Build Red Dawn (60 converted 62 Build Thread w/ R2.8)

[TheNeek]

Designed and fabricated an oil filter mount that uses one of the factory brackets on the drivers side. I added some holes to mount the grid heater solenoid as well.

Photos aren't really in order but you get the idea.

 

[FredinAK]

Looks great. I’m at 95% complete with my 2.8 install. Been driving it around listening, feeling and smelling for anything out of place. I ran into many of the same issues you highlighted and it was fun reading through your posts.

 

[TheNeek]

Looks great. I’m at 95% complete with my 2.8 install. Been driving it around listening, feeling and smelling for anything out of place. I ran into many of the same issues you highlighted and it was fun reading through your posts.

I look forward to the days were I am driving this pig around.

 

[FredinAK]

I look forward to the days were I am driving this pig around.

It’s more driveable than the 2F. No problem doing 75 mph where before it really didn’t like going over 60 mph. I went with the tremec 4050 so having an overdrive 5th is great for the lower diesel rpms. Doesn’t stall in first when just using the clutch off idle.
I’ll be watching you continue your build.

 

[TheNeek]

I'm going to have to redo that oil filter mount. Need a smidge more space to add the fuel filter / water separator. Oh well.

I got the fuel tank out (ate a pound of dirt) this weekend and continued plugging away at the power steering reservoir mount.

This needs two holes more and then some tabs for the tank. Cap needs a vent as well.

 

[TheNeek]

It's been a little bit. Had some yard work to do. Mulch and grass. Had the time to get a few things done though. I tried to get some EFI to 6AN fittings for the fuel filter / water separator. Turns out the stock fittings on this filter are pretty short in length so all of the fittings I tried would push on but not lock. If you've used these fittings before then that probably make sense. They are common on LS fuel rails, etc. So instead of trying to adapt them to AN, I just took them off to see what kind of threading and sealing was going on. I discovered an o-ring seal underneath:

Also found out it was a M14x1.5. Just my luck, I had two fittings that would do the trick. They were purchased for the ATF section of the radiator previously before I realized they didn't have an inverted flare.

Put the O-Ring on.

Bob's your uncle.

Pretty pleased with that. I was struggling with the EFI fittings. Granted, it came with fittings that would go to standard fuel line, but I'm going for something a bit more OEM+. Speaking of being pleased. I was not very with the oil filter / fuel filter / grid heater solenoid mount I made earlier. So I did it again, this time out of 1/8 aluminum. I re-visited the CAD design a bit and added some dimpled holes as well.

Everything fits pretty well.

I'm going to swap the fuel and brake lines to the driver's side. Even though my exhaust runs half on the passenger and half on the driver, I think it's smartest to keep the fuel and brakes away from the turbo charger.

I made a few supports for my PS reservoir as well. That is all ready to go now:

 

[TheNeek]

The R2.8 doesn't want a lift pump for fuel. I was hoping to convert my FJ62 fuel tank to use a FJ60 standard pickup which doesn't have a lift pump. After some research and looking at a part that @red66toy had, it was concluded that it's really not possible without serious modifications to the tank, or just converting to an FJ60 tank all together. So I dropped the tank and started snooping around for a different solution.

Nothing earth shattering here. As an aside,I did really like the baffling inside the FJ62 tank. It is well executed and it satisfied my desire to run a hydramat. There really didn't seem like a giant need as the mat would be stuck in the small baffling anyway. I noticed that the pump has a built in inlet on the end cap and that the whole assembly has a defined height that makes the screen pickup at the right depth.

I didn't need the pump, so I decided 'let's see what this aluminum flange is all about'. So I destroyed the pump and started mocking up how to take the pump out of the circuit.

Here is the concept. Welding to that bottom flange was not fun. I had to heat it up for a long time to get all the impurities out of it (sitting in fuel for decades). But I finally got it. It's not pretty but it will work.

I cut off the normal threaded ends of the pickup and flared on a -4 and -5 fittings (return and supply respectively).

