Build Last of the BJs: 1989 BJ60 restoration, 15B-T swap

[lp2k]

Take some red scotch pad (used to scrub dirty pots) and scrub those areas. You should be able to reuse the shafts if the teeth are good but the scotch pad scrub over the the first gear needle roller bearing journal will make it smooth again. I worked in a transmission place for a little and it was my beginner job to scrub metal parts which had that scoring to get it smooth. All by hand

 

[Dusten]

Take some red scotch pad (used to scrub dirty pots) and scrub those areas. You should be able to reuse the shafts if the teeth are good but the scotch pad scrub over the the first gear needle roller bearing journal will make it smooth again. I worked in a transmission place for a little and it was my beginner job to scrub metal parts which had that scoring to get it smooth. All by hand

Scotch Brite or Emory cloth.

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Take some red scotch pad (used to scrub dirty pots) and scrub those areas. You should be able to reuse the shafts if the teeth are good but the scotch pad scrub over the the first gear needle roller bearing journal will make it smooth again. I worked in a transmission place for a little and it was my beginner job to scrub metal parts which had that scoring to get it smooth. All by hand

Scotch Brite or Emory cloth.

Thanks guys. There are no scores in the journal, just the dark corrosion. Initially I could not feel with my nail whether it was a positive or negative feature, but after brightening the journal surface with some 1200 wet-and-dry, they were clearly negative pits. If this was a priceless piece or no longer made, I would have kept it running, but given the probable wear on the 3rd/4th shift hub splines, the mild wear on the transfer input gear splines, I have bought a new shaft. Maybe I can sell the old one, Toyota parts are hard to find round here so there may be a market.

Any idea what causes the grey-blue glazing of the journals? I would guess poor lubrication and subsequent heating? Or is that normal wear for a high mileage transmission?

 

[lp2k]

Heat and poor lubrication

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Heat and poor lubrication

There was no plug in the unused hole of the front transfer case section, so it may have been that the fluid level was low. But given the staining inside the transmission, Ithink it could also be that the oil was in such poor condition that it provided very little lubrication, allowing heat to build up.

 

[lacalvette]

I took appart a 83 h55f which had a input shaft bearing failure. The middle ring which keep the roller equidistant broke and been crushed by gear.
There must been some heat from that because all rubber seal are hard like steel and so brittle. But the dam thing just kept going. Roller were all together on one side!!

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

I took appart a 83 h55f which had a input shaft bearing failure. The middle ring which keep the roller equidistant broke and been crushed by gear.
There must been some heat from that because all rubber seal are hard like steel and so brittle. But the dam thing just kept going. Roller were all together on one side!!

Not quite sure which bearing you mean (input shaft has a ball bearing and the rollers on the end of the output shaft have no ring), but I guess these boxes are pretty tough. From what I remember, mine ran fine without any real noises, but everything was worn inside (apart from 5th gears). I'm sure it would have gone together and run satisfactorily, the question is just how long...

 

[lacalvette]

Was the bearing on the input shaft. May be different on the newer model h55f (this was on an 1983). You are right, ...how long! ...I also have a 1985 h55f which had a bearing failure on the lay shaft (motor side) and the lay shaft dropped a bit, just enough for the gear teeth to get destroyed. (not enough contact)

as for oil, my h55f on my newly acquired f (b) j62 was really hard to change gear, one day I removed the filled plug to see if there was enough oil and received an oil stream? The gear box was completely full? In my case, the seal between the gear box and T-case allow the T-case oil to be pumped in the gearbox. Hence the T-case would have been emptied before the gearbox.

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Was the bearing on the input shaft. May be different on the newer model h55f (this was on an 1983). You are right, ...how long! ...I also have a 1985 h55f which had a bearing failure on the lay shaft (motor side) and the lay shaft dropped a bit, just enough for the gear teeth to get destroyed. (not enough contact)

as for oil, my h55f on my newly acquired f (b) j62 was really hard to change gear, one day I removed the filled plug to see if there was enough oil and received an oil stream? The gear box was completely full? In my case, the seal between the gear box and T-case allow the T-case oil to be pumped in the gearbox. Hence the T-case would have been emptied before the gearbox.

View attachment 3180419

Is that the collapsed input shaft bearing? I've never seen a roller bearing on an early or later H55F input shaft, perhaps it was non standard.

About the leak from transfer to transmission, this seems to be a common fault on the earlier boxes. With the mid or late 80s update to the H55F they made an improved double-lipped seal for the transfer input shaft gear, and also put an O-ring where the gear sits against the output shaft rear bearing. Definitely worth keeping an eye on fluid levels. Some people fit hoses between the two, not something I would consider though.

