T-Minus One Week!

[60seriesguy]

Well, it's been eight months, some obstacles, and more $$$ that I'd originally planned, but it's come down to one more week of waiting for my old Land Cruiser's "extreme makeover". Intercooled Cummins 4BT conversion, rest of the drivetrain rebuilt, 40-gallon long-range fuel tank, upgraded brakes, upgraded electrical system, re-geared diffs with ARBs (front new, rear repaired), upgraded steering, new wheels and tires, new paint (new color), and some minor expedition-specific goodies! :)

Pictures will follow, I still have a laundry list of things to finish up on the old girl, plus I gotta button down the trailer project before the spring wheeling season is here!

Planning Utah and Baja expeditions for 2006, then Down to Darien 2007.

[HongerVenture]

Well, now that I'm drooling, you have me just as impatient as you to see pictures of your rig. You've GOT to post pictures once you have it back in your hands. FJ60's are beautiful rigs. My wife and I nearly bought one a year ago... it was immaculate. Unfortunately, it was an over-priced Toyota dealership trying to sell it. A private individual would have been much easier to work with and much more reasonably priced.

So yeah, give us pics as soon as you can. :wavey:

[upcruiser]

Yeah, this post is worthless without pics!:p

Sounds like quite the project, are you doing all of the work yourself? I love the 60's alot. I had an '82 that I did a mild build on and it was one of my favorite trucks. I'd love to pick up another some day. Sadly, here in Michigan, not many of them survive the salt and wet winters. Pretty sad.

Looking forward to seeing your 60.

[Scott Brady]

Henry,

This is very exciting. How long has the truck been out of service?

A diesel, solid axle, manual Land Cruiser = god among men!

[60seriesguy]

She's been out of service for 8 months, that's the longest idle period she's gone through since she waited patiently in Venezuela for importation to the US in '96.

I got pictures today, will post them tonight.

I'll be the first one to admit that the 80 series Land Cruiser is the best all-around expedition vehicle that you can buy in the US, especially when considering price vs. capabilities. But there is just something about the classic lines of the 60 series that I love, it's the last of the unapologetically utilitarian Land Cruiser wagons.

[Desertdude]

I know a lot of other folks feel the same way about the 60 series - when you see one in action all set up for the expedition trail you kinda drool over it - - :chowtime:

Looking forward to seeing the photos! - :coffee:

http://idisk.mac.com/desertdude-Public/Worthlesswithoutpics.gif

:::

[BajaTaco]

OOOhhhhh! This is indeed exciting. And your trips sound equally as exciting. Can't wait to see pics and hear all about it.

Henry, I'm curious why your sig says "Exiled".

Darien? What are your plans (if you don't mind me asking)?

[kcowyo]

Henry, I'm curious why your sig says "Exiled".


I'm sure he can answer this question better than I, but I'll post a very relevant link to a page that Henry has set up. Might want to check out his Culinary page too - Exiled's Expedition Page (http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/expedit1.htm)

A Cummins in a 60.....sick :bowdown:

[60seriesguy]

"Exiled" is kind of a play on words, I'm originally from Venezuela but moved to the US in '94, became a US resident in '01, and will proudly file for US citizenship in three weeks, when I become eligible. By the time I moved to the US I'd pretty much decided I'd never move back, so my friends back home used to call me "exilado", or "exiled"

I also used to be very active in the US-based Land Cruiser community, but I had some personal/work issues that had to be taken care of and I pretty much dropped off the face of the Cruiser world. When I got back, I thought "exiled" sounded like a good moniker!

As for the trip idea, I work for Dell and earlier this year I spent five weeks in Panama on an assignment. While there I did some exploration on the side and some good contacts, so I decided that I would try to drive from Texas to the Darien Gap and back sometime in 2007.

[60seriesguy]

By the way, I've been meaning to expand on that article for years now and have about 100% more information, included a lot of updated stuff. I just need a place to host it...hint, hint! :)

[BajaTaco]

AHA! Good story! And conrgats on the citizenship! :ylsmoke: I guess there is some road improvement going on that will ease access to the Darien region, but I wonder how far it will actually go. Do you plan to get close and then go in on foot? Are you going to the "park" area?

[Hltoppr]

Hmmm, maybe after you have that conversion down....you'd wanna try an 80 series.... :rolleyes:

Can't wait for the write up!

