Nervous Man's Engine and Tranny swap: sbc350 and sm465 (2 Viewers)

[saryon7]

So, after much thinking on the problem I came up with what I think is the best solution. I noticed that there was some "wasted" area at the bottom of the heater box and started thinking that I be I could just get rid of the "wasted" area and save 1/4" to 3/8" of space. So, I taped off the cut lines and went to work. If I ever decide that I need to make more room, I might look into cutting some metal out of the middle of the heater box.

Welding this box was a pain since it was so thin and I haven't ever welded something so thin. The welds looked like seagull turds, but they cleaned up ok with a grinder.

 

[saryon7]

I pushed those pieces together and then welded them closed. Came out looking pretty good. I thought I took some pictures of the finished product, but I guess I forgot so the pictures will have to wait. All said, I got the needed space, but the boot still touches the heater box. I need to try some minor adjustments to get it perfect. Pictures will follow.

 

[saryon7]

Another problem I have been working on is the bracket for the slave cylinder. I really went back and forth about what clutch master and slave I wanted to use. I thought long and hard about using both a Chevy and the Toyota setup. Ultimately I went with the Toyota setup. After hearing some feedback from Jim C about the throw travel though, I hope I made the right decision.

I made a bracket that I thought was pretty cool, but when I mounted it up, the clutch slave was only positioned so that I could hit the outermost hole of the clutch throw arm. Research showed this wouldn't work well. Here is a picture of the bracket. Then it was back to the drawing board. This problem taxed my little brain for about a week and a half before I came up with solutions.......

. is what I was saying throughout the process.

 

[saryon7]

So, after about a week of hemming and hawing about how I wanted to try making this clutch slave cylinder, I was looking around the shop and noticed I had a bunch of brackets sitting right in front of me. There were a bunch left over from all the old motor and tranny mounts.

Hey......wait a minute.... do the mount hole line up perfectly with the clutch slave cylinder mounts????

 

[saryon7]

I did a little work with the plasma cutter and a grinder and this is what I came up with.

 

[saryon7]

It was a total failure so I didn't finish it up.

So, then it was back to some other try. Here is a picture of try number three! Too bad it was a failure too.

 

[saryon7]

Onto try number 4. Luckily this one seems like it worked perfect. I wanted a design that was small and would be rigid enough not to flex. I ended up using 3/8" metal because I had some around. It was a little thicker than I wanted, but it worked out pretty well.

The finished product is a bit uglier than I wanted, but I didn't want to spend forever curving such thick steel when no one would see it anyway. I curved the edges and called it good. If I ever get my rig drivable again I will let y'all know how it worked out.

 

[saryon7]

Another task to figure out was the oil pressure gauge situation. I like the way old 70's gauges look so I wanted to keep the stock instrument cluster. I also wanted to add a gauge that would have numbers on it so I knew the actual pressure instead of just a range like on the Toyota gauge, especially since I didn't know if the two engines required the same oil pressures. So, I decided to make a t-fitting for the back of the engine block. This way I can use the stock Toyota gauge and an aftermarket one as well. I will show pictures of the instrument cluster I chose when I get it installed. It is one of those little tiny 3 gauge clusters. I wanted them to be small so these seemed like a good choice.

 

[saryon7]

After many....many...many... attempts, I was able to get the transfer case shifter to use the stock Toyota hole in the transmission hump. (At least whatever was stock by the time I got the cruiser)

The last pic is of the piece I turned on the lathe. It is the little piece that attaches the transfer case shift arm to the transfer case.

 

[saryon7]

A little bit of good news. I was able to turn the transmission shifter and the transfer case shifter. They came out pretty good. The Chevy shifter used a 3/8" fine thread so that is what I put on the transfer case as well. This I hoped would make it easier to get shifter knobs in the future. Sure seems like there are a lot of metric knobs out there though.

 

[saryon7]

So this is where I am at. Looking good and cruising along.

 

[saryon7]

Who could have known I would be thwarted by a DIPSTICK TUBE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


More to follow

 

[cruiserkreutz]

Looks really good!

 

[saryon7]

So, things were going well until I tried to insert the dip stick tube. Couldn't get it to fit correctly. Damn it. Another problem. Well after fussing with the dip stick tube I still couldn't get it to work. I did a little research and found they make dipstick tubes just for my needs. Oh course it was $65! What a deal.

So, I picked it up at tognottis. Unfortunately for me, it wouldn't install with the engine in its final resting place. I had to undo some of my work and pick the engine up a bit to clear the steering box. After all that fuss and a little tweaking of the tube, I was able to get the tube to work and get everything back together. The only bad thing about the tube is that it is billet aluminum and is going to probably always be too hot to easily check.

 

[saryon7]

So, I have a couple of questions that I would like some input on.

1. I was planning on doing a two into one exhaust system. I was wondering what size the pipe should be when it turns into one pipe? I have read both 2.5" and 3" on these forums. I have a stock crate 350 motor with a 650 cfm carburetor.
2. I have a brand new fj40 4 core radiator and a new crate engine and a new heater core so I have no rust issues. Will this be sufficient to keep my rig cool? Or do I need to go with an aluminum radiator. I saw Texican posted one that he liked a lot. I live in CA so I see probably about a month of 100 degree weather.

 

[user42]

IMO:

1. 2.5" is fine

2. FJ40 4 row? I thought the FJ40 radiators were all 3 core? OR do you mean you bought a 4 row radiator designed for the 40? I had the original FJ40 radiator in mine (Gen 1 SBC) which probably would have worked just fine in a cooler area. Here in the central valley though, during the middle of summer, it just wasn't enough. The champion aluminum 4-core I bought is excellent though, in both fit and function.

 

[saryon7]

Well... I can't say for certain. I bought the heavy duty one from radiator barn about a year ago. It is a stock replacement and looks just like the stock one. I went to look it up, but then found out radiator barn is no longer. So, it might be a 3 row.

 

[user42]

I think you will probably be ok, provided you have a good shroud. Part of the reason that the stock radiator on mine wasn't working all that well was that that I didn't have a shroud, and would not have been able to fab one, certainly not easily. The SBC in mine was mounted low, so low that the bottom end of the fan circle (same fan/clutch you have) was below the bottom off the radiator. I also tried the Ford Taurus fan, but my engine is mounted too far forward for that option...about 1/2" too little clearance.

However, as I mentioned, the only time I was having cooling problems was during the dead of summer here, temps of 110+, pulling the grades between here (fresno, ish) and the coast (pismo). Granted the lack of a shroud doesn't have a great deal of affect at highway speed, but all things considered I am glad I went with the 4 row and elec fan/shroud.

I would say just run what you have, you already have it and its not all that difficult to swap the radiator if you find out you need to in the fiture

 

[saryon7]

I think that is good advice. I have heard a number of people say their stock radiator worked, but I have also heard a number who said it didn't so I wasn't sure. I guess it really isn't that hard to redo the radiator if it doesn't work. And I know what you mean about the motor being low. Mine is close to where yours was. I was thinking about actually lowering the radiator too.

 

[saryon7]

Been doing a little more work on the cruiser. I went to put the battery tray back in and realized the motor mount was placed perfectly in the way. So, I figured I could just cut and stretch the battery mount. Well, that didn't work so it was time to start from scratch. It was a little bit thick for a battery tray, but I had some 1" square tube and 1/4" plate and angle iron so that is what I used.

I am embarrassed to say it, but I think I have about 25 hours into just making the batter mount and tray and it isn't even done yet. Here is some of the progress. I also included a couple of pictures of the gear shift knobs.