All finished. New lid gasket, screen and retaining clip.

Fit and torqued in place after a few cups of diesel sloshed around in the tank. Time for some cleanup.

Ready to go back in after a little rust conversion around the edges (stone chips) and some POR-15 top coat.

 

[TheNeek]

I'm in the process of moving the brake and fuel lines to the drivers side. I was chatting with @FredinAK and decided to take on that project just like he did. This meant that most everything was off the frame. Couple that with the gas tank modification above and I have some access to most of the frame surfaces which is a rare opportunity. I can't imagine that I will have this much access again without lifting the body off. So I took on doing a hand brushed rust conversion and top coat. I even dropped the cross member (again) so I could clean it up and paint it at as well. I spent a total of 3 days on this project. The first day was all cleaning. Brushing the frame with degreaser and scrubbing it by hand. It was not fun, but exposed many of the reasons for why something like this needs to be done. The rust converter suggests letting things dry for 24 hours.

Nothing terrible yet. Good timing probably to get this done and keep this truck from needing a new frame for a while. I left the suspension on, just the leaf springs. I assume I might drop the axles at some point and clean them up along with the rest of the attachment points down the road.

I decided to use Corroseal. The Corroseal is a rust conversion and primer. It had good reviews on Amazon. It has the consistency and even smell of watered down elmers glue. Brush it on and let it dry for 24 hours as well. It turns a little purple on the rust then drys black. I almost wish it didn't dry black because it makes putting a top coat on more difficult.

Pretty easy product to use. You can see that it turns a good black color, but as I mentioned that makes it difficult to make sure you've got top coat on all the conversion which has turned into primer. So The 3rd day was spent putting two coats of POR-15 Chassis Black Top Coat on the frame. Same stuff I've been spraying out of the rattle can, but it comes in a quart size.

A couple fresh bolts for the shocks and the gas tank straps and the frame work was all done.

 

[TheNeek]

The keen observers among you will notice that the core support for the truck was black. I think this was done because of the 60 front end swap. It was white underneath the black so I'm not entirely sure what is what. With all this work going on under the hood it makes sense to put some effort behind making all the pieces look like they are factory or a little bit better. So welcome everyone to Neeko's Super OK Body Shop. Where our motto is, "We'll spray if the weather is ok".

After the modifications I did to get the intercooler and radiator mounts done, the core support was removed and the sanding began. The black undercoating or chassis paint that was used was flaking off so it was fairly easy to remove. In some spots the black paint had been bubbled? Kind of like the spray can wasn't spraying well or it was some sort of undercoating. Anyway. I focused mostly on the upper parts of the core support to try and make the finish when the hood is open fairly smooth. I also filled a bunch of holes that these things get when electrical things are run or holes are drilled to mount things.

Neeko's super tech spray booth:

Seam sealer

A little bit about paint. In retrospect it would have probably been cheaper to go to a local paint body shop that fills spray cans and had them mix up some for me. The core support took 3 rattle cans and I used every drop. I bought this stuff from Amazon and I was pretty happy with the color match. below is the passenger door and some of the fasteners I sprayed for connecting the core support to the fenders. It's pretty close. I almost can't tell a difference at all. I think the color cans are a little light with actual paint. There seems to be less color material in there when compared to the clear. The clear goes on real thick and I only used two full cans of clear.

I mounted the core support top rail with fasteners as it seems to get painted all at once from the factory. I primed them separately as you see above to keep that surface where they meet from rusting.

This next photo is just color:

This one is with the clear:

And here we go with the Neeko's Super OK Body Shop finish where our motto is "If it won't be seen then we are very keen."

I will probably hit these top surfaces with a quick buff just to try and bring out the finish a little. All in all, very happy with the results. Just need to get a few hardline things done in the engine bay and down the driver's side and it will be all ready to go back together. I'll also be doing the fender wells, just the surface that is internal to the engine bay. This concludes our visit to Neeko's Super OK Body Shop where our motto is "We have a plan if it comes from a rattle can".

