FJ60 newb owner looking for advice

[einschlagen]

Today, I was driving on the highway and my engine got tried

The shop I had it towed to says I need an engine rebuild.

I talked to torfab, a reputable cruiser shop, and they're pretty sure it's a blown head gasket. My options here are to rebuild the head gasket or do an engine swap.

Condition: 204k miles, daily driver

Before I start going down this path, I'd love to get some advice from cruiser heads here. I know these trucks last when you care them.

what have some of you guys done at this crossroad? Are there factors that I'm not seeing that would help influence my decision?


Thanks in advance!


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[doug720]

It all depends on the what is wrong with the 2f and you're budget.

2f's are good motors, just slow with crappy mileage and can be expensive to repair/rebuild depending on the problem.

A swap can be good to great depending on what was swapped in and how they they did the swap. Gas or diesel, depends on taste and budget.

An OH to a 2f can $3k+, a V8 swap can $5-10K, a diesel $5-15k+, and all depends on what engine and who does the work. If you are mechanical, a swap is not that bad to do, but to do it well and end up with a good, solid and dependable vehicle, you need to do it right and not cut corners.

I swapped a diesel into my 60 and love it! It has over 25k miles on the swap and it's good to go for a cross country drive right now. I did 98% of the swap and know my 60 inside and out, and trust it to take my family into some fairly remote areas. Read my swap on mud below my signature if you want.

I would see what TorFab thinks to repair the 2f as they can go 300K miles. If it's terminal, figure you budget, check your skills, research what engine, add a 25% contingency and see what you can get. If no go on a swap, sell what you have and look for a swapped 60, check it carefully and go forward.

Good luck what ever way it goes,

Doug

 

[1911]

No question at all that a new head gasket is much much easier and a way way cheaper than an engine swap. Head gasket is not that hard to do. The 2F is a push-rod tractor engine, not rocket science; you could do it yourself if you're even moderately mechanically inclined. Go ahead and do valve job while the head is off. If you want to drop the oil pan, you could put new rings on the pistons with the motor still in.

 

[hks3sgte]

Stick to the 2F.

 

[Dusty Grin]

I did my own head gasket many years ago and it was worth it. After all that work, I knew my 2f better than ever and suddenly wasn't intimidated by other repairs that popped up. Let's just say I had those vacuum lines memorized once I was done. Take the head to a machine shop and have it checked out and while you're there they can do the valves and plug the deadly oil galley plug permanently.

 

[RMP&O]

I say swap in a v8 or diesel.

The 2/3F is a good engine for what it is but it is way old technology. It is also heavy, slow and drinks fuel. Parts are not at every corner auto parts store. For the long term use of a Cruiser, an engine swap makes the most sense to me. For value, keeping it stock seems best. However, the only real high value 60's I see are low mile and nearly 100% stock. If it has 200k on it, a lift, no so perfect interior, no rust, ect ect a 60 seems to not fetch more than $10-15k and most are in the $5-10k range. A nicely swapped v8 Cruiser seems to never go much below $10k and often high teens is common. So as far as value goes, again only the collectible 60 seems to beat out the v8/diesel swapped trucks.

Personally, I prefer the hp, ease of parts, smooth running v8 to an old inline-6. I work on my own trucks though.

Cheers