TexZ's 1984 FJ60 LS/6l80 Swap and Build (1 Viewer)

[TexZ]

The build thread is long overdue so I thought I'd try and get yall caught up.

This project started in 2015 with a 1972 GMC C10. My brother and I are GM guys at heart but love pretty much anything with an internal combustion engine and at least two wheels. We've owned/built quite a few late model GM LS powered cars throughout our teens/20s/30s as well as a few motorcycles and 4x4s mixed in. As most logical enthusiasts come to realize, once you get married and have kids it becomes increasingly difficult to build motorcycles and two seat sports cars as well as having to give up some of your garage/shop space to the wifey's daily driver and family junk.

This happened to both of us at pretty much the same time leaving us with little time and money to sink into any high dollar builds so one day in 2015 I got the idea that we should set a budget ($5k) and buy a cheap hot rod/truck to do the long haul on the 2016 Hot Rod Power Tour. We ended up getting a 1972 GMC C10 long bed that already had a 5.3/4l60 swap, vintage air, and quite a bit of maintenance. The body was hideous but the main cancer areas had been repaired. Price was $5500. We decided to hot rod it a bit and put a 2.5/4" suspension drop on it and some better rubber with new wheels.

Before:





After:



The Power Tour was a success and we put almost 3,000 miles on the truck over the course of 8-9 days. We had a couple issues with the fuel system and wiring, especially the in-line fuel pump due to the hot July temps (this will come back up later with my decision to run an in tank pump for the FJ60).

 

[TexZ]

Our plan all along had been to sell the truck after Power Tour so that's what I attempted once back in Houston.

The C10 market was painfully slow and most people prefer SWB over the LWB, so the truck sat for about 5 months with minimal interest.

On one of my usual craigslist sessions I came across a well used 1984 Land Cruiser that said trades possible. I had been wanting an FJ60/FJ62 for quite a while so I emailed the guy and we met to inspect vehicles; the FJ seemed fairly solid with no cancer although it had it's fair share of body damage and other issues, understandably, for a 30+ year old offroad vehicle. We agreed on a straight trade, I probably got the worse end of the trade but it took care of two issues for me: the C10 was gone and I finally had my hands on the Land Cruiser I had been wanting.

Here are some pictures from the day I got it:

 

[TexZ]

Once the trade was complete, I started assessing the body/interior areas that would need work. Most of the lenses were cracked, the tailgate was rotted on the bottom, the front bumper was missing, the front seats were shot but rear seat okay, dash had plenty of cracks, interior panels were missing, etc. I realized that any attempts to have a perfect body and interior would be useless based on the amount of work needed and the fact that it will probably get scratched up, dented and abused once the family, dog, and myself start using it.

One of the previous owners decided to give it a rattle can paint job which I was initially completely against. After further inspection of all the issues it had, I started to like the idea of a vehicle with a solid chassis and driveline and a body and interior that functioned but wouldn't make me cringe any time it got a knick on the trail or junior wanted to crawl on top of it to watch the stars. Touch ups will be easy and I won't have to spend months doing paint and body work. It was decided...fix the major rust areas, touch up with spray can and move on with my life.

Body/Interior Pics:

Headliner




Dash




Tailgate rust. Apparently aluminum foil is meant for rust repair.




Tailgate




Lenses










Windshield gasket will be replaced with a trimless gasket and surface rust on roof




Passenger rear door dents. Lots of small imperfections like this on the body.

 

[TexZ]

Once the plan on the body and interior was sorted, I turned my attention to the engine bay. It was a natural decision for me to go LS and I knew I wanted an auto. I found a great deal on a 2013 5.3/6l80 pullout complete with computer/harness, accessories, and DBW pedal. I knew I wanted to retain the stock TC so I called Advance Adapters and purchased their 6l80 adapter and TC rebuild kit.

With the motor/trans/TC sorted, I focused on the rest of the drivetrain. Living in Houston where we drive all the time, I wanted to keep the suspension usable for combined offroad and street duty. I settled on an OME 2" med/heavy kit with greasable shackles, all from Cruiser Corps in OKC. I also opted for the Manafre HD steering kit; they also supplied the replacement tailgate, u-bolt flip kit for the leafs and an FJ62 intake box. I had the steering box rebuilt locally.

