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- #801
Ehhhh, took a break from the 80 yesterday and took the 40 out in the snow. Eagle Creek off HWY 2, WA
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I have to tell you mate, this build blog helped me with my build 3 years ago. It was my initial reference and by now I have helped at least 3 80 series with their FT conversions and always point them to here. By now I’ve put almost 50k miles on the truck and i rides better then new. I love what you have done. Cheers mate!!!Short update: the OEM clutch lasted about 65k and it was really starting to go.
Went with the Trail Tamer which is supposed to have 25% more clamping force.
What I didn’t know is that a clutch swap is a HUGE undertaking in a converted truck. Due to the floor pan, I was unable to separate and pull the transmission/transfer combo back far enough. It was really hung up and I ended up having to unbolt the engine and all the components in order to lift the engine and move it forward. The radiator had to come out too. What a PAIN
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Flywheel. It looked better than I was expecting. Very little heat marks and I had it re-surfaced locally.
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Inside of the bellhousing, you can see the ring of dusted clutch material
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New clutch installed, just before bolting the transmission/transfer combo back up. That is one heavy, awkward assembly.
New clutch works well, definitely stiffer than OEM but it also does seem to grab better. We shall see.
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That's awesome. Cool to hear that over time, it's been helpful for others on the same path. Enjoy that 80I have to tell you mate, this build blog helped me with my build 3 years ago. It was my initial reference and by now I have helped at least 3 80 series with their FT conversions and always point them to here. By now I’ve put almost 50k miles on the truck and i rides better then new. I love what you have done. Cheers mate!!!
Here are some pics… also a walkaround and a blog of the end result.That's awesome. Cool to hear that over time, it's been helpful for others on the same path. Enjoy that 80
Well, it might be. Getting the whole engine undone and loose was bad but it would have been even worse to actually pull the whole engine. BUT, if it was out, it'd definitely be easier to stab the transmission onto the back of itCrap, I need to do a clutch job on my HZJ80 and am not looking forward to it now. Might be easier to just pull the engine and tranny.
Well, I can verify that there was NO WAY simply tipping the engine downwards in the rear would work. I tried it. The bellhousing is much too large to clear the floorpan. I was able to separate the transmission about 2” from the engine and that was it. No way to actually separate the transmission input shaft from the clutch assembly until the engine went about 5” forwardsI've read that that's what people usually do. They remove the radiator fan to not damage the radiator when they tilt the motor down to have access to the top bell housing bolts.
Tilt down to get to the bolts, then slide the transmission out an inch or two so the input shaft is out from the clutch disk, lower trans as far as you can go, etc. It's possible for sure. A bit of a wiggle, but it's far easier than pulling the whole engine out. Not trying to say "you're wrong", only that there's an easier way about it. I've done it a number of times this way.
I doubt the floor pan of the AT trucks is *that much* different than the MT trucks.
It’s not, trans tunnel that is. It depends how the engine and trans were setup originally though. It’s a swapped Cruiser right? If engine is in the stock location than trans moves forward 2” or so from the 442/343.
We are just finishing an FTE/152 swap, no probs to get the trans out while engine stays. Not all swaps are created equal though.
Cheers
Correct, swapped cruiser. The trans is *shorter* by 2", it doesn't "move forward" from the stock location in relation to the engine, which in my case, is in the stock location.
You're right though, if the engine was moved back from what should be the stock location, then all bets are off.
Well, I can verify that there was NO WAY simply tipping the engine downwards in the rear would work. I tried it. The bellhousing is much too large to clear the floorpan. I was able to separate the transmission about 2” from the engine and that was it. No way to actually separate the transmission input shaft from the clutch assembly until the engine went about 5” forwards
It couldn’t hold up to the turned up boost and fueling, even with the CT26 limited to 15psi. In 4th gear, I could blow the stock clutch away and it was starting to slip in 3rd alsowhy did you only get 60k out of the oem clutch?
300mm. Pulling a loaded dump trailer a few times up the steep hills around here didn’t help eitherWow, 15psi isn't much. Were you running a 275mm or 300mm clutch?