Thinking of Building an FJ40

[SuhaibKiani]

Thanks for the wishes SK, that 40 of yours made me smile...

Guy in the comments saying it flies off of 800rpm makes total sense. What are the diff ratios you have on it? Is it a VVTi engine in there? The items you mentioned as possible points of failure, are they so by virtue of age or the retrofit process? I ask because the swap will be made in a daily driven LJ79.

Once again, bravo!

Most Welcome. This one had 4.1s (10/41) but running through a diesel TLC gearbox where the first two gears are slightly shorter than the petrol variant. Failures on electronics are mostly age related as most components are second hand, nevertheless most of the time they will not stop the car but induce missing of some form. On fuel pump failures the jury is still out but there are a few factors at play mainly related to inappropriate fitting in the tank, rusty petrol tank etc. but most of the time were using second hand pumps and putting them through good abuse which is partly to blame.

You had asked about the stabilizer bars earlier which are important for a high powered 70. I believe some of the RKRs run these at the front and we make custom mounts if these cannot be found. For the rear we were using a 40 series pickup rear stabilzer bar which may be difficult to find. Nevertheless, you could fit any other stabilizer bar as well (Jeep, Mitsubishi etc) as long as its in the ballpark correct range....

[ahmed2396]

Best 40 i saw was Concordia UZJ40 i think it was of SK

[hsumbal1]

N i am the first owner n i have all the details. Bus meri shadi sir py hai is waja sy.....

ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

Another one bites the dust...feel sorry for you FJ

[HamzahF]

Most Welcome. This one had 4.1s (10/41) but running through a diesel TLC gearbox where the first two gears are slightly shorter than the petrol variant. Failures on electronics are mostly age related as most components are second hand, nevertheless most of the time they will not stop the car but induce missing of some form. On fuel pump failures the jury is still out but there are a few factors at play mainly related to inappropriate fitting in the tank, rusty petrol tank etc. but most of the time were using second hand pumps and putting them through good abuse which is partly to blame.

You had asked about the stabilizer bars earlier which are important for a high powered 70. I believe some of the RKRs run these at the front and we make custom mounts if these cannot be found. For the rear we were using a 40 series pickup rear stabilzer bar which may be difficult to find. Nevertheless, you could fit any other stabilizer bar as well (Jeep, Mitsubishi etc) as long as its in the ballpark correct range....

Thanks for the elaborate response SuhaibKiani ....

Is yours a VVTi motor? How frequent are burnt clutches with the V8? What sort of mileage should one expect? Any over heating issues? I apologize in advance for the question salvo.

Thanks.

[SuhaibKiani]

Is yours a VVTi motor? NON VVTI which in my view suits FJ40 better. Simpler electronics and all kinda parts available locally...

How frequent are burnt clutches with the V8? We have never really had clutch issues, first clutch plate replacement was after three rallies and severe screeching road abuse and the plate had decent amount of the desi leathers still on it. Pressure plate had to be changed after one more rally. Nevertheless, this is dependant on conversion quality....

What sort of mileage should one expect? Long drives on loaded vehicle was 5-6 km/l with 4.1 diffs. I did once manage 7 km/l in city with 33s and 4.1s with grandma driving, but its not easy driving it like that: temptations

Any over heating issues? With a decent sized good quality radiator and good electric fans it should not overheat on the road. Would recommend an engine oil cooler if your planning to abuse it hard. Nevertheless, the fans are most important and there are original OEM clutch fans and hydraulic cooling options available.

I apologize in advance for the question salvo. Not and issue. Interestingly I only realised over the weekend that Bilal Gunj is the best place to shop for 1UZs and its associated parts which are readily available in bulk and at decent prices.

[HamzahF]

Is yours a VVTi motor? NON VVTI which in my view suits FJ40 better. Simpler electronics and all kinda parts available locally...

How frequent are burnt clutches with the V8? We have never really had clutch issues, first clutch plate replacement was after three rallies and severe screeching road abuse and the plate had decent amount of the desi leathers still on it. Pressure plate had to be changed after one more rally. Nevertheless, this is dependant on conversion quality....

