v8 hilux

thanks for your help

thanks for replying mate there is adequate room for the commodore gearbox the bloke i brought the second gearbox from sold it because he had converted his engine and gearbox to vr engine and gearbox with out to much trouble and i just wondering the best alternative between the th700 or the old th400 ive got prices on converting the th700 but thats $945 for the conversion kit from marks 4x4 adaptors and thats still a six cyclinder box i just thought there wouuld be a better alternative

My travelling companion on the CY trip last year has a 60 series with 350 chev truck engine and the TH700 trannie.

He has done around 25000k since he got it, including numerous jaunts to the Vic High Country and the tranny is unburstable. His has got some extra clutch plates inside which beef it up from standard, and they are cheap to own and modify in this way. For $400, I'd snap it up, have it checked out and put the beefed up parts in it before you put it in the car.

One of the differences between the 400 and the 700 is 1st gear ratio - it's very low in the 700, and in your car you'll effectively have a 2 speed plus overdrive. It will change out of first at about 1k per hour or maybe 5k if you really stomp it. All the comments you hear about auto fourbys on steep downhills do not apply with this tranny ! - engine braking has to be experienced to believe it. In the hilux, which is lighter than the 60 series, you may have to go for taller diff ratios if you can.

thanks mate the th700 will bolt up as long as the block is turbo stud pattern otherwise i will have to have the block drilled to suit i work for a holden dealership and have sourced a th700 for $400 with 15000 kays on it and the adapter is $945 t covert with out put shaft exchange from marks adaptors but im just wondering if u think an old th400 suited for 308 would be better thanks for ur in put appreciated it really given me the willys by the way

The th400 will certainly do the job but I would definately go with the th700 especially if you can get one for $400.
I think with the price of fuel now you will appreciate having the lock-up torque converter of the th700 as this will keep your revs down on the highway and give you some measure of fuel economy compared to running a th400.

Some of the conversions we had were:

60 series landcruiser with 351 Cleveland and a tricked up C6 auto with Hurst Shifter. Drankmore fuel than you can imagine. It also did a 13 second quarter mile on 33"x12.5" tyres.

The we put an $11,000 350 Chev into an MQ Patrol SWB and kept the original 5 speed. This one could get the front wheels off the ground but was useless on the highway as we were still running on the original diff ratios and it was revving too hard. Didn't keep this one long

Did another 60 Series landcruiser with a 351 Cleveland and fitted a C4 auto beefed up with a Mark's Adaptors kit. This truck we had in our family for over 10 years. It could have done with a lower final drive though to keep the revs down further.

Later we had a spare 351 Cleveland lying around so we fitted that to another 60 series but kept the original 5 speed. This one with the overdrive was by far the most economical.

After all the mucking around I've done auto's are much easier to fit up and get working properly and with a V8 you need to get your revs as low as possible at 100km/h and use the torque of the big motor to keep your fuel consumption down.

Bringing back all the good memories talking about this stuff. The kids and I made a list of all the cars I have had and we got to 38 the other night. Of these 21 have been 4wd's from Bronco's, F100's, Jeeps, XY Falcons, GQ Patrols, Range Rovers, 4runner, Hilux and several 60, 62, 75, and 80 series Landcruisers. I don't know how I kept fuel up to them when I think about it now. Some of these used over 30l/100km when driving on Fraser Island and now I baulk at 13l/100km in my diesel Landcruiser.

Oh well, at least we had heaps of fun.
Brett

If you really want to stick with a 5 speed manual gearbox, I may be wrong here, but I think you may be able to fit a 5 speed Toyota Celica/Supra gearbox and be able to source bellhousings and adaptors to mate it all up together between your 308 and your hilux transfer case.
These Celica/Supra gearboxes in my opinion are probably second only to a toploader gearbox as far as strength goes.
You would need to make sure that you got the right gearbox though as I think it has to be from a certain model Celica/Supra to get the strong one.
There will be people on this site that know a lot more about this sort of stuff than I do though.
I did find with some of my previous conversions that the manuals are much harder on your running gear like universal joints and splines on tailshafts etc.
The auto's apply their power much more gently and I never had any drivetrain issues with the auto's.