Low mileage rust free 88 FJ62, best route for long term value, H55F or LS swap? (1 Viewer)

[YooperCruiser]

I love my 62, it's only got 147k miles and zero rust, the frame is still black from the factory, but I HATE the A440F transmission. There's nothing wrong with it and I've got it working well but it just downright sux. The engine runs like new but the trans has got to go. I'm torn between dropping in a H55F or going all out and doing an LS swap with a 5.3. Honestly I'd rather have an automatic but the 5 speed would keep it more original. What I'm wondering is which route would retain or bring the most value to the cruiser? I'll likely never sell it but who knows things do change. I own a small repair shop and have all the tools, equipment and ability to do all the work myself. I store the 62 in the winter so I want to start planning now and gathering parts cause it's going to happen this coming winter one way or another. I've also considered doing a 2UZ cause there's plenty of rusted out Tundras with good drive trains, but that looks like a pita.

 

[bhsdriller]

Most value to someone into cruisers....stock engine and 5 speed.

To anyone else more than likely the engine swap.

 

[tmxmotorsports]

The 5 speed would hold more value with stock engine may loose some non stick drivers or people that would rather have auto. I would like to 5 speed swap mine its about to turn 170 thousand transmission still perfomes as it should.
Tommy

 

[Skniper]

My $1.02 cents....given the condition and mileage you describe, especially the motor, do the H55F swap, period....at least first. It is minimal work compared to an engine swap, esp for someone like you with a shop, and it is pretty good bang for the buck on the fj62. The heart and soul of these wagons is a manual transmission and a third pedal that actually does something.
If the auto trans is in decent shape, someone who is committed to the auto 62 will give you at least a couple hundred bucks for it.
If you don’t like the 5 speed, you can just about get your money back on a lightly used h55f plus all the other conversion bits another 62 owner would kill to have.

If you gotta have the V8 (and I totally understand)...whatever you do, DO NOT hack one part of it. No part of it should look like a homemade in the garage swap...fuel lines, electrical connectors, gauges, oddball heater hoses, etc.
That is what kills the value of a swap. The more custom fabbing/parts that has to be done, the more difficult it will be for the next guy to deal with it.
If I were to go out and shop for a 60/62 tomorrow I would try to find a very well done vortec swap first (ok, a diesel too). It would have to be a super clean job, otherwise I would run away from it.

Your last option has the least value IMO, you start getting into serious fabbing and adapting...see above what the next guy will have to deal with in finding parts, etc. Frankentruck type sh*t.

 

[OSS]

Driving a stick shift land cruiser is, well, to put it bluntly, like driving a stick shift dump truck. It shifts like a big truck— not a car.

Don't get me wrong, I'd choose a 60 over a 62 every time, but the manual transmission is very beefy with big heavy gears and shifting around on it is not like shifting around on any other Toyota - including Tacoma.

While I personally despise driving automatic transmission vehicles, driving a stick land cruiser could be considered tiring to someone who's always driven an automatic. I know that driving (and shifting) in stop & go traffic gets tiresome with a stick shift cruiser- I drove mine for 30 years.

While driving with a stick on a Lamd Cruiser is more work and takes practice to do it well, it's way more fun (I think) than just pushing down on the gas pedal and going

 

[Tylerh84]

I say do what you want. It is always hard to determine for someone else but we can always put out the positives and negatives about both. Look at your priorities for your rig and go from there. Nothing wrong with either idea as long as they are done right.

Important thing is keeping these on the road and enjoying it. As long as you are doing that then it doesn't matter the choice.

 

[onemanarmy]

Don't worry about future value.....do what you want. Who knows what the next day holds. Yea...60s have appreciated...but for how long?
Or store it for 30 years and HOPE it becomes a low milage barn find.
It's not a Ferrari.

 

[onemanarmy]

The worst things for value are wheels/tires that are too wide, crazy paint, real oddball drivetrain swaps, rust, hacked suspension, weird interior.. so you should be OK either way. It doesn't have 40k miles on it with perfect everything.

