My 60 mods thread

[ntsqd]

Well, the engine swap donor arrived last weekend. It will likely also donate it's rear disc brakes (PBR?) to the FJ60 cause. Traded off the Dune Buggy for it. I learned to drive off road in the DB, but it has been mostly sitting for the last several years and it was time for it to go. I may miss it later, but I don't now. Kind of relieved actually.

Oh, anyone need some Scout II sheet metal? That one is about to have a sawzall accident.

 

[ntsqd]

Finally got it out in the dirt. Went for a day trip up into the Los Padres NF. Cherry Creek Road saddle:

 

[ntsqd]

Changes, they are a comin'

 

[4Rescue]

Man your 60 (espescially in it's oh so sexy desert tan color) is really making me want to build a 60 and move the 4Runner to "Trail toy" status. Sorry (I guess??) to hear about teh Buggy going, I grew up with Uncles that built those and sand rails all through my youth and I loved every minute riding in or driving them. It's crazy to me where a 2wd locked Myers Manx would go and how impressive the 4wd trucks were that couldn't follow it ... Just goes to the old addage that it's 90% driver 10% equiptment eh. Light weight doesn't hurt either

Thanks for the pics and can't wait to see what you have in store for her.

Cheers

Dave

 

[ntsqd]

Thanks Dave, I wasn't too sure that the FJ would do what I wanted it to do but once a few more of these mods are in place I see it doing everything the Sub did and more.

I never thought that I'd sell the buggy, but it had been sitting for the last 5 years slowly going to junk. It was time that someone else got pleasure from it. The fellow who got it gave it to his ~12 y.o. son as a B-Day present. It's care and upkeep are the boy's responsibility. I since I work with the family chasing their desert racer I'll still get to drive it on occasion, but I'm not terribly excited to do so. None the less I expect that I'll be asked to show them how to drive it to it's best advantage at some time or other.

I'm beginning to possibly understand something about this OME kit that I've been less than satisfied about. MAF sells the kit with their own bushings, not OME's bushings. I think that is a critical failure on MAF's part, it sells short what the kit can really do. I bought OME springs and bushings for the front of my '84 Xcab from Cruiser Outfitters. I've (finally!!!) been putting them on the truck today. The way that the OME bushings fit and work is lightyears better than the MAF bushings. Those fit like typical U.S. sourced urethane bushings. The OME fit is far better and the function looks to be far, far more supple. It's that lack of suppleness about the MAF sourced kit that I've not been happy with. I've too many things going on right now to deal with it, but once the engine swap and other projects are done I will be ordering the correct OME bushings from Kurt. Should be an interesting experiment and if it still doesn't yield the suppleness that I desire then it'll be coils and some radius arms for the front end.

 

[SOAZ]

Truck is looking good. I like the use of the fox 2.0's. Great set up so you can tune it as needed. I find as my truck gets heavier I'd like to change the valving to accommodate it.
That V8 should be a nice upgrade too,
Speedy :sombrero:

 

[ntsqd]

Truck is looking good. I like the use of the fox 2.0's. Great set up so you can tune it as needed. I find as my truck gets heavier I'd like to change the valving to accommodate it.
That V8 should be a nice upgrade too,
Speedy :sombrero:

thanks!
The Fox's came off of the rear of BCG1's first pre-run/chase truck, so they have a lot of Baja history behind them. I went with Mirage's guess on the valving and don't intend to even think about other valving until after the V8 is in and drivable. Same with the springs. I'm pretty sure that I'll want to remove a rear leaf or two, but until the V8 is in and driving I'm leaving them alone. I figure that the swap will change things enough to make any tuning done now a waste of time.

A note about those wheels, they are real 3 piece Enkei's and I like their looks on the 60 a lot. The problem with them is that I think the rim halves are too thin. I noticed that the tire shop managed to bend one lip when the tires were swapped. They are also 8's and for the 33-10.50's I prefer to use 7's. So I'm thinking of some AR Outlaw II's. I wish that I could get AR-23's but they haven't been available in a Toyota offset for several years. Any opinions on that?