What sort of mileage should one expect? Long drives on loaded vehicle was 5-6 km/l with 4.1 diffs. I did once manage 7 km/l in city with 33s and 4.1s with grandma driving, but its not easy driving it like that: temptations

Any over heating issues? With a decent sized good quality radiator and good electric fans it should not overheat on the road. Would recommend an engine oil cooler if your planning to abuse it hard. Nevertheless, the fans are most important and there are original OEM clutch fans and hydraulic cooling options available.

I apologize in advance for the question salvo. Not and issue. Interestingly I only realised over the weekend that Bilal Gunj is the best place to shop for 1UZs and its associated parts which are readily available in bulk and at decent prices.

Clear on all points. I'm thinking of going for a half cut to keep all the wiring intact, the electrician can pick off the wires that he needs laving the OEM grips intact. Wonder what that would cost. WRT the engine oil cooler, is it built in or one needs to be plumbed in? The mechanical fans appeal to me the most, for reasons of robustness. What should a VVTi motor cost btw?

[qwertypoiu]

As per my limited data I have acquired from reading several website and the main lexus forums...
In lj79 or other 70series heating is a big issue which rarely occurs if 1uz is swapped in 40series.
As per my limited knowledge best option is using the same 6 speed auto lexus gear and mating it with a 4x4 transfercase is more rewarding then an avg manual setup....

[SuhaibKiani]

Clear on all points. I'm thinking of going for a half cut to keep all the wiring intact, the electrician can pick off the wires that he needs laving the OEM grips intact. Wonder what that would cost. WRT the engine oil cooler, is it built in or one needs to be plumbed in? The mechanical fans appeal to me the most, for reasons of robustness. What should a VVTi motor cost btw?

You dont need the half cut for the older non-vvti. Main reason is that everything from the original Lexus radiator and cooling fan, uncut wiring harness, AFM to the fuel pump is readily available to you in Bilal Ganj. The wiring diagram are also there on the net and there are only two variants in the non vvti. IN my case, the wiring harness was very badly cut up and we recreated the wiring using the diagram. Most important thing was that we put heat shrinks on all connections. 1UZ Non VVTI wiring (just like 2JZ-GE) wiring is a walk in the park and can be effectively done nowadays by most of the decent electricians.

VVTI costed around 110 with its auto and without AFM and immobilizer. Non vvti price I checked on Saturday at Bilal Gunj: 65k!

[SuhaibKiani]

As per my limited data I have acquired from reading several website and the main lexus forums...
In lj79 or other 70series heating is a big issue which rarely occurs if 1uz is swapped in 40series.
As per my limited knowledge best option is using the same 6 speed auto lexus gear and mating it with a 4x4 transfercase is more rewarding then an avg manual setup....

Not sure why there would be a big difference between a 70 swap and 40 swap, but should not be anything that you cannot overcome by someone as meticulous as Hamza, once he gets cracking at it....

The 1UZ/3UZ autos unfortunately do not bolt on to any of the TLC/Prado gear boxes unlike the 2JZ auto boxes. Hence you need an adapter between the TC and Gearbox. So either way (manual or auto) there will be an adaption, the rest is largely a matter of choice. Only the later model 1UZ vvtis have 5 speed autos while only the 3UZs have the 6 speeds. Non vvti 1UZ have the std 4 speeds where you do have a gearing disadvantage compared to a manual.....

Nevertheless, if you ask me, I would argue that initial kick of the manual transmission is hard to match even with the 3UZ and its 6 speed auto: https://www.facebook.com/syed.imam.984/videos/769022649882848/

[Initiator]

Not sure why there would be a big difference between a 70 swap and 40 swap, but should not be anything that you cannot overcome by someone as meticulous as Hamza, once he gets cracking at it....

