Need to decide: B or 3B? (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Feb 21, 2020
Threads
4
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54
Location
Germany
Hey guys,
I am looking for a Landcruiser to restore here in Germany.
It should be a Diesel so I have to choose between the B or the 3B engine.

I want to use the Cruiser as a daily driven in the summer and drive it in the einter when the roads are dry.
I cant decide what Engine I should choose.

Its quite easy to get a B Engine here, a 3B is a little bit rarer.

Should I wait longer to fetch a 3B or get a B and call it a deal?

What are youre experiences with both engines?
At what speeds can you drive them without causing your car to blow up?


I hope you guys can help me make a decission.
 
I drive my BJ42 with 4 speed, 3B engine and 33" tires at about 110 kph on flat highways. It could probably do a little more but the engine rpms seem like they are getting too high for my comfort. No tach so I'm not sure what they are, just sounds high. I try to stay to collector roads and speeds around 80-90 kph whenever possible... much better noise level and fuel consumption. I moved about 7000 km across the country a few years ago and drove this thing the whole way so I'd be fairly confident driving at those speeds for durability. Hills and heat are not your friend, you would have to back off for either. The 3B is a superior engine but either would provide similar experiences. If you plan on adding a turbo or power steering you should stick to the 3B. If you want to safely drive over 110 kph I'd look at another engine family or series of landcruiser. The 60 and 70 series with the 3B are a little more highway friendly I believe. No experience with them but they have higher axle ratio and most had a 5 speed transmission.
 
Great info @Yellowknifer

Welcome, so depending on what you ant to do with it, will narrow your options down. The B engine is only 80hp, a 3B is 90hp. Neither is what I would call a good engine for driving over 110kph, for that matter driving over 100kph probably isn't the best in a 40 period.

I believe most 70 series had 4.11 gears with the 3B's, and a 5 speed which helps highway driving. They are also MUCH nicer driving on the highway by far.
I have a BJ74, 13BT turbo diesel, 33's 4.11 gears, 5spd and at 105kph ~65mph I'm turning 2350~2400rpms. Personally I wouldn't want ANY less power if I were doing a lot of highway.

The B/3B series are great engines albeit not a lot of power. I would try and get a 3B personally, they are newer, respond to turbo better.


@Yellowknifer at 110kph, you are turning around 2850~2900 rpms depending on how "true" your 33's, most are like 32.5 and under.
 
Moin littleafrica ,
herzlich willkommen im Club und viel Spaß bei diesem schönen Hobby.
Du möchtest dich nicht kurz Vorstellen?

=====

1984 BJ42, frame-off rstored , 4E9 Toyo beige, 5spd factory tranny
1983 BJ45, resto-project, factory P/S
 
Moin littleafrica ,
herzlich willkommen im Club und viel Spaß bei diesem schönen Hobby.
Du möchtest dich nicht kurz Vorstellen?

=====

1984 BJ42, frame-off rstored , 4E9 Toyo beige, 5spd factory tranny
1983 BJ45, resto-project, factory P/S
Servus, noch steht mein Projekt ja nicht in der Garage.
Kann mich natürlich trotzdem gerne schonmal vorstellen.
Wo mache ich das denn?
 
Okay thanks so far for the replies,
Yeah a 40 series isnt the ideal daily driver but I just love these cars waaay to much. So it seems like I will crawl at 100kph over the tar but I am perfectly fine with that.
I will defenetly try to get a 3B but it could happen that I get impatient and just grab the best B powered 40 I can find.
I hope I wont regret that should it happen.

Anyone here who can tell me about his experiences with the B engine?
 
Why not here mate?
Have a sit and let's have a :beer: just like in Buschtaxitreffen!!

=====
1984 BJ42, frame-off restored , 4E9 Toyo beige, 5spd factory tranny
1983 BJ45, resto-project, factory P/S
 
Why not here mate?
Have a sit and let's have a :beer: just like in Buschtaxitreffen!!

=====
1984 BJ42, frame-off restored , 4E9 Toyo beige, 5spd factory tranny
1983 BJ45, resto-project, factory P/S
Okay, I will do a quick introduction here and then a official one when I have my 40.

So I am Marcel aka littleafrica.
I am still quite young, 22 to be precise.
I learned to drive in a 1979 BJ45 in Namibia at the age of 12.
Since then I was infected with my passion for the J4.
I drove the 45 for a few years and then switched to a 70 series.
Both are absolutely awesome cars but the 40 Series is just a pure diamond under all 4x4's.
I also drove a Land Rover defender for Work in South Africa for a few Months, strong cars but they brake down verry often.
Well now I am back in Getmany and I am finally able to get a 40 for myself.
I never worked on cars before except for changing tyres but I am motivated and willing to learn.
Thanks to the 40 Channel, Full Boar and Project wrong way on youtube I finally feel able to start to work on such a car myself.

I will also record my restoration for youtube to show other people that it is posdible to do such projects without much experience.
It will defenetly take me longer to get it finished but I will learn a lot during the progress.

Best regards

Little africa
 
The most important thing is to get one with the best body you can afford.
If its a B you can upgrade later if you wish
 
Get the best cruiser that you can and figure out the 3B later. A 79+ or (better yet an 83/84) will make a 5 speed swap easier. If you DD it long enough a turbo and 5 speed will become obvious upgrades, but it's nice to have the power steering, AC, splitcase, etc etc already there. When I'm going down the interstate at 70-75 mph I'm happy to have all the luxuries of the late model 40 series.

