FJ55 fitted with detroit diesel

[Roscoe]

Hi all,
Thought some of you may be interested in my old FJ55 which in 1986 I fitted a 353 Detroit Diesel
Cheers Roscoe

 

[fridayman]

Very cool. Certainly the nicest 55 I've seen.

 

[tonytoyota]

Hi I love the look of that 55 I wood like one but can not have one thanks for the pics tonytoyota

 

[spackrackman]

Wow, I have an engine-less 55 sat here and I have been scratching my head what to put in it, do you still have it? how suited was the engine and what did it come out of? great pics

 

[spackrackman]

aha I just noticed the sign on the building.. The engines "were your thing"!

 

[yogi]

That is a lovely truck, what sort of an engine is that Roscoe? What is it normally fitted it?

Never hear much about US diesels.

 

[AndycruiserguyLomas]

Is the 353 Detroit engine the 5.7 V8?

Andy

 

[Rob]

The 353 Detroit diesel is a 3 cylinder 159 cubic inch (2.61l) 2 stroke diesel which will probably sound like a 6 cylinder. But with no turbo it will only produce about 100hp however these engines should be easy to turbo.

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[Roscoe]

Rob has hit the nail on the head.
It is a 3 cylinder, 53 cubic inch per cylinder, 2 stroke diesel engine. It has a gear driven blower which supplies the inlet air.
The cylinder liner has a series of open ports around it just above the piston when it is at BDC, at the same time there are 4 exhaust valves in the cylinder head that are open.
The pressure and airflow from the blower feeds clean air to the cylinder, forcing the burnt combustion out of the out of the exhaust valves.
As the piston moves up it covers the inlet ports and the cam operated exhaust valves close.
Compression takes place at 21:1 and a few degrees BTDC the cam operated injector injects fuel into the cylinder, which ignites due to the extreme heat from compression and forces the piston down.
It was also fitted with Jacobs engine brakes which effectively turns the engine into a compressor for retardation when braking.

The engine was general used for industrial or marine applications.

There was a 6v53 model - 6 cylinder , V formation, which was fitted into a lot of automotive applications. There was quite a lot of old Bedford trucks here in Australia fitted with them.

I sold the vehicle a few years ago. It was brilliant in the sand for beach driving as it had heaps of low down torque. you could let it just idle along on the governor.

Cheers Roscoe

 

[Rob]

Out of curiosity how heavy was the engine you fitted? From what I have read Detroit diesels are ridiculously heavy so is that why you went with the relatively small 353?

BTW if you do not know, they sound amazing. The engine in the video below is a 453T (4 cylinder, 53 cu in per cylinder with turbo). As its a 2 stroke you get twice as many explosions per rpm than a 4 stroke so the more cylinders the better it sounds.

 

[greengrass]

Sounds like something from a "Mad Max" film

Those grear levers must take some getting used to!!!!

 

[Roscoe]

Yep, It sounded pretty much like that.
It was also fitted with a Fairy overdrive, so you could split each gear.
The engine weighed approx. 400 kg. I had fitted larger injectors and it produced 128 hp on the engine dyno before it was fitted to the vehicle.
As you can see by the photos, the air cleaner was on the roof rack, and the noise from the blower sounded like a police siren coming down the road.
Cheers Roscoe

 

[uHu]

Very impressive. Both the fitting in the 55, and the sound and gearboxes of that 453. This is what makes tinkering with automobiles interesting. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Rob]

400KG for a 3 cylinder 353! That is the same as the 1HD/HZ. Would the 6V53 or 453 fit in a straight 6 landcruiser engine bay? I imagine the weight of the 4 and 6 cylinder 53 type Detroit diesels would be too much to put in the front of a landcruiser without significant front end suspension modifications.

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[Diversified]

That is/was a sweet ride. Are you Land Cruiserless now?

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[tonytoyota]

Hi spackrackman it tonytoyota I have a 3B engine and box at £350.00 if it will fit in the 55 have a good one .

 

[spackrackman]

Hi tony,
Thanks but I am after little more power! May go for the 3.0 turbo from a 70 or something from an 60 or 80. Going to address it next year when my workshop is finished.



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[clivehorridge]

Sounds like something from a "Mad Max" film

Those grear levers must take some getting used to!!!!

If two levers look difficult, what about this Kenwood?

www.youtube.com/embed/8lEYaTvvq4g

Very interesting read this guys, thanks for posting!

 

[Roscoe]

Rob, my apologies for the slow reply. A 4-53 would fit in, if you have a look at the front of my engine in the above photos, there is a considerable distance between the radiator and the engine. I cant remember exactly, but there was an aluminium spacer I made up between the fan hub and the fan. I think it was somewhere about 3 inches long.
Also have a look at the radiator thickness, it was a 6 core radiator cut out of a Kenworth truck core and made my own top and bottom tanks. It never had any overheating problems, but you would not have to have one this thick if you were pushed for room.
A 6V53 would be physically too big and too heavy. Not to think what it would do to the gearbox or diffs.
Cheers Roscoe

 

[Jazz1985]

I'm guessing the 55 has a Toyota 4 speed and the fairey I'm very interested to know how you mated the engine to the cruiser box bell housing adapter clutch that sort of thing