 

[DougRFJ62]

I do not worry about the value on my rig. Never plan on selling our rig of 20 years. After I leave this earth I will leave the 62 to my daughter. We have had the H55F conversion 3 years ago and is a world of difference compared to the power sucking auto A440. I can drive 75-80 on the freeway, but when I hit the hills with the original 410 gears (32" tires) the rig is just heavy and the 3FE is just slow on the steep grades. Very Slow. The only modification that provide more RPMs was changing the gear to 488s with 33/34" tires. it is still a love hate relationship with the 3FE when it comes to the reliability and longevity, but the power and torque is just blah to me. If you live in an area with no steep rolling hills the H55F would be the economical choice. We have lots of steep grades and rolling hills in CA and we have plans next year to swap to a LS3 V8

 

[YooperCruiser]

I do not worry about the value on my rig. Never plan on selling our rig of 20 years. After I leave this earth I will leave the 62 to my daughter. We have had the H55F conversion 3 years ago and is a world of difference compared to the power sucking auto A440. I can drive 75-80 on the freeway, but when I hit the hills with the original 410 gears (32" tires) the rig is just heavy and the 3FE is just slow on the steep grades. Very Slow. The only modification that provide more RPMs was changing the gear to 488s with 33/34" tires. it is still a love hate relationship with the 3FE when it comes to the reliability and longevity, but the power and torque is just blah to me. If you live in an area with no steep rolling hills the H55F would be the economical choice. We have lots of steep grades and rolling hills in CA and we have plans next year to swap to a LS3 V8

It's very hilly here, it's a 5 mile grade to get out of town and the A440 can't pull 4th on it, constantly having to kick it down to keep the speed up. And downtown is like San Fran it's nothing but hills here, part of the reason I don't really want a stick. I've got time to think about this and like you I don't see ever selling mine It'll be left to my son when I'm gone. I've got him in my shop right now building a 95 4Runner that I just picked up, rust free from Arizona. Had a light deer hit on the left front, fixing that and some fresh paint and she'll be good.

 

[YooperCruiser]

My $1.02 cents....given the condition and mileage you describe, especially the motor, do the H55F swap, period....at least first. It is minimal work compared to an engine swap, esp for someone like you with a shop, and it is pretty good bang for the buck on the fj62. The heart and soul of these wagons is a manual transmission and a third pedal that actually does something.
If the auto trans is in decent shape, someone who is committed to the auto 62 will give you at least a couple hundred bucks for it.
If you don’t like the 5 speed, you can just about get your money back on a lightly used h55f plus all the other conversion bits another 62 owner would kill to have.

If you gotta have the V8 (and I totally understand)...whatever you do, DO NOT hack one part of it. No part of it should look like a homemade in the garage swap...fuel lines, electrical connectors, gauges, oddball heater hoses, etc.
That is what kills the value of a swap. The more custom fabbing/parts that has to be done, the more difficult it will be for the next guy to deal with it.
If I were to go out and shop for a 60/62 tomorrow I would try to find a very well done vortec swap first (ok, a diesel too). It would have to be a super clean job, otherwise I would run away from it.

Your last option has the least value IMO, you start getting into serious fabbing and adapting...see above what the next guy will have to deal with in finding parts, etc. Frankentruck type sh*t.

That's the way I've been leaning for some time, I'm just getting a little old and lazy maybe lol, but it makes the most sense. Plus I have a commercial account with the local Toyota dealer and get parts pretty cheap so they'll probably cut me a pretty good deal on the trans and stuff. Plus I found a local 60 part out I can get alot of the other parts I need, although he already sold the trans and bell housing but everything else is there for cheap I just need to find a 3F bell housing. 60's are very rare around here I've got the only one on the road in my county and probably within the whole U.P. of Michigan. We'll see, I'm an old hot rodder and ex drag racer and I've dropped SBC's into all kinds of s*** so a LS swap doesn't really intimidate me and my concerns about value might be unjustified and I should really focus on how I really want this to be.

 

[Skniper]

It's very hilly here, it's a 5 mile grade to get out of town and the A440 can't pull 4th on it, constantly having to kick it down to keep the speed up. And downtown is like San Fran it's nothing but hills here, part of the reason I don't really want a stick. I've got time to think about this and like you I don't see ever selling mine It'll be left to my son when I'm gone. I've got him in my shop right now building a 95 4Runner that I just picked up, rust free from Arizona. Had a light deer hit on the left front, fixing that and some fresh paint and she'll be good.

View attachment 2349550

Lucky kid to have that shop and your tutoring at his disposal.

My pops was an old builder, drag racer, road racer in his day.

 

[RockDoc]

I'd go H55F ahead of V8 myself, but are you running larger than stock diameter tires? If so, the gearing will be a bit out of whack for getting the best out of the 3FE currently.

The H55F has a smaller overdrive than the A440F, so final ratio will be better for larger tires.

Two other options would be the Wholesale Automatics upgraded valvebody for the A440F which gives you lockup in 3rd gear (more umph to road and slightly lower rpm on kickdown at highway speed) and building a 2FE out of the 3FE for more torque and overall power. Valvebody would be easier and cheaper than a H55F swap, 2FE would be significantly more effort than H55F swap, but cheaper and easier than V8 (mostly bolt up).

