FJ60 LS Swap - From Oil Burner to Gas V8 - Stoffregen Motorsports

Prepping the V8 for the bellhousing adapter. The Mark's kit had pretty much everything I needed including the flywheel, new flywheel bolts, clutch disc and pressure plate, new ARP pressure plate bolts, a pilot bearing and adapter, plus the bellhousing stuff which I will show next.













 
Putting the bellhousing adapter together was simple, but I read the instructions none the less. I have been caught out before only to read about the mistake in the instructions...

The only Toyota parts used in the bellhousing kit are the clutch fork, slave cylinder, iron bellhousing and some of the bolts, which I didn't have because of the previous swap. No worries, to the spares box for more.





 
I partially disassembled the motor to make it easier to do the install. The manifolds and accessory drive came off and went on the cart for later use. I wasn't quite sure what was going to happen once the motor was in the engine bay, but it went together quite easily, even with the spud shaft.







 
Are ya having any fun yet :)

This swap in an 80 or 60 really is a game changer in regard to how you view and drive the truck. My wife's 80 is stock power and always a let down for me after driving the swapped rigs. She refuses to let me swap it until it shoots a rod or similar..

I bet it's a game changer. I can't wait to find out.

I have a couple questions for you, Stan. Since the truck came to me with a swapped in engine, I didn't get the opportunity to measure everything. It seems like the engine centerline is supposed to be offset, but I don't know by how much, and I also don't know what rake the OEM engine has. Rake doesn't matter too much, I'll put it where I want it, but it would be nice to know what was there before.
 

Memento_Vivere

New member
Fantastic work, always enjoy your builds, the amazing things you do with vehicles. Also, out of curiosity, what will be done with the MBZ engine?

Sent from my KYOCERA-C6745 using Tapatalk
 

Scrapdaddy

Adventurer
I don't know if you're planning on a/c, but between the compressor and the power steering pump on the other side, there won't be a lot of room. Move the motor towards the driver's side a little, but watch the space between the pump and the steering box. Might want to mount all the pieces and see where you're at. I've heard Chevys like a 5 or 6 degree rake.

What oil pan is that, looks nice.
 
Fantastic work, always enjoy your builds, the amazing things you do with vehicles. Also, out of curiosity, what will be done with the MBZ engine?

Thanks. When we're certain that we don't need it anymore, the diesel will be sold. At will be a complete package ready for Toyota installation, so it should sell quick. But then, maybe not.

I don't know if you're planning on a/c, but between the compressor and the power steering pump on the other side, there won't be a lot of room. Move the motor towards the driver's side a little, but watch the space between the pump and the steering box. Might want to mount all the pieces and see where you're at. I've heard Chevys like a 5 or 6 degree rake.

What oil pan is that, looks nice.

That's great head's up advice. I worry that if there's too much rake, the front driveline suffers. Ideally it would be flat. Oh, that's a Tilden Motorsports pan. The same company that sold me the engine.
 
The motor mounts are done, but I had to lower the engine to clear the hood. It's finally resting at just under 5 degrees. Fabrication is the name of the game at this stage, so I'll just keep going until I run out of things to weld. The exhaust y-pipe and collector should be done today and hopefully I'll have it connected to the exhaust pipe. Then on to the fan shroud. I'm making one out of steel instead of aluminum this time around.

Pics later today (hopefully)!
 

Shanfari

DhofarX.com
Amazing swap and build! Looks very tiny compared to Nissan's VK56DE 5.6L. The Japs should use the old school OHV V8 for 4x4's and SUV's, DOHC is only great for sports cars and sedans and cost a lot of money and engine bay space!
 
Amazing swap and build! Looks very tiny compared to Nissan's VK56DE 5.6L. The Japs should use the old school OHV V8 for 4x4's and SUV's, DOHC is only great for sports cars and sedans and cost a lot of money and engine bay space!


Thanks. It is much smaller than today's multi cam V8's. I've often wondered why Toyota, Nissan and others completely skipped the pushrod V8 and went right to complex valvetrain setups. The power delivery from a pushrod V8 is so much more linear than with the others. That said, I'm not really a big fan of the standard Chevy small block, but GM and Vortec really nailed it with the LS.
 
Making some good progress here. Started on the fan shroud yesterday and got the y-pipe done too.

We decided to use the Advance Adapters headers based on the simplicity. Also, they are a small runner design so the torque should be good. They use 16ga tubing as opposed to other manufacturer's 18ga so they should last a bit longer too, but we're going to have the whole header/y-pipe assembly ceramic coated anyway. That should take care of any longevity issues. The AA headers also have 3/8" thick flanges as compared to the competitor's 5/16" flanges.





Had to make a turn to get the heat away from the oil filter.



Jigged up a driveshaft at full suspension compression to make sure we cleared there too.

 
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Completed y-pipe assembly.





In this pic you can see a plate above the crossover section. That is 12ga steel that will eventually be a lower bellhousing cover for the original 2F bellhousing. I had it in place to make sure the tubing cleared.



 
Building the fan shroud. I wanted it to be deep to maximize the airflow through the whole radiator core, also to help keep the air focused as it exits the shroud. Normally I'd use aluminum, but the whole nature of this build is rugged-ness, and steel is so much more forgiving when it comes to wear and fatigue. Plus, if it does ever crack, anyone can weld it up. Not so with aluminum.

Here are the crappy electric fans we pulled out.



The Champion radiator already had good mounting bosses and flange, giving me plenty of room to secure the shroud.



Basic shroud begins with 16ga steel and then bent strategically at the edges of the fan blade tips.





Scribing the hole center the old school way.



And lastly, the new fan blade and clutch. OE fan for $35, aftermarket HD clutch for $65. Gotta love GM...

 

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