Builds Isuzu 4HE1TC into FJ62 (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

:lol: Throwing it in park... :). Glad we didn't see you go tumbling out the side when that happened. As far as it not shifting, I think if you adjust the cable you can mess with that some more. It seems to me that the A440 is picky as far as where the cable is set, but when you get it set right, man... you can get some sweet shifts. This makes a good test platform too since its all hydraulic. Only so many things that can keep it from shifting instead of a bunch of electronic stuff to figure out. Good luck, oh, and you should just drive this wherever you're going; then you can keep working on it and posting here. I'm sure the open doors will be fine. :)
 
I finally got internet access again :).

When I get back, I'll try adjusting the TV cable to see if I can improve the shifting. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to test the transmission before it was pulled but the PO assured me that it worked fine. The FJ62 that it came out of had 160K miles on the odometer when it was parted out because of some sort of engine problem. With that mileage, I would expect the transmission to be OK.

I also really need to get a tach in the cab so that I can see the revs. It is very possible that the motor is reaching the rev limit set by the IP governor before the transmission has determined that it is time to shift. After all, the A440F is programmed for the torque/rev characteristics of the 3FE. It will shift into the next higher gear if I let off the accelerator pedal.
 
...at the end of your youtube video, was that a comealong holding your 'cab-over' from actually going over? That's great!

oh, nice work on the Izuzu. Looks like you're going to end up with a potent diesel cruiser (with a nice japanese engine to boot).
 
...at the end of your youtube video, was that a comealong holding your 'cab-over' from actually going over? That's great!

oh, nice work on the Izuzu. Looks like you're going to end up with a potent diesel cruiser (with a nice japanese engine to boot).

Thanks for the compliment. Yes, the comealong is the cab safety latch. The truck had been crashed and the frame bent enough so that the regular latches were unreliable. I found this out on my first drive after getting the truck running. First time I stopped, I had a very interesting view :D. Fortunately, I had my seat belt on.
 
Last edited:
Bump for an interesting project. Astr, you back yet?

Rick
Leaving Peru around midnight. Looking forward to getting back to work on the truck. For what its worth, I only saw two Cruisers while here, both 70 Series. Peru - Cruiser WasteLand.
 
Last edited:
Finally back in town and almost caught up on the things I've neglected over the past month. Looking forward to working on the truck again.

This weekend I want to try playng with the TV cable adjustment to see if I can get better shifts out of the A440F. Also, I have this nagging excessive engine oil pressure problem that I hope to get resolved.

The next real step is to try and build a hybrid transmission around the AW450 core rather than A440F core. To accomplish this, I will need to install the A440F output shaft into the AW450 transmission. This will require a complete teardown of both transmissions. To make this task a bit easier, I'm converting a cheap engine stand to a transmission stand so I can rotate the transmission during assembly. I hope to have this task also finished this weekend.
 
The peanut gallery awaits.....
 
Nice. :) Just out of curiosity, would the same process work with one of the Isuzu manuals? I mean as far as swapping in the output shaft?
 
Nice. :) Just out of curiosity, would the same process work with one of the Isuzu manuals? I mean as far as swapping in the output shaft?

The reason that I want to swap the A440F output shaft into the AW450 is so that I can mate the AW450 to the TLC split case T-case that came on the A440F The only reason that this may be possible is because both transmissions are manufactured by Aisin and as theSherpa pointed out, they share a lot of components. It appears that the AW450 is essentially a newer version of the A440F.

I believe that Isuzu manufactures thier own manual transmission so it is unlikely that you could take an output shaft from a Toyota-manufactured manual transmission and stick it into an Isuzu transmission.

That would be my guess but, once upon a time, I would never had thought that what I'm trying to do now with the AW450/A440F would be feasible either.

One way that you might be able to use an Isuzu manual transmission is find one that already has an Isuzu T-case attached, To the best of my knowledge, these were never available in the US but here are specs for NPS (NPR-type) truck for the NZ market: http://www.isuzu.co.nz/specsheet/NPS300C.pdf
 
did you think about having the govener reworked on the 440, and see how that worked, they can lower your shift points by reworking the govener/ valvebody, A good trans shop/ tech should be able to do that, they setup 700r4's for the 4bt crowd, why not a a440??? just a thought if you know someone close that could play with it...

also thanks for doing this and posting, I have a fzj80 that needs a transplant...
 
did you think about having the govener reworked on the 440, and see how that worked, they can lower your shift points by reworking the govener/ valvebody, A good trans shop/ tech should be able to do that, they setup 700r4's for the 4bt crowd, why not a a440??? just a thought if you know someone close that could play with it...

also thanks for doing this and posting, I have a fzj80 that needs a transplant...

It probably could be done however I certainly don't know how to do it and the local transmisssion shops seem to have no experience with A440F's. Also, I'm trying to build this with the minimum of custom stuff as I want to be able to maintain it in Costa Rica using off-the-shelf parts.

Furthermore, using the AW450 as the core transmission gives me torque converter lockup capability in 2nd, 3rd, and OD whereas the stock A440F will only lockup in OD.

And finally, my AW450 came with a real nice PTO which won't fit on the A440F. I can use this to drive a hydraulic pump to drive a Milemarker hydraulic winch. However, I may not be able to use it as I suspect with will interfere with the transmission tunnel. I will address this issue at the same tiime as the starter interference issue.
 
astr, you live in my area???
I dont see to many cruisers, you in Ann Arbor?
I am located in scio township.
 
astr, you live in my area???
I dont see to many cruisers, you in Ann Arbor?
I am located in scio township.

Just down the road in Pittsfield Township, not too far from I94 & US23.
 
ASTR, just a thought on the starter,

Looking at it the bellhousing it has a nice locator ring on it. what about cutting the area the starter mounts in and the 2 nearest belhousing bolts from the Bellhousing. then swap it with the other side, the locating ring, will make it easy to line it up and weld it back in place keeping the alignment. Then you would end up with the starter on the passanger side where it would be in the passanger floor.
 
Furthermore, using the AW450 as the core transmission gives me torque converter lockup capability in 2nd, 3rd, and OD whereas the stock A440F will only lockup in OD.

the AW450 that are u using come factory in trucks in CR .. ?

Those lockups are automatic when it reach certain amount of rpm .?
 
ASTR, just a thought on the starter,

Looking at it the bellhousing it has a nice locator ring on it. what about cutting the area the starter mounts in and the 2 nearest belhousing bolts from the Bellhousing. then swap it with the other side, the locating ring, will make it easy to line it up and weld it back in place keeping the alignment. Then you would end up with the starter on the passanger side where it would be in the passanger floor.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm not sure that moving the problem to my wife's side of the truck would be appreciated. Maybe she won't notice the bulge in the floor. ;);)

I've been avoiding addressing the starter issue until I get the transmission merge finished. Once I'm happy with the transmission, I'll pull the 3FE and replace the bellhousing on the A440F with the one from the AW450. This will give me a clear picture of how bad the starter will interfere with the body.

Some possible solutions to the body/starter conflict:

1) Small body lift along with a few gentle caresses with a five pound hammer to the sheet metal.

2) 8" body lift and forget the hammer.

3) Reclock the starter to place the motor portion lower.

4) Mount a ring gear behind the front crankshaft pulley and relocate the starter to the front of the motor

5) Replace the P.S. pump with a starter that engages the gear that used to drive the pump.

6) Start the engine once and never shut it down.

Any additional suggestions would be appreciated.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom