84' BJ42, has 4 speed, want 5 speed- advice for Daily Driver

[beejay42]

I have been and continue to search on this subject- but would love some straight forward advice (for the mechanically ignorant).
I want to look into and start planning the easiest and cheapest options of putting in a 5 speed box into my soon to be arriving BJ42- can I just take off a 5 speed from another BJ42 and swap? is it a simple bolt on procedure? Is this a H55f box I should be looking for? If not, what should I be looking for- out of what model/year- and if relevent is any of this particular to Australia?

anyway, pretty clueless on this- I just want to get maximum economy and lower revs at highway speed- this will mainly be driven on the road, and occasionally off it- but even then nothing too extreme off.
I want to get this thing tailored for as-comfortable-as-practical road driving- so would welcome any and all advice on this (will probably look into some sound deadening later too). With a bit of advice and study I can confidently do 'simpler' stuff myself- just don't want to tackle cutting, shortening, welding, lengthening etc- I would like to do it myself if possible to save money. Thanks for any help or links, and yes I am still using the search function

 

[cruiser_guy]

If you get a 5 speed from another BJ42 get the driveshafts, transfer and possibly the tranny support as well. It will be a simply bolt in swap.

The driveshaft lengths are different, apparently the transfer case has some differences in that there is some oil cup for the 5th gear that is built into the transfer case and I've heard that the tranny mount is slightly different to help clear the front driveshaft since the tranny is about 3" longer.

 

[beejay42]

Thanks Cruiser_guy
so even with the different driveshaft lengths (I am imagining one is longer and the other shorter)- it will all just bolt together and fit into the same positions?

Gonna call around some wreckers tomorrow.

 

[cruiser_guy]

Yes it should! An '84 BJ42 that was for Canadian production would have come standard with the 5 speed so it does work. I put an H55 from an '84 BJ60 into my '82 BJ60 which came factory with the H42 and it was all bolt in.

Be aware that an H55 from a '60 series has a different shifter plate and the shifter is in a different location. Also an H55 from an "F" or "H" series has a different input shaft.

 

[gettocruiser]

i have 2 bj 42's and over the last 3-4 years used them both as a dd. i killed one this way. my advice would be to take the $2000-3000(i'm guessing at the price, people want big money here for a 5 speed) it would take to do 5 speed conversion and buy a $500 car and drive it in to the ground.

 

[beejay42]

$2-3000
well, I really hope it is not going to cost me that much- and I actually doubt it will.
I could buy a complete but rusty/tired BJ42 for $3000 here.
So, hopefully I can find one in a wreckers with the bits I need and pull it off for considerably less than 1K. Don't know If I am being hopeful/naive or not- we'll see.
If it is going to cost over 1K, then I won't be doing it for a while.

Didn't manage to call around wreckers today- was busy all day finding a company to freight the extra (split rim) six tires/wheels. Bloody bunch of crooks.
99% of the company's I contacted wanted to charge me $400-$700 just to transport six tires. Transporting the whole truck is only costing me $620 (ie five tires AND a truck).
Finally I found a company that is going to do it for $280- still a rip-off IMHO for 6 bloody tires, but what can I do? For $280 I would rather get the extra tires/rims than get a few hundred back selling them off up there.

Anyway, back to the gear box-

Even though I called it my 'daily driver', I don't actually drive a car that much anyway, nor very far- I live in inner city, and now that I am studying again ride a bike to Uni (inner city) unless it is raining (and if I can't be bothered taking a tram). So the BJ will be for work and for play- work is usually local- play is usually a few hours drive (but play time is few and far between)- it will be my only car (aside from running around in my GF's Forester). That is the whole point for me.

Having only done 84,000 Km's I am hoping that it would be unlikely for me to run this thing into the ground- at least any time soon.
I will be treating this thing pretty good too
on road an off.

Anyway, I will see how it goes- the PO says it sits pretty comfortably at highway speed on its 33's- but somehow I doubt it, and for long drives (play time- down to the great ocean road) I like the idea of having the 5th gear as overdrive.
Plus, I just like a five speed-
but $2-3000- well, I don't think I like them that much

 

[Otterav]

Hello,
The tranny is a straight bolt in affair. The H55 is 3.140" or about 80mm longer all of the length after the trans mount. The driveshafts will need to be lengthened/shortened that same amount. The only fab work will be if you get the tranny from a BJ60, the hole for the shifter will have to be moved back. I got my H55 with the splitcase and driveshafts for $500.00.
Go for it
eric