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Shopping trip

Bringing the thread right up to date, I have just returned from a shopping/recon trip to Malaysia, specifically to the industrial town of Inanam, now a suburb of Kota Kinabalu (KK). With two local friends, we drove up from Brunei in a Hilux. My aim was to check out a few chop-shops and get a replacement rear axle.

Quick back story (I aim to cover this in more detail in the near future): Low-spec (and all US) 60s came with a semi-floating axle (SFA) on the rear. When I was initially disassebling the car, the experience of taking off the diff backing plate and fishing out the C clips and spacer made me immediately wish for a full-floating axle (FFA). From the point of view of my build philosophy, the FFA is a clear winner over the SFA as it is so easily field repairable (and uses the same wheel bearings as the front). I also think that the SFA is a fundamentally poor design, with the wheel bearing rollers acting directly on the half shafts. My Hilux and Hilux Surf both have rear SFAs, but use a complete, sealed bearing which can be (albeit not very easily) changed and imparts no wear on the half shafts. The BJ's half shafts were worn both at the splines and bearing surfaces and I was determined not to spend any money on more crappy SFA hardware.

The FFA is also far more versatile; if the rear diff or a rear half-shaft on a SFA fails, the vehicle becomes inoperable. With a FFA, where the wheels run on hubs, it will happily run without a diff or half-shafts. A full-floating rear axle is also the only route to using an original LSD, or original cable lockers (though a cable-locking rear axle needs a different half-shaft with longer splines on one side). So, a FFA and original LSD was on my shopping list. And, if possible, a rear sway bar. I also wanted to look at some engines.

Inanam seems to be like Vladivostok in Russia or Quetta in Pakistan - a place where vast quantities of used Japanese vehicles, half-cuts and parts end up. It must be the best place in Borneo to find used stuff for a Landcruiser. I was told by a local friend to visit this place first and drop his name to Roland.

In the main pile of rear axles, most of which seemed to be 80 axles, we found a rear cable-lock axle from an HJ60, a FFA from a 75 series (narrower than a 60) but no plain 60 FFA... but of course that was just the 'main' pile... I was taken to two complete 60s waiting to be dismantled, both of which had FFAs. One red one in a yard across the road looked especially good. I put down a deposit, boys were dispatched to start taking things apart, and I was told to return the following morning.

I walk in the next morning to find this: the 60 rear FFA on jackstands and two 75 rear FFAs nearby, with a factory LSD. The short-side half shaft is the same on the 75 as that on the 60 (and still available new), so I had plenty to choose from. The long side 60 half shaft (which is longer than a 75 long side half-shaft) from the axle was pretty good, some minor wear to the splines. Seeing me screwing my eyes up at this. Roland walks out with two more, so I get one with virtually no spline wear. We (yes, no Health and Safety here, I was able to dismantle anything I wanted myself) then got the drums and hubs off the 60 axle housing to reveal very nice looking spindles. The LSD looks good and feels tight, no pinion flange slop. A great success, and at the first stop. The only very minor disappointment was that none of the rear axles I saw here, even the cable locking axle, had brackets for a rear sway bar. But, they are easily fabricated, particularly as they are identical to the front axle sway bar brackets.

All back together, ready for wrapping...

...and loading into the Hilux. Mission accomplished.

What about looking at some engines...

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Window-Shopping trip

Having found an axle, it was time to look at engines. I'm not quite ready to commit, but can get an idea of availability, prices, (visual) condition.

One of Powergine's engine areas. I see 2 15B-Fs and 3 15B-FTs, all manual, all rotary pump. Very nice. Some looked like they might have been fresh from Japanese half-cuts, others had clearly already been installed in projects, with high-mount turbos, aftermarket waste-gates and silicone hoses. I would prefer an unmolested half-cut 15B-FT to be sure to get a factory turbo, not a user-turbocharged 15B-F (though the differences are minor). There is also an old red-block 3B, and a 13B-T, neither of which are of interest to me.

Nearby at another breaker's yard, this one just selling parts (no fabrications or restoration), I see some even nicer looking engines, including this 14B-T.

15B-FT, 14B, 15B-FT. Both the 15B-FTs are factory turbo, manual rotary pump versions - the one you want!

Just before leaving this yard, I looked over at a pile of sway bars and steering rods, to see a 60 rear sway bar with chassis brackets. So all I need to do now is fabricate the mounting brackets from some box section to weld onto my new rear axle.

