Builds Mike's 1978 FJ40 Turbo Diesel Refit Project and Cross Country Road Trip!

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That Yellowstone loop is beautiful drive, but a major time suck. Instead of coming back down to Jackson, you could go out West Yellowstone. Traffic is better and gets to different scenery. Hwy 20 would take you to Idaho Falls.
If you saved time on that loop, you’d be hard pressed to not enjoy a drive through Stanley Idaho. Dropping down from Challis down through Stanley to Ketchum.
 
If your driving that far, I would install cruise control. Seriously. For about 200 bucks and a bit of labor it will make the drive much easier.
Yea it's just a matter of the amount of time I have allotted for this trip. I have about. A half day to get things ready when I return to NY this weekend before I've got to go.
I'm honestly not the biggest fan of cruise control either, I very rarely have used it in my life. I was taught when I was younger that it can make you sleepy when you're driving really far. But my dad uses it religiously!

Mike
 
That Yellowstone loop is beautiful drive, but a major time suck. Instead of coming back down to Jackson, you could go out West Yellowstone. Traffic is better and gets to different scenery. Hwy 20 would take you to Idaho Falls.
If you saved time on that loop, you’d be hard pressed to not enjoy a drive through Stanley Idaho. Dropping down from Challis down through Stanley to Ketchum.
You would recommend something like this:
upload_2018-8-1_9-16-7.png


I'm planning 2 nights in the Yellowstone NP area. You don't think that's enough time to drive the major attractions through the park?

Thanks,
Mike
 
You would recommend something like this:View attachment 1757753

I'm planning 2 nights in the Yellowstone NP area. You don't think that's enough time to drive the major attractions through the park?

Like most things it depends:
Are you getting out of the car and hiking around?
Are you planning to see the sights from behind the wheel?
When are you planning to go?
Are you staying in Jackson?

It’s the height of the season right now, so expect the roads to be slow driving. Every time someone sees an animal the traffic comes to a halt or slows down. There’s a lot of animals.
*** I’m not trying to dissuade anyone from visiting Yellowstone. I think everyone should see it, just be prepared. *****
I took the family last spring(low season)up through West Yellowstone to old faithful and down to Jackson. We spent the night in the park at a campground. We saw a couple mud pots and old faithful. It was a a solid two days.
If I was going to do your route I’d start in Dubois or Jackson EARLY. Make your way through the park with a plan to stay in West Yellowstone. Then head over to Challis and Stanley. This is personal choice, but the sawtooth are more spectacular to see.
 
Like most things it depends:
Are you getting out of the car and hiking around?
Are you planning to see the sights from behind the wheel?
When are you planning to go?
Are you staying in Jackson?

It’s the height of the season right now, so expect the roads to be slow driving. Every time someone sees an animal the traffic comes to a halt or slows down. There’s a lot of animals.
*** I’m not trying to dissuade anyone from visiting Yellowstone. I think everyone should see it, just be prepared. *****
I took the family last spring(low season)up through West Yellowstone to old faithful and down to Jackson. We spent the night in the park at a campground. We saw a couple mud pots and old faithful. It was a a solid two days.
If I was going to do your route I’d start in Dubois or Jackson EARLY. Make your way through the park with a plan to stay in West Yellowstone. Then head over to Challis and Stanley. This is personal choice, but the sawtooth are more spectacular to see.

x2

I'd go through the winds in wyoming and the sawtooths in idaho before the tetons and yellowstone. Like Archie says though, it's a personal choice - and everyone should see those nat'l parks at least once
 
Beautiful job on the install. Not trying to high jack your thread, but here is a couple pics of mine. Almost on the road. I see we have the same tastes in intercoolers. lol. I didn't get to read your whole thread yet, as I wanted to show that I knew what you went thru with the wiring and install...

motor.jpg






motor1.jpg
 
If your driving that far, I would install cruise control. Seriously. For about 200 bucks and a bit of labor it will make the drive much easier.
Cruise is built into the ECU. Just need a switch for set and a brake switch to turn off.

Cool build. Be aware that when that engine is operated at high duty cycle, the EGT and oil pan temperatures can quickly go too high, especially on a modified engine. Do not pull the oil temp reading from the oh-so-convenient fitting on the filter head, as that is the oil temp after the cooler. Get the pan reading. Since the turbo cooling oil and piston cooling oil are both dumped back into the pan, the oil temp in the pan is the highest in the oil system. On a steep grade at highway speed my modified TDI can push the EGT past 1200F (I let off at that point) and after a minute or two on a long grade, oil pan temp climbs past 270F (I let off at that point).
 
