Out with the Semi-Old A440-In with the H55

[orangefj45]

1. If you have your existing flywheel, make sure you mark where TDC (for timing) is or you will have to go through the process of re-finding it. I forgot and spent a couple hours finding it again.

2.the rear engine seal was a pain. Getting it out and getting the new one in.

huh?! the flywheels have a line and check-ball on them from the factory.

nice work on the wiring.

i did a similar conversion a few years ago and posted a thread on here. did you see it? should have helped you a bunch.


lemme know if you need help figuring anything else out, i'll be happy to assist. but it looks like you got it covered at this point.

cheers!

georg @ valley hybrids

 

[pismo62]

Spook--Drive shafts were 325.

George--I did see your thread and It was really helpful. On the flywheel, I saw the line and marked it, but I'm not sure it was TDC on mine. So I re-marked it. I'll find out which was the right one when I have to do some timing.

 

[Slowerthanu]

The difference in performance will be very noticeable, but don't expect a huge increase in fuel mileage. This is still a heavy, boxy Cruiser plus the new-found joy of running through the gears will offset any fuel mileage improvement .

It's funny though, I drive my 89 FJ-62 more than my 2006 F-150 because I get about 16-17 in my 62 and around 14 in my F-150.

 

[pismo62]

Got her all buttoned up. The exhaust was repaired. Boy was it loud cruising over to the muffler shop. I 'll report on how she does.

 

[orangefj45]

sweet, nice going!

 

[pismo62]

The carpet looks a little funky with out a few pieces. I'll have to work on that.


Slowerthanu--I don't think I ever got 16-17 mpg. I'd be happy with 15.

 

[Rusty Pig]

Congrats on getting this buttoned up, nicely done! Can't wait to hear about your impressions.

 

[Slowerthanu]

The carpet looks a little funky with out a few pieces. I'll have to work on that.


Slowerthanu--I don't think I ever got 16-17 mpg. I'd be happy with 15.

I got lucky with my 62. It has rust in all kinds of spots but you lift the hood and it looks like a two year old used car, almost new. I don't think mine saw much if any off road until my father purchased it, had me rebuild the front end and throw an OME medium kit on it and moved it to Moab.

I honestly runs real well, even at altitude and my heavy foot.

I am dying to do an H55 conversion but every time I come across parts like the pedal bucket, I have my money tied up elsewhere.

 

[FJ40Jim]

I am dying to do an H55 conversion but every time I come across parts like the pedal bucket, I have my money tied up elsewhere.

I strongly recommend buying an entire parts FJ60, rather than trying to piece together all the bits that are needed.

IIRC, Cruiserparts.com will sell an A440-->H55 swap kit for $800, which should give all the used parts needed for the swap. For that kind of $$, two used FJ60's can be purchased.

 

[Spook50]

Alright Guy, it's been a few days. How you enjoying the H55?

 

[Granite Grinder]

Just out of curiosity, is there any issue with the exhaust. I noticed that one of the hanger mounts is covered by the 5 speed crossmember, on the drivers side, outboard of the frame (stupid place for a cat anyways)

 

[FJ40Jim]

Yes, that outboard exh bracket needs trimmed a bit. IIRC, one of the three mounting bolts disappears.

 

[Rusty Pig]

Any updates?

 

[pismo62]

O.K. so I've had a few days testing her out. I took about a week until I felt like I could really comment on it. First off, the H55 wakes up the engine, You know how on some models you can buy the sport version, well it now is the sport version. You can keep the power band strong throughout 5th gear. Now I haven't had her loaded up for camping yet but I'm sure she will do great.
I don't notice any shifting problems like others have, but mine is a rebuilt from Manafre. ( Manafre gets bagged on occasionally but Steve really helped out with parts and advice, Also Specter Off road helped out with parts and advice) So being used, that might have something to do with it. The exhaust was fixed and routed above the tranny mount.

A couple off things a still have to do: Carpet fix, I cut some carpet from under the back seat and filled in the holes, but to me it doesn't look factory so I need to re-carpet the front. I have a drip from the idler shaft that I need to seal up. And, I tightened the engine oil pan bolts up a bit too tight while I was under the car and now that's leaking. They are supposed to be at 11 pds on the torque wrench, I read that after I had tightened them( lose bad, tight better, tighter even better) So I need to redo the seal.

