The reincarnation of trusty rusty.. will it work?

[islando]

Ok.
so I must profess, I am not a cruiser fanatic... But I do consider myself a religious diesel advocate. Not only for the reliability and economy, but also for the war-karma-free bio-diesel and veggie oil options.

I drove an 86 isuzu trooper II Turbo diesel for 4 years..
it was unforgivingly reliable. Took me down to central mexico twice from seattle, all around canada, the US, and saved my life in several situations including almost being swept off a cliff in a flash flood.

The downside: about 1' to short to sleep stretched out in the back.. (I travel a lot out of my truck)

So I sold it in persuit of a toyota diesel bj60.. After relizing how much a decent bj sells for I opted to settle for a mechanically sound but rusty 84 for a good price.. I planned to eventually swap the running gear into a fj..

A year and some change later, I am still driving the BJ and it has earned the name trusty rusty.. The rear shock mount rusted out and is gone.. fine for me but my rear passengers get a real fun ride whenever we go over a bump.. I jimmy rigged a string on a pully to replace the fuel shutof solenoid that froze up.. and I cringe every time I hit a speedbump knowing that my frame is rusted halfway through.. The 3b and 5sp tranny run like new.

So the exiting part is that I just got an oct-85 FJ60.. its in almost mint condition.. bought from the second owner who bought it at 7k miles. He is a doctor and meticulously maintained it like it was his own child.. It doesn't have any rust on it at all.. everything works, nice tires, and a bumping sound system to top it off..

I have searched the forums here for hours but still am not sure of the true answer to my question..

When is the cut of date for adaptability in 1985??

I have heard that a 3b can be put in pre 84 and some of 85 fjs by only moving the motor mounts a bit, and using a press to change out the driveshaft flanges.. Somwhere in 85 or 86 something changed that makes it much more work to do the conversion..

Anyone Know???

If the new truck is not the ideal candidate, I would rather sell it and keep searching for the right one than spend the extra time fussing with the conversion..

Also..

If I do have the right truck for the job then I will have a good 2f motor and 4sp/transfer case for sale as well as a couple of other parts that I dont need..


oh yes, and thanks for all the posts that you all have left.. the information has been super helpful along the way..
cheers,
Islando

 

[brownbear]

Well, welcome to the board.

I have read a lot on this forum, been thru most of the threads. I have not heard of year compatabilty. The 3b will not be combatable to your FJ. But you can weld in your own mounts and use the drive train from the BJ. So it doesn't matter.

The 2H from what I have read is the direct drop in. What ever that means. Supposedly mates to tranny and mounts.

But since you have a BJ, then dropping the gear into a Fj(rust free ) is the way to go.

A rust free happy body is the way to go. Just transfer over all the BJ stuff. Including the gauges.

 

[crushers]

ummm...
questions Rosco...
---he is talking a 85 FJ60 to a 85 BJ60...where is the 87 t/case coming into it?
---the cross members of the H55F and the H42 are in the same location on the frame so ... i am wondering why the difference...
---85 BJ60 is vacumm shift t/case

drop the entire engine and tranny into the FJ60 bolting the cross memeber of the tranny into same location, cut the engine m frame mounts off the BJ60 and leave them bolted to the engine for a location and once inserted into the frame then weld them in. you will need to swap the rads since the inlet ond out let are on opposite sides.
the wiring i will leave to you to figure out but go with a manul glow system and swap out the glow plugs for the earlier style.
the drive shafts will be the same length if the H42 has the spacer behind it.
easy swap when you have both units side by side...
cheers and good luck
<post a swap thread with pics...lots of pics>

 

[roscoFJ73]

ummm...
questions Rosco...
---he is talking a 85 FJ60 to a 85 BJ60...where is the 87 t/case coming into it?
---the cross members of the H55F and the H42 are in the same location on the frame so ... i am wondering why the difference...
---85 BJ60 is vacumm shift t/case

I dont know ,Im washing the floors,surfing the net and trying to get rid of the Johovahs Witnesses

 

[crushers]

I dont know ,Im washing the floors,surfing the net and trying to get rid of the Johovahs Witnesses[/QUOTE}
JW, easy... not interested and shut the door
washing floors? you not married?

curious, how do you wash flors, surf net and talk at the door all at the same time?

 

[islando]

Thanks for the start. If you hear of anymore info let me know.. I still have a few more weeks before I make the first move.

I am definately going to go with the manual relay but what do you mean about the glo plugs? earlier than 84? whats the diff?

 

[cruiser_guy]

For the wiring why not just swap the entire dash and wiring harness from the connector to the rear (behind the front seats) forward? That gets the right tach, the right relays and all in a factory configuration for ease of troubleshooting later.

 

[fe sus]

I have to say the 84BJ guts into the 84FJ was a bit easier than the 84BJ into an 87FJ (I'm working on that one now), but nothing that can't be worked out with a little patience, tool throwing and cursing.