Like most things it depends:
Are you getting out of the car and hiking around?
Are you planning to see the sights from behind the wheel?
When are you planning to go?
Are you staying in Jackson?

It’s the height of the season right now, so expect the roads to be slow driving. Every time someone sees an animal the traffic comes to a halt or slows down. There’s a lot of animals.
*** I’m not trying to dissuade anyone from visiting Yellowstone. I think everyone should see it, just be prepared. *****
I took the family last spring(low season)up through West Yellowstone to old faithful and down to Jackson. We spent the night in the park at a campground. We saw a couple mud pots and old faithful. It was a a solid two days.
If I was going to do your route I’d start in Dubois or Jackson EARLY. Make your way through the park with a plan to stay in West Yellowstone. Then head over to Challis and Stanley. This is personal choice, but the sawtooth are more spectacular to see.

I'm excited for animals! :)

I agree its not the best time of year :( And ill end up there over the weekend which is worse!
I don't think their is any chance of me being able to get a site in the park like you were able to, but your trip you made sounds like what I'm trying to do here.

Are you getting out of the car and hiking around?
I'm planning on doing some really basic hikes with my Mom, but nothing over a few miles or so.

Are you planning to see the sights from behind the wheel?
Most of what ill see will probably be behind the wheel as i don't have too much time.

When are you planning to go?
Aug 11-13 I'm planning the spend in the general vicinity of the park.

Are you staying in Jackson?
If the timing is right i could stay there on my way out of the park. Suggestions?

Thank you!

Mike
 
x2

I'd go through the winds in wyoming and the sawtooths in idaho before the tetons and yellowstone. Like Archie says though, it's a personal choice - and everyone should see those nat'l parks at least once
Does this count as seeing the Sawtooth range:
upload_2018-8-2_8-34-28.png


And is this going to be a good view of the Wind River range:
upload_2018-8-2_8-35-20.png


Thanks!

Mike
 
Beautiful job on the install. Not trying to high jack your thread, but here is a couple pics of mine. Almost on the road. I see we have the same tastes in intercoolers. lol. I didn't get to read your whole thread yet, as I wanted to show that I knew what you went thru with the wiring and install...

View attachment 1758304





View attachment 1758305
Awesome!

Looks like a clean install!


You gave the Treadstone TR1035? It seems to work well in my application, with inlet temperatures 10-15*F withing ambient.

Which transmission are you running?

Make sure you plug the check valve port on that radiator if you are going to retain the VW coolant ball.
Which turbocharger did you choose?


I used a VE engine for my last project truck, it was awesome! I ended up doing quite a bit of work to that engine, but kept the small OE turbocharger for its awesome transient response. I opted for the PD this time for the extra output and the changes made to the bottom end primarily.

Mike
 
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Cruise is built into the ECU. Just need a switch for set and a brake switch to turn off.

Cool build. Be aware that when that engine is operated at high duty cycle, the EGT and oil pan temperatures can quickly go too high, especially on a modified engine. Do not pull the oil temp reading from the oh-so-convenient fitting on the filter head, as that is the oil temp after the cooler. Get the pan reading. Since the turbo cooling oil and piston cooling oil are both dumped back into the pan, the oil temp in the pan is the highest in the oil system. On a steep grade at highway speed my modified TDI can push the EGT past 1200F (I let off at that point) and after a minute or two on a long grade, oil pan temp climbs past 270F (I let off at that point).

I learned from the mistake of utilizing the small water/oil cooler on my install on the last truck. The temps never got to 270, but they would kiss the 250's which was starting to get pretty toasty. Industry standard is generally 130*c (~265*f) in the sump and you better stop so you were definitely getting her hot! After adding an over sized cooler with a fan i never had any issues as far as that was concerned. This was made worse with the increased engine speed from my original final drive. I originally ran 4.56 gears with a 0.85 overdrive and 31" tall tires in that truck.

I saw the filter housing but opted for the pan as is the usual choice on these wet sump engines. Yes the returned oil will measure hotter than the inlet, but measuring the oil temperature at engine inlet not inherently wrong. You have to have some familiarity with the engine to know what to look for however.

As for the EGT, on the DI diesels I've tried to keep the steady state pre-turbine EGT below 1300-1350 if I'm really pushing things. This engine with the pressure ratio at high speed can maintain those temperatures at engine speeds below ~3000 RPM at full load, but they tend to climb quickly at higher engine speeds. I was surprised that the little engine could make as much torque as it does with the EGT where it is.

I've tried to get as much heat as possible away from the engine to get it to survive this new life pushing this big heavy box around. The coolers are all fairly large, and the inlet/exhaust/charge cooler plumbing are also fairly large in diameter. The oil flow was also increased 35% when working on the bottom end with a smaller driven pulley.