I've also set a deadline for getting the old engine out; Halloween. With my current schedule that gives me only 4 weekends to finish Patch's complete front axle, steering cross-over conversion, and suspension rebuild, and then yank the 2F & trans-t/c combo.

 

[SOAZ]

thanks!
The Fox's came off of the rear of BCG1's first pre-run/chase truck, so they have a lot of Baja history behind them. I went with Mirage's guess on the valving and don't intend to even think about other valving until after the V8 is in and drivable. Same with the springs. I'm pretty sure that I'll want to remove a rear leaf or two, but until the V8 is in and driving I'm leaving them alone. I figure that the swap will change things enough to make any tuning done now a waste of time.

A note about those wheels, they are real 3 piece Enkei's and I like their looks on the 60 a lot. The problem with them is that I think the rim halves are too thin. I noticed that the tire shop managed to bend one lip when the tires were swapped. They are also 8's and for the 33-10.50's I prefer to use 7's. So I'm thinking of some AR Outlaw II's. I wish that I could get AR-23's but they haven't been available in a Toyota offset for several years. Any opinions on that?

I've also set a deadline for getting the old engine out; Halloween. With my current schedule that gives me only 4 weekends to finish Patch's complete front axle, steering cross-over conversion, and suspension rebuild, and then yank the 2F & trans-t/c combo.

Very nice. Those fox's can last a lifetime. I have a few that have been sitting around aging like a fine wine after years on a 1600 car. Always able to be rebuilt. :elkgrin:

The AR-23's are a great wheel. Along with the outlaws they are some strong suckers. I had some in 7", but I wasn't aware they are no longer available. Maybe some hunting on ttora, dezertrangers.com, race-dezert.com and some others could yield a result. Good luck!

 

[ntsqd]

Well now, time for a little update.

It seems that the engine fell out. I guess I'll have to put something else in there instead.

I now have a 'spare' H41 (?) and Splitcase available. PM for details.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Coming along Tom

Your transmission (assuming its stock) is the H42, there is an H41 and if in deed you happen to have one they are very rare (never used in the US but have a much lower 1st gear). Regardless the H42/split-case combo's are great setups. Really one of my favorite upgrades for FJ40/55 owners too. If I hear of anyone down your way looking for one I'll pass it on. PS heard you alread found a buyer for the 2F, thanks for the referral

 

[ntsqd]

Thanks Kurt. I wasn't sure how to tell the difference between the H41 and the H42. I'll say it's a 42 as first gear is not impressively low. There may be an interested party, but I haven't heard from him in a while so I'm not counting it gone until I see it leave.

You're welcome. BTW, Steve's your man if you come up against any late model Ford questions.

Wow, looking at those pics, "Wallace" looks rather sad all taken apart like that. I need to get on fixing that. Just as soon as I ......

 

[esh]

Hate it when they fall out...

 

[red87]

I hate to be a killjoy but I don't think a car engine in a truck is smog legal here in CA. Does that fly if the vehicle in question is an SUV and not a pick-up?

 

[ntsqd]

It doesn't work the other way around. Sort of. Can not put a HD engine (3/4t +) in a LD vehicle (1/2t + pass car). So I can't put a 7.3l Power Stroke Diesel in the 60 because the PSD's only come in 3/4 ton and heavier trucks and the 60 is considered a "Station Wagon" i.e. a passenger car. Can put a 1/2t engine in a passenger car and can put a pass. car engine in a HD truck. The basic premise is that you can only trade straight across or decrease the emissions level (same with the vintage of the new engine vs. vintage of the vehicle, can never be an older engine, but it can be newer), can not increase the emissions level in a swap (as an HD engine would do if installed in a LD vehicle).
If I'd been able to find the rare 1/2t Tahoe with the 6.5l turbo diesel for a donor I'd have gone with that.

 

[red87]

Ah gotcha. Glad to hear the swap will work out just fine