Build Project Wintergreen - '97 FZJ80 Gen V 6.2 Swap - Richmond, VA
- Thread starter RICVirginiaHJ61
- Start date
Member Build Threads
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
- Thread starter
- #42
Rebuilt Bosch/Bendix hydroboost from ebay and Wilwood MC + proportioner valve installed yesterday.
Deleted the malfunctioning ABS and the LSPV in the back along with the extraneous brake line. Was having a lot of trouble making good flares on my scrap practice pieces, so I'm going to go the adapter route. I think the old school Toyota lines are not quite as soft as what folks sell today. Considered running all new lines, but that seems like a lotta work. Earl's (00122ERL) seems like it's the right adapter - will update if not. Note that the Dorman M10x1.0 to 3/8-24 adapter (PN 327850) is the opposite of what you need male / female -wise.
See a few posts earlier for an update re. the mounting bracket. I reused the square drilled plate that came with the booster and was able to drill a functional (but not exactly pretty) rectangle into it and everything seems nice and snug through the firewall. Used a tapered round grinder attachment on a die grinder to open up the yoke that came with the booster just a few mm for the Toyota brake pedal pin to fit. The slightly thinner pin that came with the booster would have ended up bouncing around in the Toyota brake pedal hole and I think that would have driven me crazy. It also didn't have the nice machined notch for the spring. The Toyota pin's now perfectly snug (though took a tap or two with a hammer).
Some good resources:
(NOTE: Do not go through the pain of trying to order from the vendor baldilocks used in this thread. I didn't do enough homework and find all the poor reviews and I am now in a dispute with him & my credit card company. It's a mess.)
Deleted the malfunctioning ABS and the LSPV in the back along with the extraneous brake line. Was having a lot of trouble making good flares on my scrap practice pieces, so I'm going to go the adapter route. I think the old school Toyota lines are not quite as soft as what folks sell today. Considered running all new lines, but that seems like a lotta work. Earl's (00122ERL) seems like it's the right adapter - will update if not. Note that the Dorman M10x1.0 to 3/8-24 adapter (PN 327850) is the opposite of what you need male / female -wise.
See a few posts earlier for an update re. the mounting bracket. I reused the square drilled plate that came with the booster and was able to drill a functional (but not exactly pretty) rectangle into it and everything seems nice and snug through the firewall. Used a tapered round grinder attachment on a die grinder to open up the yoke that came with the booster just a few mm for the Toyota brake pedal pin to fit. The slightly thinner pin that came with the booster would have ended up bouncing around in the Toyota brake pedal hole and I think that would have driven me crazy. It also didn't have the nice machined notch for the spring. The Toyota pin's now perfectly snug (though took a tap or two with a hammer).
Some good resources:
(NOTE: Do not go through the pain of trying to order from the vendor baldilocks used in this thread. I didn't do enough homework and find all the poor reviews and I am now in a dispute with him & my credit card company. It's a mess.)
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #43
For anyone that might be following along... have been in a bit of 1 step forward 2 steps back mode.
Forward:
Forward:
- Finally got my shifter set-up to a place where I am confident in the cab shifter moving the control lever of the transmission to the right places and back again.
- Leak tested all my plumbing -- had a couple -- and got everything snug & leak free. Still need to run the engine & trans up to temperature to burp the radiator and get the right fill level for the ATF. There's no dipstick on these GM transmissions and you've got to get them engaged and up to temp to get the right fill level.
- Found a highly recommended exhaust guy (Robert @ Hendrick's Muffler in Moseley, VA) who is ready when I am to get some pipes on it, but gotta get this thing moving under its own power first.
- Crossed the starter / ignition wires when I went to re-connect everything and fried my fusible link (had an extra on-hand) and then plugged in the starter relay backwards after bench testing it (this lead to a couple days of head scratching until the "eureka! you're an idiot..." moment).
- Shredded the serpentine belt because the power steering pulley was about 1/8" mis-aligned. Got that alignment sorted out this morning to realize I'd bought too short of a belt (wanted ***770 and got ***700).
- My ECU is throwing off just about every OBD2 DTC under the sun. Some have been easy fixes (using the wrong swaptime accelerator connector -- camaro vs. truck). Others are "permanent codes" that require error free run-time to clear. Doing some more homework here, but at present the ECU / TCU are not happy and have the truck in no-drive mode.
- Thread starter
- #44
Annnnddd the rig's rolling under its own power...
Having the t'case in neutral was my issue (another face/palm moment). Still a lot of codes, but we're moving!
Having the t'case in neutral was my issue (another face/palm moment). Still a lot of codes, but we're moving!
Crickets... haha HOWS IT GOING?!?!
- Thread starter
- #46
Gah - just about to restart things on the project truck as the peak summer temps / humidity have seemed to break here in Virginia.