I'm very tempted to buy an engine, but I can't decide. The two candidates are the 15B-FT and the 14B-T. Here's how, in my mind, they measure up:

14B-T
Pros:

• Having the same block (apart from the oil return port being drilled) as my 3Bii, this would be a very close to factory-looking swap. The turbo crossover pipe is in a good position, all I would need to do is plumb in my air box to the turbo, which with a bit of luck I could do with some factory Toyota hose.
• I could even go as far as rebuilding my 3Bii block with all the 14B-T internals, meaning I could export the vehicle with matching engine numbers but a far better engine.
• High mount CT26 turbo (same as a 1HD-FT I believe).
• I can add my 3Bii steering pump, using the 3Bii's front timing gear cover to delete the gear-driven steering pump if I want, avoiding the need to fabricate new power steering hoses.
• Slightly lighter than a 15B.
• Nice looking engine, in my opinion.

Cons:

• While the 14B is still in production, the 14B-T had a fairly limited run (1989 to 1995) and some parts are hard to find or discontinued.
• Less power than a 15B-FT. The 14B is a very long stroke engine so I imagine, even with the CT26, the top end is significantly weaker than a 15B-FT.

15B-FT
Pros:

• More power.
• With 16 valves, I imagine this will be more fuel efficient than the 14B-T.
• Although the 15B-FT is no longer in production, it is a more recent engine and I don't think finding parts is an issue.
• I won't ever think 'I wish I had gone for the more powerful option'. This was the conversion I had in mind when I bought the BJ60 two years ago.

Cons:

• I will need to do some pipework as there is no standard crossover pipe for the engine. This may be difficult to do whilst retaining some sort of factory look.
• No way I can pass this off as a 3B and legitimately export the vehicle, the swap will have to be done later.
• Possibly too powerful for the drivetrain... not sure about this. Longevity is more important to me than maximum power.
• Low-mount, small CT12 turbo, apparently (I know very little about turbos) not much top-end compared with a CT26.
• I will not be fitting an intercooler, which all 15B-FTs came with from factory.
• Heavy engine and, in my opinion, a bit ugly.
• Not sure I can retro-fit my 3Bii front timing cover (the 3Bii, 14B-T and 15B-FT all share the same timing cover gasket, so it should work....), which might screw up using the 3Bii AC compressor bracket and steering pump.

Not a bad position to be in, but I need to consider this. I have actually driven Landcruiser conversions with both the 15B-FT and 14B-T, but it's hard to compare as they were rather shoddily done. The 15B-FT was mated to a slushbox and had no brakes whatsoever; the 14B-T was running with a proper transmission but had no clutch. Both went well... the 15B-FT was tuned a bit and went like a scalded cat.

If anyone can make a better comparison, I'm very interested to know an objective comparison in torque at low and high-ends of the rev spectrum. Also fuel economy.

Anyhow, with an axle and diff purchased, and many B engines drooled over, it was time to head back on the bumpy road to Brunei in the loot-filled Hilux.

Interestingly, this two day trip resulted in no less than 8 stamps in my passport. Before the opening of the Temburong bridge, it would have been 16!

EO

 

[cruisermatt]

surprised you didn't go for the cable locker.

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

surprised you didn't go for the cable locker.

It was just the rear cable lock axle. No cable/clamps, no engagement levers/cranks, wiring etc. If I wanted to have the factory cable locks I would go for a full set of front and rear with all the bits. No chance to find that here, much easier in Europe. One snag is that I would have to remove/chop open one of the cross members under the floor to fit the brace with the captive nuts that the levers and cranks bolt to, as that hardware is not present on this BJ60.

 

[diesellibrarian]

The only very minor disappointment was that none of the rear axles I saw here, even the cable locking axle, had brackets for a rear sway bar.

I might stand corrected here, but on the NA market 60 series at least, the rear sway bar wasn't added until 1988.

Anyway, great story! I can't even imagine having that kind of access to used Cruiser parts. Too cool.

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

I might stand corrected here, but on the NA market 60 series at least, the rear sway bar wasn't added until 1988.

Anyway, great story! I can't even imagine having that kind of access to used Cruiser parts. Too cool.

Sounds absolutely correct to me - but even after 1988 (08/87 build date), it still seems to have been supplied only on high-spec models, or even just an option. There was a mid or high-spec square headlight (88+) 60 in the yard with no sway bar brackets on the rear. Anyhow, an easy fabrication job.

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Transmission Assembly 1

Time to get back to updating this thread, I'm still a long way behind. Here's the entire assembly of the H55F transmission. Transfer will come later. I'm doing this by the book with practically no deviations. Thy shall not hammer where the FSM doth not prescribe hammering!

