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FJ4overland

RamRod

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,914
Location
AB, Canada
Please don't use a 4l60e if you don't have to! I am planning on doing a swap on mine... 37's and a Supercharger is too much for the poor 4 speed. I think I'd just install what you have and then swap in a 6L when a good one comes around... But what do I know!?


Sent from handheld smoke signal device
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
4L60e is shorter than the 80e, so I kind of have to - however, with that said, I can make the 60e as strong as the 80e... as with anything it just costs a bit of $$
 

RamRod

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,914
Location
AB, Canada
I guess there is the "Raptor" kit from PATC or what ever they are called.... But isn't there only 4" difference in length? I guess it could make a difference in a rig that size
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
The driveshaft is like 19" Given that I'm going up 5"... yes, that's a lot
in other news.
the 350 is cleaner


I still don't know what I'm going to do, but I have a bit of time while I focus on the Posh SAR
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
tonight's work - solid, not show

looks solid, eh?

not so much


and another little hole


repairs






no more flintstone floors


​of course, next up is the roll cage so I'll be punching holes in those now solid floors...
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
well, I pushed the Land Rover outside... apparently the jerk who sent me the motor took the transmission apart at the adapter .... for no apparent reason .... at this point, I don't trust it - and minimum I have to pull the transmission and reseal the case... at worst, I'll be inside a transmission I don't know... needless to say, I'm about to dispute his payment for all of it. The complete motor has already cost me nearly a grand in extras (not including the extra shipping)...

anyway, on to more pedestrian things (and who knows, maybe the 300 tdi will land here and I'll scrap the land rover... okay, maybe I'm just mad and it'll blow over...

after some finagling I pulled the scrap... errr... 2F motor and 3 speed transmission. I hate scrapping it, but I have no room - so I think I'll do the craigslist ad "this week only" and if no nibbles. I need to make a scrap run anyway with the axles

P9280001_zpsc8e76309.jpg
P9280003_zps4b8d898e.jpg


 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
I picked up another motor today... $100.
P9290001_zpse6434e9d.jpg


The guy said it knocked, which is fine, I already have a rotating assembly in the other block.
It wasn't the bottom end

numbers 1st
P9290003_zps1307cbb8.jpg

a 350, vortec, truck
P9290002_zpsa98f1ad6.jpg


plugs look okay, not good, simply okay... hmmm
P9290004_zps90c90958.jpg


this is good, roller cam - after all, while I do want performance, I want stone-cold reliability.
P9290006_zps1f271118.jpg


this is what a motor that's been taken care of looks like
P9290005_zps4ffaf664.jpg


whoa whoa whoa... I've seen valves like that before
P9290007_zps014fecd1.jpg


I think I've found the knock
P9290008_zps73fe46c6.jpg


When I talked to the guy who pulled the motor he said "it didn't knock all the time"... unless you put grease in the oil pan (and I've seen that), a blown bearing knocks all the time - it simply gets louder with rpm

P9290009_zpsf821a234.jpg

not necessarily good news (spoiler alert, it is good news since there's no rust on the walls)

this looks good
P9290010_zps370431e9.jpg


I pulled the main caps later (no pictures) but they're in great shape - so good, that were I to cheap out, I'd simply retorque the caps, put a high-volume oil pump on and call it a day (no copper showing at all).... again, regular oil changes.

However, all is not lollipops - a couple of the lifters seem to be collapsed (maybe more than a couple) - which might have been the cause of the knocking. I bought this motor for the block (though I was surprised at non-4-bolt-mains - frankly that doesn't matter for what I'm doing, so surprise is about all I've got about that), and for all those neat little bits that cost so much to buy (bolts, covers, serpentine set up, oil cooler... etc).... I could have the heads done, and that'd be about $200 after the replace a bunch of valves, plus $150 to cut the seats for positive lock seals and higher lift... but I think I'm going to buy cheap, aluminum heads for the Corvette - and put the Corvette's heads on the Land Cruiser... we'll see, but that's my tentative plan for now.
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
so here's what I did... I bought aluminum heads, for the Corvette. 2.05/1.60 valve, aluminum heads would actually hurt the performance of the motor in this rig; but the Vortec heads, the ones that are nearly new, have screw in studs already and are machined for a greater-than .500 cam are perfect for this motor. Best of all, I can probably get all or most of my money "back" by selling these two sets of Vortec heads I currently own (I honestly believe anything I build from here on out will be LS, BBC, or BBB).

I mentioned that the transmission I'm using with the '40 is dual bolt pattern? no? still not going to put the Buick in, but it does give me options.
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
out of an abundance of curiosity and the desire to really irritate the folks who seem to think a plan is something to follow - I took this picture
P9300002_zpsf59e57bf.jpg


I think that shaft is give or take the same - 27 spline, it mic's the same - so an adapter and the ax-15 would bolt up to the np 205... but it's longer
P9300002_zpsf59e57bf.jpg


anyway, with that Stiney/Beagle distraction put off to the side... I needed my engine stand back so I assembled the other motor and turbo 350 to start some motor mounts
Of course, like all things SBG, I had other crap... err.. stuff to do first like remove the last of the stock steering components... this FJ40 was so special, it had 2 steering stabilizers... neither of them attached on both ends.
P9300003_zps46bb16e3.jpg


I can't wait to try the cover to see if I can get the transmission this far above the frame... if I can, then there will be a flat to the bottom of the frame skid plate (better break-over angles)
P9300005_zps1f98b325.jpg