I ran a 2FE and the upgraded valvebody in my old 62 (now retired due to rust and trail damage), and plan to run that 2FE with a H55F in a rust free 62 hulk I have when I get around to building it.

 

[red66toy]

I'd go H55F ahead of V8 myself, but are you running larger than stock diameter tires? If so, the gearing will be a bit out of whack for getting the best out of the 3FE currently.

The H55F has a smaller overdrive than the A440F, so final ratio will be better for larger tires.

Two other options would be the Wholesale Automatics upgraded valvebody for the A440F which gives you lockup in 3rd gear (more umph to road and slightly lower rpm on kickdown at highway speed) and building a 2FE out of the 3FE for more torque and overall power. Valvebody would be easier and cheaper than a H55F swap, 2FE would be significantly more effort than H55F swap, but cheaper and easier than V8 (mostly bolt up).

I ran a 2FE and the upgraded valvebody in my old 62 (now retired due to rust and trail damage), and plan to run that 2FE with a H55F in a rust free 62 hulk I have when I get around to building it.

How did you like the valve body over the long run? I’m not super happy with my stock a440f performance... not surprising.

 

[RockDoc]

It came with a pretty steep price tag, but over the years I got lots of miles out of the upgrade, with a fair bit of towing (often heavier than sensible) and a ton of highway driving. The valvebody woke up the shifting nicely, and the lock up in 3rd makes a huge difference in highway performance. An upgrade I never had any regrets over. If I didn't have a H55F fall in my lap, I'd be happy to keep running the A440F. Hopefully I'll use that transmission in another truck yet.

Cruiser Brothers thread on automatic tranny upgrades. In post 3 Ward links the thread I started when I did the install:

HP Upgrades for Toyota Automatics

WAT TRANSMISSION SOLUTIONS IN NORTH AMERICA Cruiser Brothers now represents Wholesale Automatic Transmissions (WAT) of Bayswater, Victoria, offering a range of high performance transmission components and complete, rebuilt transmissions for offroad Toyotas. HISTORY WAT is the world's leading...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[mattressking]

Driving a stick shift land cruiser is, well, to put it bluntly, like driving a stick shift dump truck. It shifts like a big truck— not a car.

Don't get me wrong, I'd choose a 60 over a 62 every time, but the manual transmission is very beefy with big heavy gears and shifting around on it is not like shifting around on any other Toyota - including Tacoma.

While I personally despise driving automatic transmission vehicles, driving a stick land cruiser could be considered tiring to someone who's always driven an automatic. I know that driving (and shifting) in stop & go traffic gets tiresome with a stick shift cruiser- I drove mine for 30 years.

While driving with a stick on a Lamd Cruiser is more work and takes practice to do it well, it's way more fun (I think) than just pushing down on the gas pedal and going

Best thing you can do is daily a 60 if you plan to actually use it. Only car that was a bit tiring was my 911. The 915 trans got a wee bit heavy some days in traffic.

 

[SteveH]

Very cool to have an FJ60/2 in the UP. Ultra rare. Very few Toyotaheads up there to appreciate it, however.

If you're a hot rodder, you're not going to like the 3F-E over time. You just won't. I know Marquette is hilly, but I'm at 7000' and have hills. I hold the auto in 2nd gear on many and pull it back to 3rd to merge on the freeway. I let the 3F-E wind up to 3500 rpm as needed. Mine has 264K and is happy doing this. When the auto trans blows up, I might well swap in a 5 speed, but not until I'm forced to.

I'd leave it alone, or at most, swap in the 5 speed. This will cost 4000 +/- and would add value to a pristine FJ62 (at least on Bring a Trailer, it seems to).

To me, an FJ62 'is what it is' - trying to turn up the wick is sorta silly. I truly enjoy the charm of a 12mpg slug that screams 1980s in every way - most of them good.

Steve

 

[klinetime574]

My vote is for a 5 speed. I’ve heard it wakes up an FJ62 a lot.

Of course I dream about V8 swaps all day long and I already have a 5 speed (with my 2F).

My Dad has a place in Eagle River, and my grandma lives in Marquette. I should be up in ER after the 4th of July. I want to take the 60 but need to rebuild the front axle!

 

[Seth S]

If by best value you mean best result at auction then 100% stock. Stop driving it as a daily driver. Put it back to stock height. Make sure dash is crack free and all the buttons and gages work problem. Clean and detail every square inch. etc. The last couple Freeborn red FJ60/62's that sold on BAT were in the 57K mile range and sold for $50k to $60k.

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