The 1UZ/3UZ autos unfortunately do not bolt on to any of the TLC/Prado gear boxes unlike the 2JZ auto boxes. Hence you need an adapter between the TC and Gearbox. So either way (manual or auto) there will be an adaption, the rest is largely a matter of choice. Only the later model 1UZ vvtis have 5 speed autos while only the 3UZs have the 6 speeds. Non vvti 1UZ have the std 4 speeds where you do have a gearing disadvantage compared to a manual.....

Nevertheless, if you ask me, I would argue that initial kick of the manual transmission is hard to match even with the 3UZ and its 6 speed auto: https://www.facebook.com/syed.imam.984/videos/769022649882848/

@suhaibkiani I am currently looking at an FJ40 with a 1JZ. We could strike a deal next week. However, I have heard negative things about 1JZ's reliability. Is 1UZ a trouble free (or low trouble) swap?

I am also gonna need an A/C and since it's a soft top, perhaps a heavy compressor. Any recommendations? Kindly give me an idea about the cost.

Are the parts for your earlier suspension upgrade suggestion (Bilsteins, Ranchos, FJ70 leafs, stabilizing bar) easily available?

[HamzahF]

You dont need the half cut for the older non-vvti. Main reason is that everything from the original Lexus radiator and cooling fan, uncut wiring harness, AFM to the fuel pump is readily available to you in Bilal Ganj. The wiring diagram are also there on the net and there are only two variants in the non vvti. IN my case, the wiring harness was very badly cut up and we recreated the wiring using the diagram. Most important thing was that we put heat shrinks on all connections. 1UZ Non VVTI wiring (just like 2JZ-GE) wiring is a walk in the park and can be effectively done nowadays by most of the decent electricians.

VVTI costed around 110 with its auto and without AFM and immobilizer. Non vvti price I checked on Saturday at Bilal Gunj: 65k!

That makes the non VVTi the logical choice. However, never having experience either, do you reckon a non VVTi is a better bet keeping in mind the power & economy deficit and reliability - by virtue of being a newer motor? I mean when you're taking all the trouble of such a swap, why not got for the newest most powerful engine? Also, say one were to look for a the latest model non VVTi engine, is there some way to discern between model years e.g. engine numbers etc..?

Also, for VVTi motors, you think half cut is the way to go then? Any electricians you know who might be up to the task of wiring one right?

Again, apologies for this charade of questions and more so to the OP, for fouling his thread.

[Initiator]

@hamzahf .. not a problem with me at all. I'm learning as you guys discuss. I'm also very much inclined towards a 1UZ VVTI swap, but will gladly trade reliability for power.

[SuhaibKiani]

That makes the non VVTi the logical choice. However, never having experience either, do you reckon a non VVTi is a better bet keeping in mind the power & economy deficit and reliability - by virtue of being a newer motor? I mean when you're taking all the trouble of such a swap, why not got for the newest most powerful engine? Also, say one were to look for a the latest model non VVTi engine, is there some way to discern between model years e.g. engine numbers etc..?

Also, for VVTi motors, you think half cut is the way to go then? Any electricians you know who might be up to the task of wiring one right?

Again, apologies for this charade of questions and more so to the OP, for fouling his thread.

To be clear, there aren't any additional reliability issues with the VVTI as such and there isn't much additional rocket science in the electronics either. It costs a bit more and finding parts for it is currently difficult which probably will be resolved over time too.....

At the same time, the only thing wrong with the older 1UZs are that they look like the a 1UZs, and everybody is just sick of seeing them in all sorts of cars and 4x4s

When you get to 260HP and 260 ft.lbs on a SWB TLC, there is precious few instances when you can differentiate where you could deploy an additional 30 HP and 30 ftlbs. Your hair is normally standing up straight when 260HP goes pedal to metal. Yes, if your racing in the desert it makes sense, otherwise if your going to drag against street Civics, your barking the wrong tree anyways.....

[rihatgiab]

AOA, sorry for reviving an ancient thread, but I recently came across a J40 with a 3UZ and manual 5-speed. The bargain shop is unaware of the PO history. How can I confirm what gearbox is mated to the 3UZ?

Thanks in advance