The gearing on the FJ62 with 33 inch tires is just about optimal, you could go slightly bigger and make better use of the gears. First gear is very low, with smaller tires you probable wouldn't use 1st for daily driving. The overdrive on the A440 is higher than the 5th on the H55. In 5th gear I'm at about 2500 rpms at 65-70 (speedo is off so can get a exact reading). If the H55 had a sixth gear it would be the icing on the cake, but as it is it's a fantastic gearbox.

Overall, I think it is a great mod. I'm glad I was able to do it myself. It's not terrible difficult, just time consuming. Someone that knows there way around cars will be able to do it much quicker, but I ended up doing most of the work a couple times to make sure it was right. I've tried to document the process to help out others that may be considering it for their cruiser. Total cost was around 4000$ give or take a few dollars.

Thanks for all the support from the board members, it's great to be able to post up questions and have advice from others who have much more knowledge than I do. I've decided after all this work to keep my day job, I'll keep drilling away in my dental office.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Awesome. I have the combo on the floor and ready to go. I was thinking I'd run a bit with the 31s on there now. I am hoping to make this my desert truck if all goes well.

Congrats. Any interest in coming to Sac and helping me with the pedal bucket?

 

[pismo62]

Drew, let me know how it feels with the 31. Sac is pretty cool this time of the year, about 90 to 100. I would if you were a little closer. Your going to love when it's done, thanks for the advice during the project.

 

[Skniper]

another xmember question

pismo-
Great thread on your swap!! Lots of threads out there on this swap but yours really helped fill in some blanks and details....nice job.

I picked up a used h55 with split case recently along with a fair amount of the bits needed. I see you used the 3 part crossmember (2 mounting ears and the seperate bolt in center piece) which is the same x-member the guy sent me.

It looks to me like the 62 frame was designed to accept this mount. Looking at my 62, on the inner pass. side frame rail the plumbing along there is raised off the frame right about where the mount should go. Did you find this to be the case?
I trial fit my xmember mount there and it looked to be a tight fit, however your mounts hang below the frame...which gives the right clearance for those plumbing lines....and obviously lines up the drivetrain. I guess one of my questions is, did that particular crossmember sit that low from the factory on the 60's?
Just looked at my mounts again, they have four bolt/rivet holes where they mounted originally. The bolt holes don't line up with anything on my frame. I guess the other option is the later one-piece 60 crossmember that can be welded with some fabbed angle iron mounts.

I have custom exhaust on the other frame rail but looks like I'll have enough clearance depending on how high or low these mounts sit.

Any chance you can shoot a few more pics of the crossmember assembly, partcularly on the frame rails?? Thx.

Nice work.

 

[TrickyT]

Guy, great thread - especially with all the pictures! I need to get off the couch and start on this same project myself.

 

[pismo62]

Skniper--the tranny mounts from the 60 fit right in between the frame. In fact the brake and fuel lines are factory-bent-out so that the frame mounts fit right in there. In one picture I circled the area (pre-bent), although the pict is a little blurry. My opinion is to use the mounts from a 60, thats much easier. If I were to do it another way I would incorperate a mount/skid plate set-up. I saw one on here but can't remember who posted it, but it was beautiful and functional.

The correct height of the mounts depends on how high you want the top of the tranny to the floor of the truck. I didn't want it too close as to cause rubbing. Also, if you put it much higher than i did, you would have problems with getting the crossmember in or out if it is welded. Thats because the crossmeber has to go up a couple inches to clear the mounts when you pull it out. So, if the tranny is already up close to the floor and you need to lift it up higher to get the crossmeber out to drop the tranny, you would run into problems because it would hit the floor and you couldn't pull out the crossmember. If you bolt in the mounts you could go higher because you would unbolt the mounts from the frame and let the whole assemble drop. It sounds confusing unless you are actually doing it, then it will make sense.



Hope that helps.

 

[Rusty Pig]

The cross member mount looks great, what year 60 is that from?