Calling owners of V8-converted landcruisers

[ANGRY6]

Hi all,

I am embarking on a V8 conversion for my 60 series landcruiser, i purchased a conversion kit from Dellow, and after looking at the original and new bellhousing looks like one of the rocker covers of the V8 will foul on the firewall, ie, it will sit a touch too far back.
For people who have gone through this (not necessarily specifically 60s), how did you go about it, massage the firewall around that one 'vee', or move the gearbox forward?
Im thinking option 1 will be easier and probably more practical.

Daniel


P.S: Its a 318 Chrysler smallblock if it makes a difference.

[KUSTOMV840]

http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/viewtopic ... 2&start=30

This is how I did it..

[ANGRY6]

Sweet as mate very nice work. Forgive me if i missed it, but what did you do with your p/s lines and all your heater plumbing (and a/c lines if you have it).
Also how much work was involved in moving the gearbox forward 80mm?


Daniel

[loops]

when i put a 302 w in my 60 i used a dellow housing (rang them and they told me yeah yeah it'll fit straight in pffffffft yeah it didnt) ended up moving gear box and transfer fwd, adding and adding a 50mm body lift in to make it work,,,,, dion

[jozlod]

I've got a holden 5L in my 60, but its with a Marks kit, which spaces the motor forwards enough that there is plenty of clearance.

I would imagine the further back you can get the motor, the better it will help with the weight balance of the resulting 4wd, but that depends how much massaging would be needed to fit it in with the bell housing the way it is.
got any photos of how much room there isn't?

also, if it helps, my conversion uses the landcruiser PS pump and AC, with brackets to mount them onto the holden block.

[ANGRY6]

Thanks guys, nah i havent got any pics as i havent yet taken the old motor out. I guess im gonna try making room for it because apparently i only need to bash one side as one side sits a bit forward than the other. Im getting the engine mounts done at On Track 4x4, so if i can get myself out of moving the gearbox forward that would save me some cash. I'd do them myself but i havent got the time or resources and i want the car off the road for as little as possible.

I think im gonna get them to do the brackets to mount the power steer and air con because the is nothing out there for these motors when doin a conversion. Or even get the original ones and get them to modify.

Any other tips or suggestions to help me along a little bit would be really appreciated.


Daniel

[Roaring40s]

Hi Daniel,
I have a 40 series Landcruiser and also went the Dellow route, but it's fouling on my firewall as well (very similar to yours with the rocker covers).
I plan to chop the firewall slightly- Has anyone gone down this path before? (I'm sure someone has)
Can you give any tips or advice on this?

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p19/ ... 012100.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; -This is pic of a firewall that has been cut that I found on Google images, I'm thinking of doing a chop similar to this.

Cheers,
Ian

[Roaring40s]

Just had a look at my engine, and I've realised how low it sits- the chop that I'd have to do would be quite a lot lower than the link that I posted before.

This is my engine as it stands at the moment. The tub is not actually connected to the chassis, it is resting just out of position.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p218 ... GP2429.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Is this similar to how yours is Daniel?

cheers,
Ian

[KUSTOMV840]

Sweet as mate very nice work. Forgive me if i missed it, but what did you do with your p/s lines and all your heater plumbing (and a/c lines if you have it).
Also how much work was involved in moving the gearbox forward 80mm?


Daniel

I unbolted the gearbox crossmember and lined up the rear holes with the front bolt holes, put bolts in there and did a trial fit. This worked out really well. I then ran a fillet weld down the front of the crossmember. P/S lines I just had made up at our local hydraulic place.

[ANGRY6]

Ian, i am yet to pull the 6 out and have the V8 sitting on an engine stand so i havent got any pics as of yet.

KUSTOMV840, that sounds fairly easy and might be able to do that myself thanks heaps for your help.

Will let everyone know how i go.


Daniel

[JonnoD]

I have almost finished my chev v8 in to my 73 middy. It has a Dellow adaptor and I have not had any fouling problems with the fire wall. Having said that it does have a 2" body lift. If you cant massage the firewall enough I would sugest a bady lift

[Roaring40s]

Jonno

What series cruiser do you have, and do you have any photos?

Cheers,
Ian

[MADSHORT]

hey johnno what engine and box did you pull from your 73 series middy
cheers

[Beato]

I have a 75 series that I fitted a 1uz Toyota v8 into using a dellow kit. I fitted a 2 inch body lift but still had to push the firewall back on both sides, more on passengers side. We got the porta-power in the engine bay and got nasty, but after tidying it all up with a hammer and a smear of bog it looks factory.

[JonnoD]

I have a 73 series middy with a 305 chev small block.

here is a pic of the engine


and it in the car


if you want more pics let me know and i can take some

[ANGRY6]

Thanks mate.

Yeah go for it, post some pics up. Im interested in firewall clearence and from underneath how it all fits up.
I got a FJ62 with the 5spd manual box. Talked to the mechanic and looks like its all getting moved forward, i wanna stay away from body lifts and the like as i want it fully engineered and insured.

Like i said i'll be posting pics as things go so we can all learn a thing or two from other peoples mistakes.

When we pulled the 3F out, we tried lining up the V8 to see how things will clear and we had about 20mm till the bellhousing would fit against the gearbox when the p/s rocker cover hit the firewall.


Daniel

[jozlod]

why cant you get it engineered with a body lift?

[ANGRY6]

Dunno, can you?

Im not particularly familiar with the in's n out's of mods like that passing.



Daniel

[jozlod]

in nsw there is rules about spring lift, and total combined lift (spring + body), though I'm sure it will be all different in vic.

[rod baker]

v8's in a 60 are a good thing i run mine on 33 seems like a good size to drop the revs i do alot of towing so going bigger would be impractical .
i am running a efi windsor and the left head is rather close to the firewall i had to massage it a bit but was limited by the A/C duct work inside made my own power steer lines and i am still working on A/C lines as i have a Sahara i have bloody lines everywhere .
my main problems so far is the setup of the ac toyota pump had the fill ports on the pump the ford did not so i made some lines with the ports on them and i am running a Megasquirt ecu which im slowly getting tuned

[ANGRY6]

Thats unreal. So there are a few V8 60 projects on the go eh?
I decided to do mine after seeing a mates 60 with a 302 Cleveland in it. Went great sounded mean, and had a sort of a whistle coming from one of the pulleys it sounded blown lol.
I dont want no race car, mainly power to turn bigger tyres and to overtake........uphill.......towing a trailer......

[rod baker]

yeah you get a strange look when you over take uphill loaded to the hilt and for of road she is so torqy down low its brilliant i have mine all engineered so now just fine tuning to be done

[ANGRY6]

Went to have a look at progress on the cruiser yesterday, with motor and gearbox bolted together and lifted up, whole lot needed moving forward, so much so that the gearbox has maxed as far forward it can go in the shifter openings and yet the firewall still needed massaging. Gonna be done sometime next week will put up some progress pics.



Daniel

[ANGRY6]

This is what a Chrysler 318 looks like in a 60 engine bay!






They made me a fully encapsulated style engine mount out of patrol radius arm bushes, which they guarantee me im never gonna break an engine mount, and even if i do i'll be able to drive with it like that and wont cause any major hard. Should pass engineers with flying colours.


Daniel