As I mentioned earlier, I bought parts for the H55F as I slowly stripped it over a period of months, and ended up replacing almost everything. If I was somewhere with a decent supply of new parts, it would have been cheaper to just buy a new transmission. But I am not, and that's not what I did. Besides, buying a whole new transmission is boring!

Some nice shiny pieces for the first few steps:

My 1989 output shaft -60071 has been superseded to -60072, there is a very clear difference in spline length. -60072 requires a transfer input gear with shorter splines.

One early weakness of the H55F was poor sealing between the transmission and transfer oils, so one of the updates to address this was to have an O-ring on the nose of the transfer input gear so it can seal against the shaft. Hence the splines do not extend to the nose of the transfer input gear, so that the O ring can seal.

However, another weakness of the transmission is the tendency to wear the transfer input gear splines.... and this update is likely to have made that worse, unless machining was tighter, or metallugry improved (which I doubt).

First step - add the second gear needle roller bearing to the output shaft:

Install second gear and the third gear bushing lock ball:

Add the third gear bushing, making sure to catch the lock ball in the cut-out:

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Transmission assembly 2

Add third gear:

Add the third gear synchroniser ring:

Take the third/fouth gear shift hub, add the shift keys, retainer springs and push on the shift sleeve into a sub-assembly:

Here it's good to check your shift hub for wear. The splines should be an interference fit on the output shaft. If you can slide it on by hand, it is worn and should be replaced.

The third/fourth shift hub sub assembly is pressed/drawn onto the output shaft. Here I am using the Kukko puller against my old first gear.

Then with snap ring pliers (not circlip pliers), add the shift hub snap ring:

Check that the shift keys are in place, and that the third gear synchroniser ring moves freely. The cluster is already taking shape.

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Transmission assembly 3

Add the first/second gear synchroniser/reverse gear assembly, the first gear needle roller bearing, and first gear to complete the output shaft cluster for now:

Now that is a thing of beauty!

Now to the transmission case:

Add the reverse gear shift arm, plate washer, spring washer and nut. Remember to add a new O-ring behind the plate washer. Then add the reverse idler gear, tap in the shaft with lock key, and add the large E-ring (on late H55Fs, early ones have no E-ring I believe):

Now for the countershaft. Tape the rear bearing surfaces for pretection:

Install in the case. If you are re-using a countershaft, make sure the front bearing thrust washer has been removed.

Easy bits done. The next steps are much more techncial!

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Transmission assembly 4

In my experience, the most difficult piece of the H55F is the output shaft centre bearing, which in a way is the lynchpin of the transmission as it locates the output shaft and, by extension, the input shaft and 5th gear. If you scroll back a couple of pages you'll see it was a bit of a chore to remove.

Installing the output shaft centre bearing is not simple task. It could be done on a press, but that would require quite some space under the press, and quite a bit of jigging to get everything correctly supported. This is not how Toyota want you to install it. Toyota have, of course, an SST.

SST -36033 is some sort of threaded extension with a nut for the output shaft, while -60010 is basically a long pipe with flats on one end to hold with a spanner. It must also slot together in such a way that the output shaft is prevented from turning when the nut on -36033 is being turned.

Searches for this SST turned up nothing. So, time to make one. I was actually lying in bed thinking when it came to me that one of those 555 drag link ends which I had taken off the car and chucked in the junk outside might do the job. I fished it out, cleaned it up and checked.

The internal thread for the plug which pushes the cups against the ball joint in the link is M25x1.5. And the output shaft is.... M26x1.5. That's close enough to run a reamer down to flatten the threads, then run an M26x1.5 tap down to cut them deeper. So onto Aliexpress, and a few weeks later I could do this:

For the pipe, I ordered some DN40 304 water pipe, very cheap and thick walled enough for the job. I welded on a very thick plate washer, then cut flats into it to grip with a large adjustable spanner. There is also a slot in there to take a lock bolt.

I drilled out the zerk thread in the drag link end and tapped it out to M8x1.25 so I could thread in a high tensile lock-bolt, to stop the output shaft turning.

Here is the final SST set, with the old output shaft. The male thread on the drag link end is M21x1.5 and it's hard to find nuts that size, which were pretty expensive.

With a lathe you could make this tool very nicely, but my rough and ready hand made attempt, made on the laundry room floor passed the test of pressing on the race from the old output shaft centre bearing.

EO

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

The big moment. We'll be needing these new pieces:

Install the first gear thrust washer lock pin into the output shaft and slide on the first gear thrust washer:

Stand the transmission on its front face, insert the output shaft cluster, then drop the output shaft centre bearing down onto the output shaft:

Add the drag link end tool:

Then slide on the extension tube:

EO