:coffee:

-H-

[60seriesguy]

I couldn't resize down to meet the requirements of this site, so I posted a couple of teaser pics at:

http://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=71399

[BajaTaco]

By the way, I've been meaning to expand on that article for years now and have about 100% more information, included a lot of updated stuff. I just need a place to host it...hint, hint! :)

If Scott doesn't host it here, I'd be happy to host it for you at BAJATACO.COM - that is some fantastic stuff.

[BMAN]

Unacceptable! We need more pics!

[Desertdude]

When you say tease - you ain't kidding :coffee:

[60seriesguy]

Bonus points for the Land Rover guys that name the color! :)

[blupaddler]

Congrats!!!

I like the choice of "color"
There is going to be some major drool going on once all the pics are posted.

I can't wait.

:clapsmile :clapsmile :clapsmile


:beer:

[gjackson]

Hmmm. Looks a bit like Coniston green to me. Maybe the newer Belize green? Maybe I'm not enough of a Land Rover geek.

:jump:

cheers

[pskhaat]

Yeah, I've got space & avaliable bandwidth on my set of servers out of Fremont, CA too. I'd be happy to shove whatever you need up.

[Scott Brady]

By the way, I've been meaning to expand on that article for years now and have about 100% more information, included a lot of updated stuff. I just need a place to host it...hint, hint! :)

Henry,

I have 10 gigabytes at your disposal. Whatever you need, we will take care of you.

[Scott Brady]

I also increased the image attachment size to 2mb for .gif, .jpg and .jpeg file extensions.

[60seriesguy]

Thanks, Scott, let me finish the text and we'll talk. I appreciate it!!!

Also, I have 50K+ (fifty thousand plus - not a typo) Land Cruiser images occupying an external HD, the product of over a decade of compulsive saving/scanning/documenting everything with a camera. I've been very slowly and painstakingly cataloguing, renaming, and classifying them, and have come across a couple of thousand pictures of expeditions all over the world, but mostly in South America. Once I'm done organizing them, let's talk! :)

[dmc]

For those of you not familiar with Henry's truck let me show you that pic that sat as my work wallpaper for a very long time... (I hope you don't mind Henry) 4 more days!

[60seriesguy]

Ahhh, the carefree days of living in AZ as a graduate student, exploring the desert at a moment's whim! My wife took that in Sedona in '00.

[Hltoppr]

:hehe:

You mean before you got the first student loan bill!

I know how that works!

:Wow1:

-H-

[Scott Brady]

I am looking forward to seeing the finished product. I might need to extend my next trip to TX for a few days and arrange a trip to see it in person (and maybe snap a few pictures)

[60seriesguy]

Folks, I posted some pictures of the new rig at:
http://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=72408&page=2

I still have a *slew* of minor things to complete before the old girl is ready for her first expedition, in the meantime I'll keep wrapping up all the smaller projects, button-up the trailer, stretch her "trail legs" at the LSLC Roundup, and hopefully get her ready for a trip to Baja or somewhere in the desert next fall.

[BajaTaco]

Not to be tacky, but that is wood material for sure.:bowdown: DAMN!

That is a freaking incredible machine Henry. I hope I get to see it in person someday. I am intrigued by the diesel... how did you come to the conclusion that it would work for you, and how did you end up procuring it? (or do I need to read through the thread at mud? hehe). What type of weight penalty (GVW) did you incur with the swap? I imagine the marlin box added some too? Do you have any mileage figures yet? I bet with that additional fuel storage, you will have some outrageous range on that thing! You must be planning a trans-saharan trek? ;) Very cool, I love it.

[60seriesguy]

LONG story, but one that I don't mind retelling! This was a big project that caused some at home.

When the old 3F engine gave up the ghostlast April, I took time to think about this and what I wanted to do. My initial reaction was to source another 2F in good shape to just throw in there, but since I can't do it myself and would have had to farm it out regadless, I didn't want to go through the expense of an engine replacement to end up another under-powered donk yielding 11 MPG. I also considered a V8, for a long time, but again, the thought of going with a swap that wouldn't yield a decent mileage was also a tall order, especially since the price of fuel kept going up up steadily while I debated the issue. So as I got closer to making a decision, diesel really looked like the right option, especially since I hope to start getting back into long-range trips.

I initially considered a Toyota diesel and if money wasn't an obstacle, would have chosen a 1HD-FT, but for someone already farming out the engine swap, $8K for a motor was out of the question and the hidden costs of a Toyota OEM diesel swap are all the little bits and pieces that you need to order from Toyota and that nickle-and-dime you to death. Besides, I know a lot of about running a non-US Land Cruiser as a daily driver (I spent the better part of ten years doing it), and it's not as easy as the diehards make it sound like, it can get UGLY when you need something that has to come from Japan.

