NOLA- A Build Story...that goes Diesel

[FMC80]

That bumper looks great, I prefer the full bar vs the stinger. You have plans for a winch?

 

[SteelHunterFJ80]

That bumper looks great, I prefer the full bar vs the stinger. You have plans for a winch?

Yes, got a Smittybuilt X20 which is waterproof and has synthetic rope and remote control that should do the job. In a head to head shoot out with a bunch of others including warn and comeup which surprised me. Can't find the article right now but I'll post it if I come across it.

 

[SteelHunterFJ80]

Update number 2 for the two for the weekend! I'm on a roll now!

Got my transmission back from TR transmission in Lake Steven's WA.

TR TRANSMISSIONS LLC
(425) 387-2589

TR TRANSMISSIONS LLC · 10620 20th St SE, Lake Stevens, WA 98258

★★★★★ · Transmission shop

maps.app.goo.gl

Oh yeah I forgot to mention that I'm putting in a H151 5 Speed. And I got two surprises that go with it. But more on that later.

If you are located in Western Washington I highly recommend Dan at TR transmission. He was communicative and explained a couple snafus that came up during the rebuild.

One of which, we had the incorrect input and output bearings from cruiser Brothers. But to their credit, as soon as I brought up the issue they had replacement parts out to me the next day.

I bought this transmission through @joekatana who was really easy to work with despite my numerous and I will wager, sometimes annoying one banana mechanic questions.

In the rebuild I had to replace the input shaft because it had some wear, replaced the synchros just in case, even though they looked fine, and the 3-4 hub. Should be nice and new now.

 

[Rock40]

Update number 2 for the two for the weekend! I'm on a roll now!

Got my transmission back from TR transmission in Lake Steven's WA.

TR TRANSMISSIONS LLC
(425) 387-2589

TR TRANSMISSIONS LLC · 10620 20th St SE, Lake Stevens, WA 98258

★★★★★ · Transmission shop

maps.app.goo.gl

Oh yeah I forgot to mention that I'm putting in a H151 5 Speed. And I got two surprises that go with it. But more on that later.

If you are located in Western Washington I highly recommend Dan at TR transmission. He was communicative and explained a couple snafus that came up during the rebuild.

One of which, we had the incorrect input and output bearings from cruiser Brothers. But to their credit, as soon as I brought up the issue they had replacement parts out to me the next day.

I bought this transmission through @joekatana who was really easy to work with despite my numerous and I will wager, sometimes annoying one banana mechanic questions.

In the rebuild I had to replace the input shaft because it had some wear, replaced the synchros just in case, even though they looked fine, and the 3-4 hub. Should be nice and new now.

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Awesome, I’ve never touched my H151 and it’s flawless. They are a good transmission

I can tell you that it LOVES the Redline full synthetic gear oil

I tried several different oils in mine and the Redline made a gigantic difference in how smooth it shifts

 

[Wadepat2]

Awesome, I’ve never touched my H151 and it’s flawless. They are a good transmission

I can tell you that it LOVES the Redline full synthetic gear oil

I tried several different oils in mine and the Redline made a gigantic difference in how smooth it shifts

Hi Rock. What grade redline did you use. Mt85 or 75w90,?

 

[SNLC]

All that sludge you found in the block is why we like to tear them all the way down and hot tank the block. Same with the head.

We just tore down an FTE and an FT, they seemed to be in good enough condition that a person could just run them without opening them up. Thing is they are very crusty externally and to make them look nice plus be confident they are good to go we want to go through them.

Cheers

 

[Rock40]

Hi Rock. What grade redline did you use. Mt85 or 75w90,?

75w-90

 

[Wadepat2]

75w-90

Thanks I got the mt95 75w-90 and it made a huge difference in shifting from 1-2 and 2-1.

 

[canman]

Just came across this thread. I admire you for going the Toyota route on the swap. For sure it will maintain the value down the road. Note sure what I will do with mine going forward. We all know how under powered the 4.5 is, and once mine is all kitted out, it will be interesting to see how it fares. Plan on heading out west next year with my buddy, so I’ll know then if the engine will be swapped. I myself would likely go for a LS 5.3. With price of diesel and premium these days, especially in Canukistan, the lure of a diesel powered rig or turbo one has lost a lot of its lustre.

 

[SteelHunterFJ80]

Ok after just about a year I am back! What happened? Where did I go? Well we got a new addition to the family!

As I am sure some of you know, the above picture is bigger than any build, more demanding, has a steeper learning curve and requires much more planning.