It sounds really cool with the 3.5" exhaust system :)

Mike
 
I wonder if this route would allow me to see enough of Yellowstone:
upload_2018-8-2_9-11-17.png


My girlfriends family lives in Great Falls, MT so my primary goal is to awe my Momma with he park enough for her to have good memories of it. I will most likely go back and take more time there in the future.

Here's my preliminary schedule:
upload_2018-8-2_9-14-3.png


Thanks,

Mike
 
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Awesome!

Looks like a clean install!


You gave the Treadstone TR1035? It seems to work well in my application, with inlet temperatures 10-15*F withing ambient.
Yes, Treadstone makes some very high quality coolers that seem to fit nicely in the 40.


Which transmission are you running?
I am running an NV3550 out of a 2004 Wrangler.

Make sure you plug the check valve port on that radiator if you are going to retain the VW coolant ball.
Which turbocharger did you choose?
Yes sir. Thanks, not quite done under the hood yet.


I used a VE engine for my last project truck, it was awesome! I ended up doing quite a bit of work to that engine, but kept the small OE turbocharger for its awesome transient response. I opted for the PD this time for the extra output and the changes made to the bottom end primarily.
The turbo is
03G145702H turbo from Darkside Development
also running a PD150 intake. I like your air cleaner assy, I need to rework mine yet. I put the cone on there to get it running fast.

Mike


Are you using the Gastodiesel motor to trans adapter? I went with the Coty Built adapter and after the fact wished I would have used the Gastodiesel.

I do have a second motor I was gonna play with the internals after this is on the road, just for fun and push the power a bit more. My friend who does the computer tuning for me basically gave me the same numbers for the tune he put in it now. 180hp 320ftlbs torque. thats almost twice what the cast iron F had that I took out.

If you have problems going by Minnesota hit me up, I am a few hours north of where you will be crossing the state, but if you are in trouble I will come help!!
 
Which transmission did you use?

Are you sure you got the TR1035? It looks a lot smaller in your pictures. I built a big 26" wide radiator from an old big block Mopar and had to lean everything back to fit it all in. You can kinda see it here:
upload_2018-8-2_14-7-33.png


I've never heard of Gastodoesel adapters.

I talked to Cotybuilt and they said they could make a plate to adapt either to the jeep bell or the h series bell.

I got my plate from Randy who started TDconversions.

Thanks for the helping hand! You should drive yours and meet up so we can compare notes!

-Mike

Are you using the Gastodiesel motor to trans adapter? I went with the Coty Built adapter and after the fact wished I would have used the Gastodiesel.

I do have a second motor I was gonna play with the internals after this is on the road, just for fun and push the power a bit more. My friend who does the computer tuning for me basically gave me the same numbers for the tune he put in it now. 180hp 320ftlbs torque. thats almost twice what the cast iron F had that I took out.

If you have problems going by Minnesota hit me up, I am a few hours north of where you will be crossing the state, but if you are in trouble I will come help!!
ich
 
@Godfather90 I used the NV3550 transmission.

Sorry, I didn't see that, no, not the TR1035 I used the TR18T.

Randy at TDconversions is Gastodiesel.com

Believe me, if it was ready for the trip my wife would be making us go to the ocean with it. lol. We did about that same trip 4 years ago when we got married in the VW this motor came out of!! It would be cool to do the same trip with the 40!
 
Did you adapt to the black box with a jeep adapter? The thought had crossed my mind, there are a few options with the planetary underdrive.

That's cool you had the car before so you know the engines history. Even though we bought it from a dealer and drove it a few hundred miles before pulling it out I had to go through everything to be confident. The mechanics in NYC are not the best with these cars!

Mike
 
The NWfab black box toyota version bolted right to a split case. And the other end of it was the newer style round pattern(I forget what they call it...) and it went right to the NV3550 pattern. Which kept it shorter, not needing another adapter.

I should tell you that I went with the Aqualu 10" stretch aluminum tub. I am building my own transmission hump. The one that comes with the tub is less than desirable...imho..
 
That's exactly what i was thinking as another alternative for what i did. I kept the round tail housing from the AX15 in case down the road i want to add an ATLAS 4 speed. Did you change the split case gears to 4:1?

Mike
 
No, I kept them stock. Just quickly glancing at your charts earlier reminded me of when I was deciding on ratios for mine. With the blackbox I should have a plenty slow crawl ratio. I did put 4.88's in the diffs. With Toyo MT 285/75r17 tires they say they are 34x11.50 but, I think they are a little short....
 

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