' on his truck was an excellent learning experience, and his patience, flexibility, and creativity made working with him an inspiration to try wild things with my own personal 40 restoration.
my first plan was to do a 2FE-H55 drivetrain and a basic tear down and rebuild back to a semi-stock truck. so i started collecting parts with that goal in mind. later, a local 80 went for sale at a very reasonable price, and i though it would be cool to put the 80 axles under the 40. then i caught the diesel bug and decided to look for a toyota diesel. now the 'while i am in there' syndrome is full blown, so plans have ballooned into something perhaps foolishly ambitious - stretched 40 body on a shortened 80 frame with an isuzu 4HE1T engine. hey, pioneers are just fools who succeed, right?
so i will start with the engine since that is probably the most exotic part of this build. as i said earlier, i was looking for a toyota diesel. i considered a 1HZ, then switched to the 1HD-F, heard the FTs were better, and even considered a 1HD-FTE. well, after 8-10 months of looking, i realized that spending $10k on the motor i wanted, or $5k for a motor that was good, but not quite what i wanted just didnt seem like a good plan. i started looking into the 4BD1T and 4BD2T engines out of an Isuzu NPR/GM3500, which turned out to be a pretty solid option. cheap, easy to rebuild, and theres a guy out there already making an adapter for a toyota bell housing. unfortunately, i found that the BD motors were terribly difficult to find in a descent and complete condition. i was expecting to need a truck to get parts from and i couldnt find one in buildable condition in a scrap yard. i dont have the space to part out a complete NPR, and people seem to think they are worth $5K+. no bueno.
so, after continued searching and some dreaming, and a compelling thread in the diesel section from astr, i started looking for the 4HE1T. this is a 4.75L 4 cylinder diesel that is far more common than the 4BD1T, and a lot more powerful than either the BD1 or 2. the HE is a direct injection engine with semi-electronic controls and an odd geartrain that puts the starter facing aft, so it is not exactly the easiest engine to modify, but i was able to find a shop that had a complete truck that would let me take EVERYTHING i wanted, all for one low, low price.
my current thinking is to build an adapter to go to a chevy bell housing to ranger overdrive to H55F. the engine is built for best fuel consumption at 1500-1800 RPM, and my goal is to match that range to highway speed. so, i need to make an adapter that will either keep the isuzu starter and move it counter clockwise to the bottom of the flywheel housing, or adapt another reverse rotation starter that is smaller, but has enough power to turn the heavy diesel. the engine produces max torque, 380 ft-lbs, at about 1800 RPM, which should be well more than plenty to keep the truck rolling. peak power is about 190 horses in the 2500-2700 RPM range, so there is plenty of room to work if i can keep my gearing low. the combo i describe will give me an overdrive of about .62:1 and a 10 speed transmission to get there.
more to come, but here is a teaser...
