1980 BJ41v 2B Engine Rebuild

[seidog001]

Hi all. First time poster. Apologies in advance for any lack of forum etiquette etc. - hoping to learn as I become more involved.

I have a 45-year-old BJ41 that I bought last year. It's been my dream car for ages and it's been amazing driving it around. I did recently notice white smoke coming out of the exhaust especially when the engine is warm, and while using additives has been helping, I'm probably going to need to rebuild the engine in the near -future. There's a bit of blow-by gas and I believe there's a compression leak.

So I'm beginning to look for parts. I'm probably never going to be able to find authentic genuine pistons or a cylinder head, and considering buying OEM or aftermarket parts.

Has anyone here rebuilt an old 2B engine? I'd love to know how you sourced the necessary parts. If you used OEM/aftermarket parts, how they're working out, etc.

I'm pretty new to the world of Land Cruisers and am learning & researching as I go... the experts that I speak to in Japan seem to think that only genuine Toyota parts should be used, and while that may be true, it is quite unrealistic, and I'd love any guidance from experienced LC owners here.

Thank you

 

[Rodger]

Hello and welcome.

From your description it sounds like the head gasket has a leak and is allowing water into one of the cylinders. Act before it gets worse and causes far more damage.
Most parts for the 40 series are aftermarket although there are some still available from Toyota and recently Gazoo Racing started reproducing hard to get parts for the 40 series on behalf of Toyota but they are mostly for the FJ (petrol) version. Talk to the oldest guy in the parts department of your local Toyota dealers first but take a note of your 41's vin number with you.
Buy a manual which would give you step by step procedure for changing the head gasket but you are probably going to have to buy some tools - torque wrench, etc, as well. But read the relevant part of the manual and then decide if you can do it but bear in mind that some of those bolts have been in there for 45 years so it will always take longer than the book says!
If you decide to find a mechanic, look for a an old guy/Toyota specialist because they will have done the job before and the new guys are just box changers.
There must be specialist Toyota suppliers in Japan - use the net and local specialist car clubs are great sources of information. We can get most parts from European suppliers but if you cannot find anywhere local try Australia as there are several 40 series suppliers. I can give you some contact info if there are no local suppliers.

Hope this helps and don't worry about asking questions - it's what the forum is for.

Regards,

Rodger

 

[seidog001]

Thanks Rodger. I do have a mechanic who has been in the business for 40+ years and frequently appears in 4x4-related magazines here. When I asked him about the car he said the first mistake I made was buying a 40 series 　

I also found a service manual online. There are no local suppliers that provide the parts I need - if you can point me towards whomever is making tested & proven cylinder heads I would be eternally grateful. I'm also scouring Yahoo auction & Mercari (the two major online sources for parts) nightly.

I would very much appreciate contact info for parts in Australia. I found out Precision Regrinds in NZ can make new heads. Has anyone worked with them?

The aforementioned legendary mechanic said there's a good chance the head is cracked and that I should look for a replacement. Also it is a low mileage (94k km) engine, which I can attest to since the car came with 45 years worth of service history - it may have sat long periods without being driven and the cylinder sleeves might be scratched or worn from being started without enough oil in the engine. Either way it's probably best to have the head replaced.... or is it?

If I can't find genuine Toyota parts I'm gonna have to work with OEM/aftermarket parts. Would love any pointers in that direction.

 

[Gr8Yota]

Hello, I’ve just bought a BJ42 with the help of @Rodger who is definitely a font of knowledge of these trucks. I have been hunting around for what parts suppliers and info resources are available for me for the future. I found a guy in Australia selling a complete set of manuals as pdf download for next to nothing. (£7) which is a good start. I looked at the usual parts suppliers PartSouq and Amayama and found that they don’t recognise the VIN but they do have parts if you know the part number. (I just ordered a pair of rear reflectors from Amayama and their genuine parts were cheaper than some of the ebay options). So now I’m trying to source a parts catalogue and an owners manual for general service info which I don’t have.

The US have a lot of parts available but like Rodger says they are mostly FJ parts but maybe worth a look over on iH8mud. There is also All American Imports in The Netherlands, Maarten runs the company and is now in his 70’s there’s not much he doesn’t know about Land Cruisers!

 

[Rodger]

Bei Facebook anmelden - [Leaving Land Cruiser Club] BJ40-FJ45-HJ47 LANDCRUISER GROUP AUSTRALIA

The guy you need to message in that group is Ben Keen.

The mechanic sounds like he's not the one for the job and who obviously likes unreliable vehicles because they earn more money for him. Keep searching.
Until you have established whether it's the head gasket or the cylinder head, don't worry about searching out a cylinder head replacement. Mostly the white smoke indicates a head gasket problem.

I suggest that you search deeper in the web as mostly your just getting box shifters and what you need to find is specialist suppliers - be model specific in your search, may be you already are but somewhere there will be specialist suppliers as many of the countries around Japan have loads of 40 series trucks in service.

These engines are good for 100s of thousands of miles and will run on low quality fuels, oils etc., because often that's all that was available.

Regards,

Rodger

 

[Rodger]

European based specialist suppliers are:

www.Euro4x4parts.com
www.magastore4x4.pt