3-speed transmission swap to a 4-speed? (1 Viewer)

[mrtodds77]

So I got everything all back together and installed. I definitely needed to cut that floor brace to fit the transfer case. You can reuse and reroute the 3 speed cables.
But my issue now is the clutch won’t grab. I adjusted the clutch so the throw out bearing was not touching the 3 prongs. The slave is fine and bled and there is good movement in the throw out bearing. So I can shift easily but when I go to release I get nothing. No noise either. Maybe a small rumble? I thought maybe the clutch might be in backwards because I saw the cone pointing to the transmission where most people said it should point to the flywheel. So I pulled it back out and looked at the clutch. I did not put it in backwards. But it was designed a little different. It’s a duralast clutch. So I got a new heavy duty clutch from SOR anyway but it is the same thickness of the duralast.
I am still not sure this will fix my issue. I have a brand new pressure plate from Aisin but the flywheel looks smooth like glass. The step seems to be 15.76mm which should still be functional. The PO told me he resurfaced the flywheel but this looks too smooth. I think the clutch is slipping on the flywheel which is why it’s not grabbing and moving the transmission? What should a resurfaced flywheel look like? Should it be like glass or should it have some grooves? Should I lower the step on the flywheel to 14mm? That way the pressure plate could grab more?
Any advise would be appreciated. It is very frustrating to get this far and have no power.

 

[mrtodds77]

Ok. I took it all apart again and took the flywheel to get it resurfaced. It looked much better after the resurface. I put it all back together with the new heavy duty clutch plate from SOR and everything shifts fine now.

This early H41 has 4 gears and synchromesh so that’s good but the 1st gear is so low I am only in it about 10 feet. Actually I just start off in 2nd and it runs just like my 3 speed did. I think 1st gear will be much more fun off road.

It’s a big relief to have it all working again. I am still having one issue remaining. I am still experiencing a whine from the transmission/transfer case. It gets worse and louder the faster I go. After rebuilding both I expected things to be much quieter.
If I step on the clutch the whine goes away. To me that eliminates the drive train and differential as noise sources.

Any ideas? Any way to isolate the noise source between the transmission and the transfer case?

 

[brian]

is there video with decent audio?
these transfers are loud.

 

[mrtodds77]

How do I attach video?

 

[mrtodds77]

Fj40 H41 whine noise
Whine noise
Whine Noise 2

 

[brian]

sounds like par for the course to me.

 

[mrtodds77]

Here are some final pictures. On the hump I had to cut the hole more to the center and the 4 speed trans cover was a little taller than the 3 speed so I had to make the hole a little larger than I wanted.

You can see the hole is a little bigger than the shift cover. I will have to find a creative base plate that will cover the hole.

 

[mrtodds77]

I got some used drive shafts from a 4 speed. The sizes worked perfect. I wanted the 11 mm bolt holes to give it the most strength. I think they were from a 1976.

Rear shaft.

Front shaft.

Front Ujoint.

 

[mrtodds77]

The final clearance on the crossbar was tight but it all fits with a few mm to spare.

This is the parking break and rear drive shaft clearance. It looks tight but it Is down below the crossbar by 1/2 inch.

You can see the rear of the trans cover and the cross member. It looks about 2 inches to spare.

 

[mrtodds77]

Finally a picture of the transfer case shift rod and 3 inch extension. Since the transmission is moved back about 3 inches you have to lengthen this as well.

The clearance above the transfer case is very tight as well but it is not rubbing or hitting the floorboards.

This is where the shift rod connects to the transfer case. You can also see the vacuum lines to the 3 speed.

The 3 inch extension.

 

[DesertFJ40]

@mrtodds77
Kickass, you did it!! Awesome work and great of you to include pictures along the way. How are you liking it as opposed to your original 3-speed transmission? Has the "whining" noise settled down since you've started driving it? Is 1st gear too low?

I finally got the necessary time off from work and feel like i can finally progress on this early h41 installation as well. What did you finally end up doing in finding the necessary bearings and remaining parts for the transmission?

Thanks for any help you can provide and, again, great to see how you completed the build

 

[mrtodds77]

Thanks. It was a little challenging but I like figuring out the small problems and doing the work myself. It gives you more knowledge to fix things if they break down off road.

I tend to start off in 2nd most of the time which feels like I am using it just like the 3 speed. I use 1st for hills and off road. The cruiser does not stall at all starting off in 2nd. The 3 speed transmission looks like a toy compared to the 4 speed.

The whining has settled down some but I am still planning on putting in some sound deadening materials and heavy rubber mats. The noise is not bad under 50 mph which is mostly where I keep it anyway.

The H41 rebuilt kit I got from SOR but they charged a lot for the kit. When I talked with Mark my mechanic he said they were just standard Toyota bearings. SOR tried to make it sound like they were rare bearings so that is why it costs more. I spent weeks trying to find and order the right cage bearings because the kit came with the wrong ones for my older H41. Reuse what you have if they don’t look too warn. I probably didn’t need to rebuild my transmission. The cost to benefit ratio was pretty high.

Good luck and feel free to PM me for any questions.