The last year has flown by and because of this guy and work and keeping up with family and a home I just had to rethink my build. It was obvious the hours and hours to do the swap I had in mind was gone. There is no way I could do an engine refresh/mild rebuild, manual transmission swap, fuel lines, interior refresh, paint, bumpers and all the other odds and ends I wanted to do. So I decided to send the truck to Torfab to have them do the swap. And man did I not want to do that....not because Torfab isn't a great shop, of course it is. But because I wanted to learn how to do a build myself. So thats not to be this time around but I still didn't want to give up on the swap given that I spent almost three years gathering parts. So where are we now? Time to update progress on the build and mention a few of the surprises that I have in for it.

First up, the engine has had a thorough go through by Tor. Cylinder walls were described as near perfect, normal wear on the cam and a valve adjustment not yet necessary. Vaccum Pump Bearing has been replaced, new gaskets, water pump, thermostat, idler, timing belt, water pipe 1 and 2, injector seals, and main pulley. Intake Manifold was vapor honed (twice, I will have more on that later) and clear coated. It came out a bit more grey than aluminum which was something I liked. Also, I had Torfab paint the block and head a dark grey which will make spotting oil a bit easier. I know that a lot of people paint their blocks black but in low light and under the hood I think this makes spotting leaks a bit more difficult, plus this is something different than everybody else. Also had the valve cover painted black, raised letters sanded and then cleared. Heat shield on the turbo and the exhaust manifold were ceramic heat treated good up to 2000 Degrees F, the shields silver grey and the exhaust manifold in black.

And yep, the turbo has been upgraded to a G Trubo Red Wheel 3.5 but also along with a 14 mm Injection Pump, and +30% Injectors. Thanks for reading excited to be back on this project.

 

[ikarus]

Ok after just about a year I am back! What happened? Where did I go? Well we got a new addition to the family!

View attachment 3419896View attachment 3419899

As I am sure some of you know, the above picture is bigger than any build, more demanding, steeper learning curve and requires much more planning.

The last year has flown by and because of this guy and work and keeping up with family and a home I just had to rethink my build. It was obvious the hours and hours to do the swap I had in mind was gone. There is no way I could do an engine refresh/mild rebuild, manual transmission swap, fuel lines, interior refresh, paint, bumpers and all the other odds and ends I wanted to do. So I decided to send the truck to Torfab to have them do the swap. And man did I not want to do that....not because Torfab isn't a great shop, of course it is. But because I wanted to learn how to do a build myself. So thats not to be this time around but I still didn't want to give up on the swap given that I spent almost three years gathering parts. So where are we now? Time to update progress on the build and mention a few of the surprises that I have in for it.

First up, Engine has had a thorough go through by Tor. Cylinder walls were described as near perfect, normal wear on the cam and a valve adjustment not yet necessary. Vaccum Pump Bearing has been replaced, new gaskets, water pump, thermostat, idler, timing belt, water pipe 1 and 2, injector seals, and main pulley. Intake Manifold was vapor honed (twice, I will have more on that later) and clear coated. It came out a bit more grey than aluminum which was something I liked. Also, I had Torfab paint the block and head a dark grey which will make spotting oil a bit easier. I know that a lot of people paint their blocks black but in low light and under the hood I think this makes spotting leaks a bit more difficult, plus this is something different than everybody else. Also had the valve cover painted black, raised letters sanded and then cleared. Heat shield on the turbo and the exhaust manifold were ceramic heat treated good up to 2000 Degrees F, the shields silver grey and the exhaust manifold in black.



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And yes the turbo has been upgraded to a G Trubo Red Wheel 3.5 along with a 14 mm Injection Pump, and +30% Injectors. Thanks for reading.

That’s going to be an amazing setup. And congrats on the kid! I’ve been there before, had to cut hobbies down to just one or two to focus on, kids take up time

 

[SteelHunterFJ80]

That’s going to be an amazing setup. And congrats on the kid! I’ve been there before, had to cut hobbies down to just one or two to focus on, kids take up time

Ain't kidding about the time...I woefully underestimated the time I would have available to do the swap. I'm still going to do some work on the truck but more limited to brakes, knuckles, rear bumper, lights etc

 

[audi2nr]

Ok after just about a year I am back! What happened? Where did I go? Well we got a new addition to the family!

View attachment 3419896View attachment 3419899

As I am sure some of you know, the above picture is bigger than any build, more demanding, steeper learning curve and requires much more planning.

The last year has flown by and because of this guy and work and keeping up with family and a home I just had to rethink my build. It was obvious the hours and hours to do the swap I had in mind was gone. There is no way I could do an engine refresh/mild rebuild, manual transmission swap, fuel lines, interior refresh, paint, bumpers and all the other odds and ends I wanted to do. So I decided to send the truck to Torfab to have them do the swap. And man did I not want to do that....not because Torfab isn't a great shop, of course it is. But because I wanted to learn how to do a build myself. So thats not to be this time around but I still didn't want to give up on the swap given that I spent almost three years gathering parts. So where are we now? Time to update progress on the build and mention a few of the surprises that I have in for it.

