Paul R's BJ73 Restomod Build

[Paul R]

Bummer. When it comes to cracks like that I just don’t know. I’ve heard it both ways some say it’s fine/normal others will say the head is toast. The precups can be changed I’d probably do that at a minimum.

I love this build and seeing the updates. Hope you get a solid answer on the head

Thanks for the thoughts. It seems the consensus from others is that it could run for two weeks or 2 years but hard to rest easy. I can easily find precups, but it is going to cost ~$1500 to have the cracks hot welded and machined which seems high for remanufacturing it. I have heard mixed reviews on running a welded head.

Still trying to find a new option. Not many available and hard to tell which Chinese options are worthwhile.

 

[Paul R]

Not too many updates. I did get the frame back from being galvanized and finished up the axles minus steering and brake lines.


Had some great help cataloging a bunch more brackets and hardware to take to get cadmium plated.

 

[Paul R]

I thought I had a good option on my head, but it seems it seems to be falling apart. In short it is going to take ~$1500 to deal with plus any rebuild I do on the rest of the engine and it has me really second guessing my options. I really want to stick with Toyota, but I'm tossing around the idea of the Cummins re-power.

Anyone have any experience with the Cummins R2.8 diesel engine? I mostly hear really good things as well as some cautionary tales but don't have any experience myself. Spec wise it would have a significant power increase and has similar torque and power curves and numbers as the toyota 15b-fte engine.

Until the end of August there is a code to save about $1500 on a Cummins and it seems like a pretty straight forward option. I would love to hear from anyone that has actually played with one.

 

[Greg]

No direct experience, but it seems like the Cummins R2.8 is better than factory reliability, and not much of a stretch from a Toyota diesel.

Even at $1500 for the head repair, that's a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of a Cummins R2.8 swap.

Can you not import a good, lightly used head from overseas... Japan, Australia, etc?

 

[Paul R]

No direct experience, but it seems like the Cummins R2.8 is better than factory reliability, and not much of a stretch from a Toyota diesel.

Even at $1500 for the head repair, that's a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of a Cummins R2.8 swap.

Can you not import a good, lightly used head from overseas... Japan, Australia, etc?

I hear you, but then I still have a high mileage 3B which may or may not hold up to the turbo I'm putting on it. Right now a Cummins 2.8 is roughly $6500 for the engine I imagine another $850 for bell housing adapter and few hundred in motor mounts. So maybe ~$8,000? Comes with all the accessories installed plus the ECU and throttle assembly.

Maybe I am overthinking it, but it seems like a "good" used head is hard to find. Almost all of them have cracks and no one has a guarantee of any kind. A couple have offered potentially good used heads in the $800 range but they haven't been magnafluxed. Seems hard to spend so much for something that may still be a problem. If I do repair the head it will likely cascade into a full engine rebuild which I would think could be in the $3,000 - $4,000 range including parts and machine work. So call it ~$5,000 to keep going plus the money I have already spent on new parts ~$1,000 and turbo kit ~$2,000 and it is in striking distance and still an older engine with many used parts.

Maybe the grass isn't really greener, but it seems I could get a few grand by selling off what I have and get an engine I can actually find parts for.

 

[UNSTUCK]

I'm no purist when it comes to any build, so it's easy for me to always throw out the LS option. More power, comfort, fun. Likely better MPG. Probably cheaper, start to finish. Hard to find a downside, unless you need it to say Toyota.

 

[Kevin B.]

I dunno anything about the Cummins, but it seems to me that you're pulling out all the stops anyway to get this truck exactly how you want it. If you can't find a head you're comfortable with, a swap seems like the way to go.

 

[zmotorsports]

Great job on the restoration. It's looking great.

Sucks about the head. I've heard good things about the Cummins R2.8 engine from a couple guys running them. They are running them in older units as the R2.8 is not USEPA compliant.

Mike

 

[Paul R]

I feel a little remiss that I haven't made much progress for a while. I did get the frame painted. I hope it will stick to the galvanized finish. Time will tell at this point. But it looks pretty good right now.

 

[Paul R]

Also, I finally dropped out the pistons and took a gander at the bearings. Halloween revealed some spooky things. Glad I took the time to get here as It looks like a full rebuild is in order (I was basically planning it since I am spending so much on the head at this point).

Hard to tell from this pic, but you can see some slivers of babbitt in the oil pan screen. Pics below show where it came from.









Bearing 3 looks totally fubard (I'm sure this is where the babbitt in the screen came from). Bearings 4 and 5 were definitely on their way to issues as well.








I'll get the crank out soon and measure it all up to see how bad it is. Grind it if needed and get some new bearings, pistons, rings, sleeves (if needed) and get everything rolling back together. It definitely won't be fast though. I have been really busy lately and not getting much time to dedicate to it.