I'm also not sure it's going to be back this far... rear drive line angles are going to be an issue with the 2.5 mile travel rear suspension (okay, a slight exaggeration) so the motor could move forward... but I'm going to run a mechanical fan.... anyway
P9300004_zps735a0206.jpg


stay tuned for the next exciting installment of how the FJ40 rolls.
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
So the crank is absolutely toast in the newest block, as are the cam bearings... no biggie because I have more cranks (it doesn't make me cranky, dammit!).
PA020001_zps002fdb42.jpg


and the rest of the rotating assembly
PA020002_zpsf5526b62.jpg


I'll take the block down tomorrow for a thorough cleaning, new cam bearings, and freeze plugs.... given the amount of casting sand that came out of this block, I think a thorough cleaning will save me some cooling grief later.
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
dropped it off today to get boiled out and new cam bearings whacked in. Got the cam today, it felt weird to order such a mild cam... I may need therapy.
 

cgalpha08

"Like Nothing Else"
Messages
3,584
Location
Indianapolis, IN
Question, where does one take an engine block to be cleaned like that? Obviously not a local mechanic, so I'm assuming custom shop of sortsm
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
No to the Vortec efi, initially it'll be a quadrajet or afb car

to get it soaked and jet cleaned - machine shop

Progress update:

new to me front axle which still has its bits inside (as opposed to the one that came with the rig that was missing bits)
PA050001_zps270ae825.jpg


the transfer case will not go in through the top...
PA060001_zps226ea397.jpg


that block of wood is a new way of mounting motors (hehe)
PA060003_zpsbc948ff1.jpg


the trans pan is flat to the frame, the engine is at 7* and the transfer case is just below the frame (failure)....
PA060004_zps77a57bc9.jpg

PA060008_zps5f45f2f4.jpg


That means I might be cutting the floor to move it up... though I need to set the bottom link suspension brackets to be sure... I might make a skid plate or skid plate mount that also holds the suspension parts....

with headers... or better, did you know that S-10 conversion headers will work pretty slick for this project?
PA060005_zps16ff112c.jpg


PA060007_zps08987ed6.jpg


and with the steering box sitting about where it goes
PA060006_zps92c45021.jpg


so I measured a tentative rear driveshaft... 18".... that is too short, I'm going with a 38" or 40" tire - so I can move the axle back 3 1/2" to give me a 24" (on an angle) driveshaft... which is better. I guess the thing this really determined is a gear splitter (which is 7" longer) is a bad idea and I need to go with the Atlas case (which is more expensive)... however, if I lower the motor, things could be better.... I dunno, will have to give this some thought
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
so did a bit more tonight
shock mounts need to go...
PA080009_zpsca523c7d.jpg

so I can set the steering box in place... ironically, it's the wooden motor mount that's now in the way.. but to fix that I need to set the motor
PA080010_zps55a991a8.jpg


​and I am using the radiator from the Studebaker.... it kept the 500 caddy cool, so it should be fine for this.
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
I dropped it down about 2", but now it hangs at least 6" below the frame. Maybe clocking it would be the right option. Before I do that; I'm going to get the axles where they belong and visualize the links.... maybe the right thing to do would be attach the lower arms to the back of the skid plate (and front) if that works, then the case can stay this low.
PA090001_zpscc6ef27b.jpg
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
NHC (not H4O content) but related to this build because this frees up the heads for my '40
because I simply must test the stock rod bolts... I'll add this to my Corvette on Sunday

the first, and most important test of aluminum heads is the sniff test. For those of you who don't have a bloodhound, I'm not sure how you adequately perform this


these things are amazing, for less than $600 delivered - notice, it's also drilled for either the Vortec or the old-style intake


for those who don't, I suggest shop slippers




the important red-filter test


These things are pretty nice. They have cheap springs on them, they aren't blended at all and there is a bit of casting flash - they aren't machined at all except what is required - which actually tells a good story about their casting process.... good grief, these things are good castings (no big divots anywhere or poor mold prep), 2.05 intake, heads. They use the vortec design, you can get with angle or straight plug, and have old-school valve cover bolt pattern (which is cool since I have finned valve covers I want to put on my C3). I'm really impressed. $579 on ebay.

I may, actually, pull the motor and put ARP rod bolts on the bottom end... naw. I just have to be careful and keep my 5500 rev limiter firmly in place.
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
progress?


off the Corvette and cleaned for paint.


primered


I figure since all of my Land Cruisers have come in tan or blue, I might as well nod to those colors on this one (the truck is going to be a burnt orange with great top and accents)

 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
from the way-back machine.... how many have actually used this type of ring land cleaner?


we have the engine assembly area... aka the welding area... aka parking


honed and cleaned


after blowing off and oiling... drying


I guess now is time to do this.... I had a parts washer, but it was a pain - beside being messy, keeping solvent in it was problematic and it required 20 gallons of solvent.... I got a sand blaster cabinet, hoping to clean with it... but it didn't work either... so when a friend was looking for a blaster for his C3 build, I made him an offer he couldn't refuse... I'd trade him my assembled one with oxide in it for a unassembled one.



the idea is this. a 5 gallon container for fluid under the cabinet, weld the bottom so it's liquid tight, have a pump with a brush, but also air pressure to blast parts with fluid - then run it through a filter back into the bucket. Since it's sealed, and has explosion proof lights, I can get pretty aggressive with cleaning and not have the mess...to buy one starts at $5,000... anyway, building this is tomorrow's job

 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
getting closer, it was a decision between building a new sink or brazing the parts together.... lots of warp, but still square, the solvent doesn't care..
clean the sealant off




braze together... I did cheat by tacking it together with the mig and mig'ing the screw holes closed...








Sunday, I'll finish it up and clean the parts I built this for.




total cost $250 including solvent.
 
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