2013 5.3 (LMG) and 6L80e






Goodies!






Parts Pile




We started by pulling the 2f, 4 speed and transfer case.

Original 2f








Aftermath

 

[TexZ]

Motor mounts and a universal crossmember were purchased from Advance Adapters. We removed the front clip, cleaned out the engine bay of unnecessary 2f bits then cut off the original mounts. The transfer case was disassembled, unbolted from the manual transmission and then bolted back up to the 6l80 and adapter for mock up and motor mount placement.






Motor sitting on new mounts






TC rebuilt with Advance Adapters 6L80 adapter




Crossmember fabricated

 

[TexZ]

While working on the transmission crossmember and TC we noticed there was a decent bit of rust on teh frame rail under the front mount of the driver's rear leaf spring. As scope creep goes, I decided to pull the body, repair the frame, blast and paint it...the axles were already going to be pulled, the gas tank was getting replaced and the leafs and steering were all coming off so it made sense to do it at this point.

Body off frame with new drivetrain installed:




Before blasting




After blasting







We also discovered the 33 year old body mounts could probably use new bushings. These were ordered from Spectre Off Road along with a new hardware.

 

[TexZ]

That pretty much get's yall caught up on where it's at today. Starting a new company this year and a 1yr old has occupied a lot of my time and the two gentlemen doing a majority of the paid labor have also been busy lately so bare with me on the slow updates.

I hope to get the frame rust repaired next, then we'll move on to coating the frame with Rust Bullet. After that axles will get rebuilt with lockers and then bolted back up under the OME kit and new Manafre steering components.

 

[rrv333]

 

[TexZ]

The guys got the rust repair finished and completed blasting, there were only two spots to fix. The rear bumper crossmember had quite a few rust holes so that was removed but was coming out anyways once I get a chance to fab the rear bumper. I also order c-channel insert replacements from Trail Tailor; shipping was really fast and I was happy with the quality of the parts.

Axles are being torn down as well. We pulled the rear diff cover to check the gears and I'm surprised at how good they look for the mileage. The axles will get rebuilt next with the lockers and knuckles for the front. I also ordered refurbed calipers and extended stainless lines from Manafre. Frame will also get 2 coats of Rust Bullet.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

 

[Dridge]

Looks good man. I remember seeing that one On Craigslist a while back.
What part of Houston are you in? I'm pretty much right in the middle of Houston and Galveston.

 

[Off Duty]

Awesome build.

 

[cruiser enthuiser]

Awesome stuff! I would love to have a 6 speed auto behind my 5.3.

One suggestion...change out those AA motor mounts for something better now while it's easy. You'll regret not doing it later.

Keep it coming!


Cheers
-Ed

 

[TexZ]

Looks good man. I remember seeing that one On Craigslist a while back.
What part of Houston are you in? I'm pretty much right in the middle of Houston and Galveston.

I'm around 610/290 in Houston.

Awesome build.

Thanks! Long ways to go but we're almost finished with tear down.

Awesome stuff! I would love to have a 6 speed auto behind my 5.3.

One suggestion...change out those AA motor mounts for something better now while it's easy. You'll regret not doing it later.

Keep it coming!


Cheers
-Ed

What mounts did you use?

 

[cruiser enthuiser]

I had the AA's initially but changed them out because of excessive vibration at idle. I used a set from TLC that they use in their Vortec conversion kit. They utilize the GM rubber isolators which work well.

If you can fabricate a bit, and it looks like you can, their are tons of good LS mounts on the market.

 

[MANUCHAO]

I second what @cruiser enthuiser says about the motor mounts.... get LS specific mounts....

 

[NCFJ]

The primary reason that you get vibration with the AA mounts is that they outboard the isolation point. If you look at the two motor mounts and the cross member isolator from beneath you see a triangle with a long leg across the two motor mounts. If you move the isolators closer to the engine that allows the drive train to "twist" just a little and this greatly improves vibration isolation.