tranny tech 403-thats 4 on the tree!

[65swb45]

I started this project a couple of years ago. Some called it the ultimate in turd polishing. Get the comfort and road manners of the 4 speed trans with the retro cool factor of the three on the tree shifter.

Took some measurements. Started cutting blocks of wood. Took some more measurements. Made some more cuts. Third round of measurements and I was ready for an aluminum block to cut. Machined all the rough cuts and then put it on the shelf for the next two years!

Well I finally pulled it back off the shelf a couple of weeks ago and finished it up in anticipation of installing my 4 speed into my 45. Already acquired an unobtanium fj45 tranny hump that wasn't as pristine as mine in case the shifter didn't work out.

Bolted the adapter on and it worked flawlessly! Full range of motion, side to side and for and aft. JACKPOT!

Measured the final assembly for height and figured that it wouldn't clear the trans tunnel in stock configuration. The added girth of the 4 speed trans, coupled with the adapter plate, require 2 inches more than the trans tunnel has.

Therefore, the two choices [if you want to run one of these] would be to cut and raise the forward section of the trans tunnel to create the necessary clearance or...... install a 2 inch body lift!

All in all, it was an interesting engineering challenge, regardless.

Maybe I'll send the prototype to Di-Pro to get a quote on mass production [couldn't resist that one];p

 

[bull]

lol.. Nice. If I didn't have to fudge with the tunnel or body lift I would buy 2!!

 

[IDave]

At long last! Sweet, Mark. Take lotsa pix of the install!

 

[Fast Eddy]

That's retro cool for sure.

Someone must have retained their stock column shifter for use with an automatic. I haven't seen one though.

 

[Cruiser_Nerd]

Someone must have retained their stock column shifter for use with an automatic. I haven't seen one though.

My first cruiser I put a Chevy column in.....................and used the auto shifter on the column for the high - low transfer.

Neat stuff Mark. Don't want to lose the valuable floor space for the three-up-front bench seating.

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

WOW..
Thank you for putting in the time to see if this is even possible!
And let us know all the details including if you find it feasable to sell to us addicts that wanna stay retro.
I found a headset for my cell phone the other day that mimics the old school rotary phone handset.. would work perfect with this!

 

[ColoCruiserJeff]

Just an idea...to gain you the 2" And no, they're not the lil blue Land Cruiser Pill! You could use some thinner engine mount cushions in the rear of the F motor...would slope it down just a tad more...giving you the needed clearance. It will drop your driveline down just a little bit. Won't drop it so far to really kill your ground-clearance. Just an idea.

After doing some mathematics, And with the best guesses on the actual engine block length, trans length, xfercase dimensions, I've come up with this:

If you drop the rear of the motor at the bellhousing 1/2 inch and go up 1/2" on the front engine mounts..that will gain you 2" inches at the top of the tranny...thus dropping your rear driveshaft 3"!!!

Not sure if you want to sacrifice your overall ground clearance that much. You'd also need to lower your skid plate to provide the clearance there.

 

[Mark W]

How do you work the reverse gear shifting?

 

[Ian Rogers]

Just an idea...to gain you the 2" And no, they're not the lil blue Land Cruiser Pill! You could use some thinner engine mount cushions in the rear of the F motor...would slope it down just a tad more...giving you the needed clearance. It will drop your driveline down just a little bit. Won't drop it so far to really kill your ground-clearance. Just an idea.

After doing some mathematics, And with the best guesses on the actual engine block length, trans length, xfercase dimensions, I've come up with this:

If you drop the rear of the motor at the bellhousing 1/2 inch and go up 1/2" on the front engine mounts..that will gain you 2" inches at the top of the tranny...thus dropping your rear driveshaft 3"!!!

Not sure if you want to sacrifice your overall ground clearance that much. You'd also need to lower your skid plate to provide the clearance there.

Have you ever pulled the driverside motor mount? You will only gain about 1/4" lowering it. The interferences i think would be at the firewall where the gear shifting links come back, hence the need for the body lift.

and who want to give up 3" of tcase clearance?

best Ian

PS I have held the 4 on the tree plate in my hand on Sunday at marks shop

 

[Chef]

Mark; that's really neat mang.

 

[fjwagon]

Yep I agree real cool fix. Maybe Paul can make us a tunnel to go with this mod. I'd like to get one from you regardless the clearance issues.

 

[Owyhee Jackass]

2 inch body lift will be perfect for those Q78s...

 

[65swb45]

2 inch body lift will be perfect for those Q78s...

You KNOW the Q78s already fit.;p

ColoCruiserJeff, I already used the flattened puck idea to get a 4 speed into the swb many years ago. The bolts in the upper shift tower barely fit under the trans tunnel even with the thinner pucks, so I think your 'math' is a little off. And like Ian said, who would want to give up the ground clearance on a rig that actually gets used off road as much as my lwb does.

Mark W., the reverse works just the way it would in the toploader 4 speed. The range of motion is not limited in the shift cover. The only limitation would be if the linkage arm did not bring the full range of motion to the cover.

That would be a simple matter of cutting the pivot at the forward end of the linkage rod and extending it slightly to increase the multiplier from the 'in' side of the pivot to the 'out' side.

The arms are not hard to work with, and I have customized several of them in the past in order to resolve clearance issues with headers.

I will have a small batch of these made if there are enough people seriously interested.

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

"I will have a small batch of these made if there are enough people seriously interested."

Count me in for one please. I'll even prepay a deposit to lock my spot in. I want it stamped with "Mark's Off Road Turd polish plate #xxx" please!

 

[Landpimp]

dude........that is so damn cool

drove a Stout with 4 on the tree.......aint no one gonna steal that rig

 

[Rzeppa]

Hi Mark...so basically you are putting a J30 top onto an H42, right? And the plate does what?

Seems like there is a lot of detail I am having trouble picturing, not the least of which is the shift pattern for the column lever and the linkage?

Happy cruisin'!

 

[65swb45]

Hi Mark...so basically you are putting a J30 top onto an H42, right? And the plate does what?


Happy cruisin'!

It has to do what the floorshifter used to do.

1. full range of motion front to back
2. full range of motion side to side
3. proper depth engagement of shift lever into forks
4. retain detents with proper spring tension for the three fork rails.

It does those four things. Well.

 

[67azcruizr]

hello Mark, any chance you've got one of these adapter plates you'd be willing to sell?

thanks, Sean

 

[65swb45]

I have recieved a few new PMs on this in the last few months, and am now ready to get quotations on having a small batch of these adapter plates made.

If you are seriously interested, CALL ME AT THE SHOP and leave me your name and ph#. I will be putting a list together ...THERE...and I really don't need any more PMs in my box right now [can't keep the 377 that are already in there straight.

Thanks for your interest, your understanding, and your cooperation.

 

[LukeZero]

Maybe I'll send the prototype to Di-Pro to get a quote on mass production [couldn't resist that one];p

So, you're saying that I should be able to buy one of these (made in China) from Trail-Mart in a couple of months?

Way cool for you to do the R&D on this. I like how you're thinking outside the box.

Luke