 

[TheNeek]

Hardlines. As I mentioned, decided to convert the truck over from passenger side brake and fuel lines to driver's side. Since my exhaust crosses over at the transmission member I decided to cross the brakeline over as well. I also deleted the LSPV. Really just trying to avoid the turbo charger area. So many of the factory lines come out from the frame rails right at the exact point where turbo is on the R2.8. This means that the front axle lines need to be re-run and the flexible "drop down" moved to the drivers side as well. So here we go. I used 3/16 steel line from Earls that has an olive coating on it. It looks almost identical to the original line. So the first lines were pretty simple. After positioning the Wilwood proportioning valve and the brake line "T" on the axles, just bent them up and flared them.

Then moved towards the front axle and back towards the rear axle. I made a few brackets to locate the drop down and hold the proportioning valve along with a brake line clamp I repurposed from the frame.

Bending up the front axle:

You can see the T junction here:

Then across to the passenger caliper:

Here is the rear brake line before I put it in:

Here is where the line crosses over at the c pillar meets up with the passenger rail. The rest of the fittings are all stock including the rear axle.

 

[TheNeek]

Next up is the powersteering lines. The R2.8 comes with a powersteering pump. It is on the passenger side. So I decided to replicate the factory hardlines with AN fittings to allow for the new pump. Earl's makes a line of powersteering fittings and hose (basically air brake line) that I used on the pressure side. It is standard AN stuff on the low pressure return to the reservoir I made and back to the pump.

The dangling line is the beginnings of my transmmission cooler lines. These next few photos are the pressure side and the Earl's hardware.

Pretty easy to use. Builds like regular AN line just more difficult to the hose in and clamp the fitting on.

 

[FredinAK]

Looks great. I like the fuel pump modification. Keeps the sock screen functional.

 

[TheNeek]

Been working on the fuel lines. Same sort of story as the brake lines. It isn't ideal, but they have to run them next to the exhaust for a little bit. I crossed over at the same place as the brake lines and am aiming at the fuel tank from the center of the truck. I think avoiding the turbo side is really the intent here. The cross over portion of the line is run under heat shield as well so it won't be cooking on the muffler. Started off making some brackets and what have you to make a track and plan for how the lines will be run. I started with the 5/16ths line (Please God let the factory size be big enough).

This is a factory exhaust bracket for the CATs.

I made a little riser and adapter for the brake line and the fuel.

I made this one for near the parking brake cable cross member.

And this aluminum clamp for the shock hoop.

Got 80% of the supply line done yesterday. Man it was hot in the PNW the last few days. Starting at the back, you can see the tank connections, one has a 90° AN fitting.

Looking back from there you can see the middle bracket and the cross over above the heat shield.

Wider view looking forward

Wider view looking back. Nothing is tightened up yet so the fuel line is touching the shock hoop at the moment. I'll get that off of there when I get both lines done.

My passenger knuckle is dripping oil. Not sure if that is reason for concern or just an effect of it sitting with out being used for a period of time? Should I be spinning the front axle and turning the wheels to keep that grease mixed up?

 

[TheNeek]

Fenders and core support!

 

[TheNeek]

I had to modify the intercooler to clear the steering box. Note to others, use your fenders for mock up, not some angle iron. I got the pitch of the core support wrong and now I had to redo the drivers's side outlet from the intercooler and the intake pipe. Both are done and finally welded.

Got most of the flexible fuel lines built and installed. This first one is hard to see, but is the fuel return.

Hope to get the passenger's side intake tubing done or at least started this weekend. Getting closer. Wiring is going drive me crazy.