First up, Engine has had a thorough go through by Tor. Cylinder walls were described as near perfect, normal wear on the cam and a valve adjustment not yet necessary. Vaccum Pump Bearing has been replaced, new gaskets, water pump, thermostat, idler, timing belt, water pipe 1 and 2, injector seals, and main pulley. Intake Manifold was vapor honed (twice, I will have more on that later) and clear coated. It came out a bit more grey than aluminum which was something I liked. Also, I had Torfab paint the block and head a dark grey which will make spotting oil a bit easier. I know that a lot of people paint their blocks black but in low light and under the hood I think this makes spotting leaks a bit more difficult, plus this is something different than everybody else. Also had the valve cover painted black, raised letters sanded and then cleared. Heat shield on the turbo and the exhaust manifold were ceramic heat treated good up to 2000 Degrees F, the shields silver grey and the exhaust manifold in black.



View attachment 3419973


View attachment 3419979

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View attachment 3419983


And yep the turbo has been upgraded to a G Trubo Red Wheel 3.5 but also along with a 14 mm Injection Pump, and +30% Injectors. Thanks for reading excited to be back on this project.

This thing was a blast to drive... thanks for handing me the keys the other day.. we should have snapped some pics of our trucks meeting. They'll meet again though and now I'm on the hunt for a 100 series to swap an 1hd into...

 

[mjosoba]

Awesome write up. And I’m pretty sure I found out what the intake gasket in my partsouq kit was for! Definitely didn’t fit my 1FZ.

 

[SteelHunterFJ80]

Hello all,

Well just when I assumed I would be back in September, work went bananas on me and I've finally caught up. Wanted to start detailing more of the build and establishing some baseline numbers for tracking purposes. I also wanted to highlight the parts I selected for my build, why I chose them, and where did I source my research. As I document my experience with them, I hope it might help other mud members find upgrades that help them.

To start, are my Blackstone numbers, the oil was taken pre-swap and I will be doing another analysis once I put on 10k or so on the truck. Looks pretty good other than the copper.

I wanted to find out more about whats going on when copper and lead are found in a diesel engines oil and found this really interesting report:
Copper and Lead in Engine Oil Study

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Lead and copper may vary by engine manufacturer and sub contractors a manufacturer uses. Great Q. What oil are you using and what is the baseline copper and lead in it? Interested to hear from what it means for Toyota engines, in your case the 1HDTX series and sources for lead and copper.

 

[SteelHunterFJ80]

Lead and copper may vary by engine manufacturer and sub contractors a manufacturer uses. Great Q. What oil are you using and what is the baseline copper and lead in it? Interested to hear from what it means for Toyota engines, in your case the 1HDTX series and sources for lead and copper.

Not sure, when Torfab did the swap for me they did an oil change of course, I will find out and post it here.

 

[SteelHunterFJ80]

Lead and copper may vary by engine manufacturer and sub contractors a manufacturer uses. Great Q. What oil are you using and what is the baseline copper and lead in it? Interested to hear from what it means for Toyota engines, in your case the 1HDTX series and sources for lead and copper.

Spoke with Tor this last week and they use Valvoline 15W 40 or Napa 15W 40. Rumor is that Valvoline makes Napa oil. They will also use Delo in the same weight. I will be using Valvoline Premium for the foreseeable future.

 

[SteelHunterFJ80]

Ok, so time to start updating this thread! Its been too long but I think work/family life is settling down enough to get more in the flow with documenting this build.

Lets start with something simple but pretty important for these diesel motors; Catch cans. The amount of gunk that had built up in the intake was pretty considerable.

The intake also had this filter in it which didn't help airflow at all.

I did a fair amount of research on catch cans with two being the most popular, Provent and HPD. Several sources of information really helped me narrow down my choice. The first was this video from a aussie and youtuber XploringOz on his Toyota diesel engine along with a follow up/results video he did. The second was a breakdown by the maker of Mann and Hummel of how their catch can sytem works. Here they are:

Provent Catch Can vs HPD

Provent 7,000 km review

Provent Catch Can Separator Explained

Lastly a independent study was done all several catch cans readily available on the market and Provent lead the way, especially in regards to efficiency (Provent is CF2.1):

The full study can be found attached. The last bit of confirmation on my pick was from @torfab himself. As they were doing the swap, he mentioned to me that he uses the same one on his trucks, which cemented my decision.

 

[AussieHJCruza]

Keep an eye on the engine with the provent, they have a tendency to 'condense' the blow-by oil and put it straight back into the intake.

Have seen this a few times on various engines, some Toyota and some not, and wouldn't recommend a provent to anyone.