Thinking about converting my FJ40 to diesel...?

[90 Weight]

Ok so I went to cruise moab and blew my rear main... on my bran spankin new (less than 500 miles) crate GM 350....

This is the second crate 350 Ive gone through (first one shipped seized) and to be honest im beyond sick and tired of pulling my tranny and enginge out!

While at CM one of the proffitts cruisers guys talked to me about converting to a deisel.....


I will be getting a refund for $1300 ish for the crate motor....

I want the most reliable setup I can get without spending more than 2k if possible....

At this point it allready has the cheby conversion bracketry so the 6.5 would be a direct bolt up...

I currently have a new TH350 also...and am assumming that if I convert to diesel I would have to change that.

I know absolutely NOTHING about diesels.

I need to be able to cruise comfortably at 70 on the highway....
other than that Im mostly looking for reliability and offroad cappabiility....(the highway speed is vital)

What do you guys reccommend?

Stick with the 350 and just get one from a junkyard with EFI and hope for the best or jump into the diesel world?

Please make suggestions.



Thanks

Eli (90 Weight if you were at CM)

 

[cody c]

i think the cummins 4bt would be a good motor for your fj40, and i think they may fit your transmission. Proffits do this conversion, also there is a bit of info in the diesel section about this swap. Should get ya up to high way speeds better than a 3B!

 

[Jan-78FJ40]

Just some preliminary thoughts:
A diesel conversion will be more expensive than 2k. Even if you find a cheap old or rusted out donor truck, you still will need a lot of things.
If you go toyota, the 3B and 2H are old, cheap and reliable. With a turbo ($$$ or junkyard $) they will get up to speed. none of them will be fast, and if you are used to a 350, they'll seem especially slow.
The newer toyota engines are great, but a LOT more expensive.
If you go Cummins 4 or 6BT, it won't be cheap either.
In any case, I doubt that you have even a remote chance to get by with 2k, but maybe others will be more encouraging.

I think Profitts charges close to 15k for a conversion.
In my 60 I have a turboed 2H, with lots of new stuff like relays and tranny...and it was more than 15k.

cheers,
J

 

[cruiser_guy]

$2k for a diesel swap is probably a little light but for my money I'd go diesel and not look back.
Diesels are way more reliable than a gasser. Just give them their regular oil changes, adjust the valves and they'll go forever!
No more BS with spark plugs, timing, idle settings and all the other crap that goes with a gasser.

 

[79fj40moneypit]

Please do not do a 6.5 you will be very happy that you didn't.

 

[FL cruiser]

The turbo 350 would hold up and be reliable behind a 6.5. Need to buy a diesel torque converter though. You won't be able to cuise 70 MPH with a diesel and a TH350 unless you have some big tires or lower # gears. You need to figure in the cost of an OD tranny if going diesel. Diesels don't like cruising at higher RPM's. Even the 6.5 which does rev freely doesn't feel comfortable sustained over 2500 RPM.
In a 40 there won't be enough room under the hood for the 6.5's turbo if it has one.
The 6.5's exh manifold on the drivers side might have clearance problems. It can be overcome by mounting the engine higher in the engine compartment or moving or modifying the steering components.

I think you just had bad luck of the draw on the crate motor. Since you don't have lots of $$ to spend, for simplicity I think I would just go with another 350.

Please do not do a 6.5 you will be very happy that you didn't.

Why wouldn't he?

 

[90 Weight]

yea I think Im just going to have GM service the engine...since its under warranty. and then thow on holley throttle body ingection,