Replacement engine

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mines a blue 77. Ive only seen 4 other FJ's in SC in the however many years Ive had mine. There is however a guy who used to live relitively close to me with an imaculate red FJ40. I also saw one time a red FJ40 (looked like an older model) sittin on huge 39'' swampers on a Spring over Axle. And dont worry, im sure you'll be hearing from me. THANKS!
 
'Heck of a lot of FJ's in SC. Upstate Cruisers is the club. New website being built.... nothing operational at this point.
http://www.upstatecruisers.org/

I understand their are some guys with a shop in Fort Mill, SC that know what they are doing.

John Sherwood
Charlotte, NC '79 FJ40, TLCA, Upstate Cruisers
 
Upstate Cruisers has never had much web stuff. Sorry I couldn't help.
LOL...not that I'm any help anyway. Ask me any old thing you want
and I'll try to answer if I can.
As for the question at hand; that is, to F or not....
You'll never regret rebuilding that engine. Do it right and it'll probably
outlast everyone reading this. No lie. 10 years into my 20+ years of
cruiserdom I went with new crank and new out from there.
Trust me on this one. That can be one damn dependable engine.
It's no screamer but the tortoise does sometimes win the race.
Did you join the club? Could I help you? I'm their TLCA delegate.
David Harrison
 
There are a couple of options to solving a wallowed out harmonic balancer woodruff key slot. All of them involve pulling the motor, and taking out the crank. Then you can: weld it shut and remachine. This would be my choice. You'll probably need a new balancer as it will be walloed out on the inside as well...You can machine the key slot wider, but good luck finding a machine shop to widen the internal slot in the balancer. You can weld/braze a new key into the crank. The easiest way to go is to get a good used crank and balancer. As you state the motor was recently rebuilt, I'd to a compression/leakdown test before teardown, and it the results are good, leave it all alone. Merely replacing the carnk is something you can do your self with nothing special other than an engine hoist, torque wrench, and regular hand tools...
 
IMO Either have the harmonic balancer/pulley welded to the crank where it sits, or expect to put a bunch of work and $$ into your I6. Once you get into the engine, you are going to find more and more "precautionary" fixes. Not to mention that, in order to get the crankshaft out (to swap it with another, or to repair your balancer issue), the tranny/t-case will have to be pulled.
If you don't just "cut your losses" and have the balancer welded, you WILL have to pull the engine. Even if you, were able to pull the crank, with the engine in. There is no way you will get it back in correctly. But If you try, I would pay to watch,... it won't be pretty.

The I6's are fine engines, and will run literally forever if you don't "tamper" with them. But the economics will work out much more in your favor going to a 350, or most any Chev (V8 or V6). Once the initial parts are accumulated and installed, you could literally swap in and out a dozen junkyard V8's for the price of rebuilding an F or 2F once. If you are going for a rebuild, buy one from MAF or SOR, or someone who's done a bunch. Landcruiser parts cost way to much (in comparison to Chevy,... or F*rd parts, for that matter), to have a mechanic botch a rebuild.
 
Personally, I would NOT install a SBC. I think the reliability of a Toyota engine, gas or deisel, is way ahead of the Chevy. Yes parts, when you need them, are more expensive, but you don't need them as often :D. My '78 Corolla had well over 200,000 miles (odometer cable broke) before it was off the road due to rust. The engine was still untouched and did NOT burn any oil and had great power. Not many Chevies go that far, and they don't work as hard either!
Both my current 'Cruisers are pushing 300,000 miles!
I would do as others have said and replace the crank. If you can get hold of an engine hoist and engine stand it won't be more than a week or so (between work and otherthings) to get done if you've got average wrenching skills. I stripped a wrecked Toyota 3B (4 cylinder deisel) in about 6-7 hours right down to a bare block.
If you need a crank I've got one from a 2/76 2F engine. $75 + shipping.
 
chevy small block, i have three and they all run very well 67,72,76, building another 72 that will be a rock mollester small blocks are inexpensive and easy to work. i cant give away the f head and 2f head i have in the corner of the shop. but of course my first vehicle was a 76 chevy 1/2 ton so i guess it had to start somwhere.
good luck whatever ya do it's all about what works for you
happy diggin
 
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