I got supremely side tracked in July with power steering issues in my daily driver 60 series that chewed up a bunch of my time / truck project budget / sanity working in 90pct humidity on a gravel driveway. After some missteps, I’ve finally got it dialed in with a bit of a frankenstein rebuild of the pump (half old / half new bc the hj61 is a little different than the gas engine setups) and a rebuilt 80 series gearbox. Note: if you have a later model 60 series on big tires and have the opportunity to make the upgrade, it is great. The 80 series box is a bit beefier and my steering is vastly improved.
@mattnandie - good to read your break in update. I haven’t driven the 80 on the road yet, but have similar thoughts about the shifter setup.
Will have some more progress in the coming weeks / months.
Last edited:
That's all great info, you can also get a Dakota Digital unit to convert tach signal to match factory unit, and as a bonus you can use it to calibrate your speedo. Mitch and I are working on a solution to modify his MCM so that it can match the factory tach and also control the GM PWM fans at the same time (if you are running the E90 ECM).
- Thread starter
- #49
Bought 250-1881... I've been extremely stalled in the project though and do not have this fully worked out yet.
- Thread starter
- #50
So things kind of came to a standstill over the summer and early fall, but at long last, it’s off to the folks @ Roy Hendrick’s Muffler in Midlothian, VA for exhaust and a shakedown. I drove it up on to the tow truck bed!
Slightly chaotic under the hood, but at least I know where everything is / goes.
Slightly chaotic under the hood, but at least I know where everything is / goes.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #51
Project went on a long hiatus over the winter and had some setbacks, but for anyone still following along - finally got things sorted enough to fire it up!
Next up is replacing a damaged or misaligned P/N switch / pawl in the transmission (we’ll see), which i’ve jumped for now and a bunch of other little things before the body / frame shop.
Next up is replacing a damaged or misaligned P/N switch / pawl in the transmission (we’ll see), which i’ve jumped for now and a bunch of other little things before the body / frame shop.
- Thread starter
- #53
Worked through re-bleeding brakes, adjusting power steering pully alignment, filling transmission @ temp, etc. and the 80 swap went for its first lap around the block . Plenty more to work on, but it has left it's semi-permanent spot on that concrete pad to the left for the first time in ages.
- Thread starter
- #54
Have my shifter set up tentatively dialed in. Ended up with a small pile of brackets and parts from ordering the swaptime 10L80 / C10 kit and tor’s initial kit. Key to not having to put a new hole in the Toyota shift lever to shorten its throw to match the swaptime / factory transmission lever was @torfab ’s longer one. I’d like a better bracket set up on the top side of this, but will sleep on it.
Hi guys fellow Torfab / Swaptime 80 series swapper here and I have found a pretty simple solution to the Torfab shift linkage situation. I found the Torfab tab that mounts to my 8l90 transmission fit perfectly but the angle was off by a few degrees and my linkage rod was just a tad too long. My solution was to cut the bottom part (where the keyed slot is) off of the torfab transmission tab and weld on the factory GM tab, putting the arm at around a 40-45 degree angle facing towards the rear when the transmission is in park (photo) then I cut out a 4cm section from the torfab transmission linkage rod that connects the factory shifter and the tab to the transmission and rewelded everything back together with a cheopo harbor freight flux welder. It ended up working perfectly and my rig shifts across the PRND2L range with all the detents lining up as well.
Any updates?!!
Awesome work!
Awesome work!
- Thread starter
- #57
Two steps forward one step back kinda progress!
I’m also basically restoring everything else in this project too. Rebuilt the front axle and replaced with an rcv one and installed a new OME suspension / new bushings etc. back in the late spring, just did the rear axle last week and fixed my incorrectly installed (DS vs PS) springs, and installed new calipers and rotors and soft lines (and a couple hard ones too).
Most of the summer I was going down an expensive blind alley redoing the fuel rails, plugs, etc. thinking they were a problem when i was stuck with the truck cranking but not starting (except briefly with starter spray) it ultimately was a sneaky disconnected wire that I just couldn’t find until I did.
At present, i’m looking for a short or a parasitic drain that’s sucking the amperage out of my battery inside of a day of fully charging it. Getting closer to being ready to send it out for a little body work and a paint job… i hope.
Awesome man!
Your’s and Matt’s build thread are giving me hopes that a noob like me have a chance of tackling this project in a year or so!
Your’s and Matt’s build thread are giving me hopes that a noob like me have a chance of tackling this project in a year or so!
tmxmotorsports
SILVER Star
Has to be a major draw if it's draining the battery that fast
- Thread starter
- #60
Just got around to testing the alternator diodes. It looks like that is my culprit, but I am also a little suspicious of these spal fans pulling current when everything should be powered off.