hey all!

i'm the proud new owner of a rust free, 'yota '83 FJ60 cruiser wagon. the old girl is in nigh-on immaculate condition having been lovingly cared for her entire life.

i aim to keep things that way and give her a whole new lease on life.

the 2F engine runs like a swiss watch, but she drinks juice like there's no tomorrow.

if i run her @ ~80-90km/h, i get around 16l/100km (~14mpg). if i go up to the Australian highway speed limit of 110km/h, she sucks down around 21l/100km (11mpg) .

Start going truly bonkers (~140km/h kind of stupid) and fuel blows out to 50l/100km (4.7mpg)

so, i'm thinking that a full modern diesel heart-lung transplant might be the best way forward. i'd also look at fitting a GasTek to it.

ultmatly, i'm shooting for a 110km/h highway mileage of 10l/100 (23mpg) OR BETTER.

I believe it's possible to fit a multi-chip thingy doober so I can have different power options? is this correct? if so, i'd like a power-on-tap option (250hp?) along with an anemic-performance-but-awesome-MPG setting. do such things actually exist?

I'll say from the outset: I'm not looking for massive power. an increase of ~10%-20% of the ~135hp/200ft-lb from the 2F will be more than enough for my general purpose use especially as i don't do a lot of towing. however, i do spend a lot of my time off road (hence why i bought a 'cruiser in the first place).

this rebuild won't be happening for at least 12-18 months, i'm getting in now to try and get as much research done as possible so i can get this right.

i fully expect this to be an expensive operation, but then i also expect to keep the 'cruiser for a long, long time (like, 20+ years).

suspension will also be fully upgraded. most likely an OME heavy duty rig with a moderate lift (2" will be more than plenty)

i suppose the major decision i need to make is: What Powerplant?

i'm no expert on such things, but i'm currently looking at the Cummins 6BT/IBS and the Duramax 6.6. i suppose a 4BT might be 'enough' and i'm open to persuasion. one thing i'd love is to fit a Power Take Off winch to the engine.

i'm sure there are other excellent engines on the market, so please feel free to make suggestions.

now, as to the transmission: would it be better for me to get the H55 'yota box/transfers refurbished, or should i look at a whole new box/transfers? if the latter, any suggestions please? I'm set on keeping the manual transmission, a six-speed would be just sweet.

please forgive my n00b questions, i have a lot to learn.

 

I read an article not too far back where a guy put a 6BT Cummins in a similiar rig, but claimed it was quite the feat of engineering cramming it in there.

What would be truly trick in my opinion would be a newer common rail 4 cylinder Cummins like the B3.9 ISB mated to a lightweight overdrive transmission like a ZF-5 speed (which has PTO provisions on it, if I recall) then a BW1356 t-case (2.72 low range, I believe...and a non slip yoke version exists OEM, to help with shorter wheelbase) or spring for an Atlas to give better crawl gears. Then crunch some numbers for tire size and axle gear ratios to meet your desired needs and mpg. I'm not sure if any tuners exist for the B3.9 ISB, but I'm sure you could flash the ECM and do an EFILive tune to meet your "***** out" and "fuel sipper" tunes. I might just be dreaming though...

 

I have seen 29mpg out of my current setup, at about 60mph highway driving.

What size tires? Stockish?

If you go with either a 5.9 or 3.9 Cummins, upper 20mpg's should be easily achieved.

 

yeah, I was going to say.....that I have hit 25.2mpg with my 97 Suburban/12v P-pumped Cummins/241dhd transfercase/ with Ford Super Duty axles with 3.73 gears. That was traveling about 60-62 mph on state roads. On the interstate the mpg drops to around 20-20.5 when traveling 75 mph. Needs different gears for that kind of speed, or a dbl overdrive unit. Tires are stock lt265/75/16's