 

[TheNeek]

Made a couple of modifications to the radiator pipes. One is a bung for the SPAL fan thermoswitch that goes on the upper pipe, the other is a port for the overflow bottle on the lower pipe. The R2.8 manual wants a coolant pickup from the lower hose. I put it at the highest point of the lower pipe, assuming it would help bleed the system. I put the thermoswitch on the upper pipe to get the coolant temp right after the thermostat. I'm running a warmer thermoswitch (starts blowing at 190° and full bore at 215°) so I'd like to get the hottest temp leaving the engine.

I also had to put a small bend in the lower hose to avoid the fan. It fits pretty well.

Happy with the upper hose as well. The SPAL thermoswitch will not be in the way of anything and routing the wiring should be easy enough to do.

I redid the entire passenger charge pipe. That means that of all the original work I did on coolant and air routing, only one of them was unchanged. Nothing like doing the job twice. I welded directly to the cast aluminum plennum for the turbo. The Vibrant HD clamps will allow for quite a bit of relative movement but I'll keep and eye on this pipe for cracking.

All this extra work was so I could use the original air box. Just need to fabricate a MAF tube and the air and fuel are completely done.

I still need to button up the heater circuit and install the overflow before I can call the coolant system finished.

 

[TheNeek]

I tried to make the FJ80 filter housing top work. Didn't want to cut it apart. I think @NookShneer will be able to use it for his LS swap. I decided I can do something to make a new intake outlet. I took the original filter top that I cut the AFM mount off of, grabbed some exhaust tubing around the garage and got to work. It could end up looking ok, or terrible. Aiming for OK.

Basic idea

Started opening up the 3" pipe to cover the upright

Trimmed to fit the the upright and started trying to contour it. I wish I had a shrinker / stretcher to make the dome a little more pronounced.

Distillery top or LandCruiser intake? I had a stout washer from some BMW strut assembly tops which work pretty well to act as the wing nut location. Trimmed and bead rolled the outlet.

I bought a steel MAF mount and got that tacked in as well. The R2.8 needs a 3" intake pipe to monitor the air flow, otherwise I would have done something smaller. Here it is in the truck. I think I'm going to cut the tack welds and clock the outlet on the top to get those brackets and weirdness out of the way. Looks OK which was the goal. Some black paint will make it disappear and hopefully blend into the background after I finish weld it.

 

[TheNeek]

I'm going to have to modify that intake. The MAF doesn't quite fit the way I was hoping. I recessed the MAF mount which I didn't do during the original mock up so it's not going to fit at the moment. No biggie. I ordered a 3" to 2" transition that I will weld onto the filter top to take the place of that silicone transition. While I am waiting for that piece to show up, it's getting to be about that time to wire up some stuff. So this weekend I put the battery trays and batteries in and started placing some of the electrical stuff. First on the list is the ECM. My plan is to use the driver's side battery as the main battery so putting all the engine related electronic pieces over there seems to make sense. The carb fan on the driver's fender isn't needed. Seemed like a good place. I've seen some other installs do place the ECM there as well.

Make a plate.

Make another plate.

Modified the ECM plate for two reasons.
1) The 4 big holes give access to the mounting bolts on the opposite plate.
2) The bolt circle is to give access to weld. I can weld the spacer on when it's just a single plate, but when I add the second plate, there isn't any access. This took ages to mock up in the car, clock it and trace out where it goes. I did tape, markers, even some globs of paint to try and transfer the location.

I don't know if this is the "correct" way to to do this, but it seems to work.

Ground the welds flat so that the ECM sits flush and isn't being pressed on by the weld beads.

Yet another part that I spent a considerable amount of time on that no one will ever see. I love this stuff.

Pulled out all the harnesses and wiring. The engine side, the fan stuff, anything that is required to get this thing started and started organizing it. The list is getting shorter and shorter before I get to key-on. Plan is to get it running with wires all over the place, then clean things up (fairly typical concept).

The mess:

Slowly getting organized:

 

[Haggis]

WOW...Amazing work!!

 

[Noot]

Definitely an inspiring build, just about to undertake an engine conversion in my HJ60 - not an R2.8 though - and the attention to detail you are displaying is amazing!