I recently had the misfortune of having a connecting rod go thru the block of my 1988 FJ-62 (auto. with the 3-FE motor). As you can imagine, this caused havoc on the crank and other reciprocating bits and pieces in the motor. A hole the size of a baseball was punched thru the block at the # 6 cylinder on the drivers side. The block was unsalvageable. Wanting to keep the vehicle original and not mess up the various electronic controls or having modify the wiring harness, I started searching for a replacement motor. After searching wide and far, the best deal I could come up with was a long block with 95,000 miles for $ 2,800.00 U.S.. There had to be a better and less expensive option. Here in Canada, FJ-40s are far more plentiful than FJ-60s and 62s. Knowing that the 2 F and 3F motors were almost identical, I started searching for a good 2F motor. As luck would have it, I found one with 28,000 miles for $ 500.00 Canadian ( $360.00 U.S.) . To see whether the 3 FE head would match up with the 2 F block, I checked the parts numbers for the head gaskets. The parts numbers were the same !! This meant that I could use the fuel injected head on the formerly cabureted motor and at the same time pick up around 300 cc of displacement. The swap was easy and the installation went well. To keep proper pulley alignment, I kept the 2F water pump and cooling fan but had to for get about the oil cooler. Because the 2 F block is taller than the 3 F and the 3 FE head is also taller than the 2 F head, under hood clearance has been reduced to 1/2 an inch, but the hood still closes !! I'm thinking of putting in a scoop or power bulge if the motor heats up in the summer time. The air conditioning bracket also had to be modified and extensions had to be welded on to the exhaust down pipes to make up for the difference in height ( about 4-5 inches in total ) . So far the transplant is working fine and I have noticed a small increase in torque. Gas mileage has remained the same. The better torque is probably due to the long stroke design of the 2 F and the extra 15 cubic inches of displacement. So, if you don't want to spend a bundle of cash and still keep your Land cruiser on the road this is a very good alternative. Guy Larabie Russell, Ontario Canada |
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