Newbie FJ60 owner

[FL cruiser]

I'm a newbie, but just been sittting in the background reading posts the past month. Best Land Cruiser site I've found on the net.
Just bought my first Landcruiser. I've always wanted one since driving one in Costa Rica 20 years ago.Now my search is over. Got lucky and found a family owned, no rust, non abused 83 FJ60 that just hadn't been run in a couple years and in slight neglect so I didn't have to pay a left nut for it.
Brought it home, drained the gas tank, cleaned the carb and it fired right up.
.
Future plans:
I have found it needs a 5th gear, and want to convert it to a diesel.
So I'm now in the process of deciding between
(1) a 6.2 GM diesel, Marks adapter bellhousing, Toyota H55 5spd
or (2) a 6.2, NV 4500 5 spd setup, or (3) possibly using a Mercedes 5 cyl turbo diesel.

Great board
I'll try to do my research so I don't post any stupid questions

 

[archie]

Welcome! Don't know too much about engine conversions but you can look at the technical links to get some more info on other peoples projects.

 

[swank60]

Welcome!

Why not convert it to a Toyota Deisel? It would be a much easier conversion and, if you look around, you might find a package deal on the engine and transmission together! From what I understand you can turbo charge any of the Toyota engines for extra power...and the reliability would be up there with the Mercedes engine.

Just a thought!

 

[jhstatts]

Welcome.

And don't worry about stupid questions... I have those covered for the most part. Heh heh.

 

[FL cruiser]

yeah Swank,

I agree, the Toyota Diesel is the best way to go and would be my first choice.
I wouldn't mind paying more either, but 5K to 6K is out of my price range. Seems like they can be found in the pacific northwest, but I'm down in Florida.

The Aussies do alot of 6.2 swaps and seem to like them ok.

I just bought a good running 6.2 diesel utility truck from the local school board with 110k miles on it for only a $100, and also bought a Mercedes 300TD for $300 so i guess that's my deciding factor to go with the 6.2 or Mercedes.

 

[VTCruiser]

The problem with the 6.2s, 5.9s, or 7.3s it that they are HEAVY. 60 series cruisers really aren't that big so they are a lot of motor for trucks our size...The merc would be a cool swap though....but they are with chrysler now and you know what that means.....

 

[Jim_Phillips]

I've seen a 4.0l 2H diesel on ebay UK (with manual gearbox) being advertised recently. It failed to sell but I took a note of the guys email address: sales@valley4x4.com

Don't know how much he wants or whether he will ship to the US but it could be worth emailing the guy - especially if you live on the US east coast in which case you can pick up from the port.

There was also a 4.2 Toyota turbo diesel for sale recently but I didn't take a note of the seller.

I know it costs about $500 to ship a car to the US. A crate may be more or less the same - in which case getting an engine from the Uk maybe an option...