When shopping around feel free to post up what you find in the 40 section - folks there love to tear apart for sale ads :beer:
 
RoscoFJ73 said:
"The most important thing is to get one with the best body you can afford.
If its a B you can upgrade later if you wish"

X2!
Just be patient, mate!
Unless, Geld spielt keine Rolle ($ is not an issue)! ;)

====
1984 BJ42, frame-off restored , 4E9 Toyo beige, 5spd factory tranny
1983 BJ45, resto-project, factory P/S
 
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The most important thing is to get one with the best body you can afford.
If its a B you can upgrade later if you wish
Yeah I thought so too, but I would save alot of money if I could find one already with the 3B and front disk brakes instead of fitting them afterwards.
 
Get the best cruiser that you can and figure out the 3B later. A 79+ or (better yet an 83/84) will make a 5 speed swap easier. If you DD it long enough a turbo and 5 speed will become obvious upgrades, but it's nice to have the power steering, AC, splitcase, etc etc already there. When I'm going down the interstate at 70-75 mph I'm happy to have all the luxuries of the late model 40 series.

When shopping around feel free to post up what you find in the 40 section - folks there love to tear apart for sale ads :beer:
Yeah would be optimal to find one with all the desired features already instead of fitting them later on.
Should I just open a Thread in the 40 section and post the offers I get there for advice?
Most of them I would need to tranlate into english as they are in german or italian.
But thanks for the advice.
 
RoscoFJ73 said:
"The most important thing is to get one with the best body you can afford.
If its a B you can upgrade later if you wish"

X2!
Just be patient, mate!
Unless, Geld spielt keine Rolle ($ is not an issue)! ;)

====
1984 BJ42, frame-off restored , 4E9 Toyo beige, 5spd factory tranny
1983 BJ45, resto-project, factory P/S
Well Money is an issue, sadly. But you gotta work with the options I have, I am sure I will find a halfway decent one to restore....
The bad thing is I am not too good with patience when it comes to Landcruisers.
 
Yeah would be optimal to find one with all the desired features already instead of fitting them later on.
Should I just open a Thread in the 40 section and post the offers I get there for advice?
Most of them I would need to tranlate into english as they are in german or italian.
But thanks for the advice.

Yes you can just snag some pictures from the ad and post some details. Typically you wouldn't want to post a full ad you might be interested in for all to see, especially if it's a good deal!

I guess I don't know what is most common in your part of the world. If most cruisers are already BJ/HJ models then it's probably moot. I was thinking more along the lines of the North American market where one might be choosing between a nice FJ40 with a 350 V8 and a Costa Rican BJ40, at which point I'd pick the nice FJ and worry about getting a 3B into it later.
 
Yes you can just snag some pictures from the ad and post some details. Typically you wouldn't want to post a full ad you might be interested in for all to see, especially if it's a good deal!

I guess I don't know what is most common in your part of the world. If most cruisers are already BJ/HJ models then it's probably moot. I was thinking more along the lines of the North American market where one might be choosing between a nice FJ40 with a 350 V8 and a Costa Rican BJ40, at which point I'd pick the nice FJ and worry about getting a 3B into it later.
Okay I will do that, I dought that alot of people will steel the offer becouse I am looking in Germany and not the US. Yeah most cruisers here are Diesel powered, the FJ´s are quite rare.
 
Marcel, aka Littleafrica wrote:
"I learned to drive in a 1979 BJ45 in Namibia at the age of 12.
Since then I was infected with my passion for the J4.
I drove the 45 for a few years and then switched to a 70 series".
Needless to say lieber Marcel that your african story should be the theme of a new thread. Was this diesel powered LC a european grey import or a locally made CKD Cruiser? If you have pics in your archive, even better!...

======
1984 BJ42, frame-off restored , 4E9 Toyo beige, 5spd factory tranny
1983 BJ45, resto-project, factory P/S
 
Marcel, aka Littleafrica wrote:
"I learned to drive in a 1979 BJ45 in Namibia at the age of 12.
Since then I was infected with my passion for the J4.
I drove the 45 for a few years and then switched to a 70 series".
Needless to say lieber Marcel that your african story should be the theme of a new thread. Was this diesel powered LC a european grey import or a locally made CKD Cruiser? If you have pics in your archive, even better!...

======
1984 BJ42, frame-off restored , 4E9 Toyo beige, 5spd factory tranny
1983 BJ45, resto-project, factory P/S
Yeah I will start a Thread...
 
I daily drive a b engined bj40. While not the fastest thing on four wheels it seems to just plod along and do its thing. It will go over 120kph if i push it but its happy around the 95-100 mark. At those speeds 40s become rather noisey anyway. Driving in the bush the motor is great as long as your not on sand but then the light weight of the 40 comes into play.
 
I daily drive a b engined bj40.

I also have a B motor in my 40 and agree with Marno. The only thing I can add is 4th gear is for down hills. The jump between 3rd to 4th is quite far apart. This makes it hard work if it was a daily driver.

P.S my Cruiser comes from Germany imported to Namibia spent most of its life there then brought to South Africa.
 

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