So that's how I came to the Cummins 4BT. I originally wanted an Isuzu 4BD-T, but nobody seemed really familiar with the conversion and I didn't want to be the guinea pig, not when Proffitt's Cruisers was already well on its way to turning the 4BT conversion into essentially a kit conversion.

The 4BT weighs roughly 100 lbs. more than the original 3F and the Marlin Toybox weighs another 40 lbs or so. Add the extra 15 gallons of fuel and whatever the new tank weighs over the original. On a truck this size, the weight difference is negligible, and I saved about 80 lbs. going to the smaller sliders (the previous ones were a pretty poor design and had to be grossly reinforced to compensate for it).

I've put about 2,000 miles on the engine since the conversion, most of it on the jaunt from Boulder, CO to Austin, TX last week. I haven't cycled a full tank through the motor at this altitude (It's still got about 1/4 tank from the last fillup in the northern outskirts of Oklahoma City), but the fuel economy was a tad under 24 MPG on the drive from Colorado and that was at a constant speed of 70-80 MPH, and a fuel leak big enough to cover the entire back 1/3 of the truck with raw diesel (banjo fitting on the hard line was loose, I didn't have the right tools). I would imagine (and hope) that the fuel economy around Austin, where the highway speeds will be 55-70, should be even better. I will also do a dry run with the roof rack on soon, just to see what the variation is.

I estimate the expedition range (roof rack, trailer, loaded, dirt roads) to be somewhere in the vicinity of 760 miles or so. That means that with a full compliment of jerry cans (INTI racks are designed to carry seven across and two more on the trailer) I could theoretically go about 1,460 miles without refueling, but that's just theoretical, lots of variables impact that and besides, there aren't that many places in the WORLD where you would have to do that. I don't even like carrying jerry cans on the roof rack unless I absolutely have to, in fact, I got the bigger fuel tank so I wouldn't have to.

[chet]

I have to say this is one of the cleanest and coolest 60's I've seen! 40 gallon tank is unreal! Did they turn up the 4BT at all or is it stock?

[60seriesguy]

Thanks! The 4BT is currently at stock specs, I purposely haven't fooled around with it until I get the feel for the engine, figure out the mileage. So far I'm pretty pleased with the power, so I don't know that I'll want to sacrifice fuel economy (the main rationalization for the engine choice) for more power, but we'll see, it's too soon to talk.

[chet]

if they are anything like the 6BT you can turn the pump a bit and add more boost and you will actually GAIN mileage! I did my '90 dodge and was surprised to go from 27 MPG to close to 30!

what did your 4BT come out of?

[BajaTaco]

I enjoyed reading your response Henry, WAAAY COOL!!! Your reasoning seems very sound. Not much weight penalty at all! And that mileage is fantastic. Congratulations and please keep us posted as you get some more trips underway.

[Scott Brady]

Henry,

Thanks for leading the way with the diesel swap. 24mpg in a heavy truck like yours is beyond inpressive.

How does the torque curve match up between the I6 and the new Cummins?

[blupaddler]

Henry,

GREAT JOB!!!

I have always admired your rig, and now even more so. Sounds like Proffits is really busy and will be for quite some time.

Couple of quick questions for you...Do you have both gas tanks now, or just the bigger tank? Are you planning on fabbing up a skid or something, even though it tucks up pretty nicely. I know you have a great amount of clearance with your lift and tire size. I just put the 44 gallon aux in my 80, and I am trying to figure out if I want to put some sort of skid on it. The tanks ar built really tough though.

Thanks


I can't wait for more feedback and the TT article!!!

:jump:

[upcruiser]

Henry,

Very nice work there. That truck was very well thought out and the execution looks incredible. I've always dreamed of doing a stinky conversion for my 80 someday. I'll definately be looking closely at what you've done here. Congrats!

[blupaddler]

For those of you who haven't gotten your Toyota Trails issue yet...


There is a GREAT article by Henry regarding his Landcruiser and the conversion.




Henry,
Thanks for sharing your progress and pics. The article was really great, and gave a personal insight to your rig. Nice job!!!

[Scott Brady]

YES, awesome article on your build. Major drool :)

I love watching the execution of a vehicle based upon real world experience (in your case much more than most), and not popular opinion.

So now that the truck is finished, where are you driving to next and how can we help make that happen? :camping: