I deleted the old thread because it was getting out of control. It was too bloated, and too hard to find any specific item in the build even for me. Having the index worked to a degree, but considering that almost everything has changed on the car, most of the references in that index pointed to stuff that was long gone.
I came on here a few nights ago and started with a new version that was based on chapters/ phases detailing the mods done to the body, chassis, interior, engine, etc,...but even that proved daunting.
And I erased that too.
So i’ve decided that I’ll start here, at the end, and add things that have been done before to the car as I get around to doing it.
Now that that is all said and done...
The 4l80e transmission:
I bought this transmission used at a premium price hoping that it wouldn’t require anything internally other than the shift kit to convert the thing over to full manual control. This kit was a little more involved than the 4r70w version I had installed previously, and required additional modifications to the front pump, and a clutch drum that was pretty deep in the trans. I called transgo, and asked if the internal mods were necessary, and dude told me that they were unnecessary,......” As long as I didn’t intend to rev the engine above 5500 rpm”
A 2jz is still asleep at 5500 RPM...I’m thinking that I’ll actually be revving the combo to something more like 7500 RPM. The internal mods were gonna need to happen.
When you put a 2jz in a car, you quickly come to terms with the fact that you have very few transmission choices. Either you keep the transmission that came with the engine, or you put one from GM behind it. The factory trans is weak, and expensive to upgrade to tolerate any real power, and the GM trans...(the only real alternative if you’re gonna street drive the car)....is huge.
And...expensive.
After attempting to make the old ford trans that I had work..( and dumping about $750.00, and two months worth of time trying). Reality bitch slapped the piss outta me.
A TH 400 would live forever behind whatever power level I aspired to, and was moderately affordable,...But was only 3 speeds.
A 4l60 would fit. It weighed less, was smaller, and had 4 speeds plus OD, but was prone to failure.
That left me me with big daddy.. A 4l80 is a TH400 with a 4th gear, plus OD. And with a converter weighed over 225 pounds, it was bigger, and longer than either of the other two mentioned before. But..it would tolerate just about anything I anticipated throwing at it, (600 whp) and could be upgraded to tolerate well in excess of 1000 ft/lbs of two should someday I get stupid ( er).
I chose to buy a salvage piece that was listed as a 40k mike piece. Paying a premium for a salvage trans that I hopefully wouldn’t have to rebuild anytime soon. Once purchased, I ordered the adapter to allow that trans to mate to the 2JZ,
the requisite 10” 3500 stall converter.
And the transgo 4L80e-3 Valvebody reprogramming kit that would allow me to ditch the internal electronic controls, and manually shift the trans instead.
In addition, to the typical valve body mods that usually come in a shift kit ( drill this hole bigger, add this bigger spring here, remove that spring there,...) This kit required that I open the trans to upgrade the springs in one of the clutch drums to add holding power at higher RPM’s.
Getting to that drum wasn’t the bad part, as I had rebult a few AT’s before...But putting it back in after the mods proved to be a challenge. I just couldn't get it to set down onto the clutches from the other drums that this piece of sht sat on top of. Eventually though.....I adapted. I improvised,..I overcame...I got it to see things my way.
Last week I put that trans in place. When it came time to install the drive shaft, It quickly became obvious that it wouldn’t spin. Something in the trans was too tight..Something that I had done was wrong. I removed it yesterday.
Today, I set out to discover what I had done wrong, and fix it. Hoping to be able to get the trans back in by end of day.
Trying to determine what was wrong required that i remove the guts again..a mistake that ended up costing me the day. Because as bad as it was getting the clutches aligned the first time,...this time around had me screaming. One step away from a full blown, flopping around on the floor conniption fit .
After removing everything that I had previously removed, and finding nothing, the one I did find was that part of this trans had JY internals. You could tell from the tell tale JY writing on the replacement part. I’m guessing that the trans came to me tight. it had had its OD clutch drum and input shaft assy replaced. All i really needed to do was measure the clearance after the front pump and fet a thinner shim to add the necessary clearance that this JY added piece was taking up too much of.
After bolting the Front pump in temporarily, and preloading the trans by placing a jack under the output shaft, I was able to determine the required shim thickness that would allow me the necessary clearance to make this whole mess live. Unfortunately, that ended up costing me yet another day.
But the drive shaft turns.
Since being technically dead in the water. I decided to modify the shifter, as I had the new gate plate that would allow me to convert a 3 speed shifter into a 4 speed shifter.
It does appear that the shifter will have to move further back to engage 1st gear..I may have to modify the shifter bezel as a result.
I came on here a few nights ago and started with a new version that was based on chapters/ phases detailing the mods done to the body, chassis, interior, engine, etc,...but even that proved daunting.
And I erased that too.
So i’ve decided that I’ll start here, at the end, and add things that have been done before to the car as I get around to doing it.
Now that that is all said and done...
The 4l80e transmission:
I bought this transmission used at a premium price hoping that it wouldn’t require anything internally other than the shift kit to convert the thing over to full manual control. This kit was a little more involved than the 4r70w version I had installed previously, and required additional modifications to the front pump, and a clutch drum that was pretty deep in the trans. I called transgo, and asked if the internal mods were necessary, and dude told me that they were unnecessary,......” As long as I didn’t intend to rev the engine above 5500 rpm”
A 2jz is still asleep at 5500 RPM...I’m thinking that I’ll actually be revving the combo to something more like 7500 RPM. The internal mods were gonna need to happen.
When you put a 2jz in a car, you quickly come to terms with the fact that you have very few transmission choices. Either you keep the transmission that came with the engine, or you put one from GM behind it. The factory trans is weak, and expensive to upgrade to tolerate any real power, and the GM trans...(the only real alternative if you’re gonna street drive the car)....is huge.
And...expensive.
After attempting to make the old ford trans that I had work..( and dumping about $750.00, and two months worth of time trying). Reality bitch slapped the piss outta me.
A TH 400 would live forever behind whatever power level I aspired to, and was moderately affordable,...But was only 3 speeds.
A 4l60 would fit. It weighed less, was smaller, and had 4 speeds plus OD, but was prone to failure.
That left me me with big daddy.. A 4l80 is a TH400 with a 4th gear, plus OD. And with a converter weighed over 225 pounds, it was bigger, and longer than either of the other two mentioned before. But..it would tolerate just about anything I anticipated throwing at it, (600 whp) and could be upgraded to tolerate well in excess of 1000 ft/lbs of two should someday I get stupid ( er).
I chose to buy a salvage piece that was listed as a 40k mike piece. Paying a premium for a salvage trans that I hopefully wouldn’t have to rebuild anytime soon. Once purchased, I ordered the adapter to allow that trans to mate to the 2JZ,
the requisite 10” 3500 stall converter.
And the transgo 4L80e-3 Valvebody reprogramming kit that would allow me to ditch the internal electronic controls, and manually shift the trans instead.
In addition, to the typical valve body mods that usually come in a shift kit ( drill this hole bigger, add this bigger spring here, remove that spring there,...) This kit required that I open the trans to upgrade the springs in one of the clutch drums to add holding power at higher RPM’s.
Getting to that drum wasn’t the bad part, as I had rebult a few AT’s before...But putting it back in after the mods proved to be a challenge. I just couldn't get it to set down onto the clutches from the other drums that this piece of sht sat on top of. Eventually though.....I adapted. I improvised,..I overcame...I got it to see things my way.
Last week I put that trans in place. When it came time to install the drive shaft, It quickly became obvious that it wouldn’t spin. Something in the trans was too tight..Something that I had done was wrong. I removed it yesterday.
Today, I set out to discover what I had done wrong, and fix it. Hoping to be able to get the trans back in by end of day.
Trying to determine what was wrong required that i remove the guts again..a mistake that ended up costing me the day. Because as bad as it was getting the clutches aligned the first time,...this time around had me screaming. One step away from a full blown, flopping around on the floor conniption fit .
After removing everything that I had previously removed, and finding nothing, the one I did find was that part of this trans had JY internals. You could tell from the tell tale JY writing on the replacement part. I’m guessing that the trans came to me tight. it had had its OD clutch drum and input shaft assy replaced. All i really needed to do was measure the clearance after the front pump and fet a thinner shim to add the necessary clearance that this JY added piece was taking up too much of.
After bolting the Front pump in temporarily, and preloading the trans by placing a jack under the output shaft, I was able to determine the required shim thickness that would allow me the necessary clearance to make this whole mess live. Unfortunately, that ended up costing me yet another day.
But the drive shaft turns.
Since being technically dead in the water. I decided to modify the shifter, as I had the new gate plate that would allow me to convert a 3 speed shifter into a 4 speed shifter.
It does appear that the shifter will have to move further back to engage 1st gear..I may have to modify the shifter bezel as a result.
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