curious on opinions about fj owners who went chev

[gingerbreadman]

i am most likely going to be doing the change in the next 12 months in my 79fj45 with all original 4 speed and 2f motor. im in the middle of moving house so once i have the space to play it will then happen

my questions are....

1)......i believe the stock gearing is 4.11 now and at 100klmh it goes ok but like everyone that has one its on the revvy side. im curious to know if the 2f motor is generally a noisy motor? i know chevs quite well and am curious to see if just the engine swap would be a drop in noise alone.

2).....im quite happy with the 4 speed and see a few guys go to the later 5 speeds but im not sure if i need it. My thought is would a simple diff gear swap to 373 or 355 be a better combo as first gear is practically over before you can blink. I think this would get me a nice cruise speed of about 120kmh without the revs. I have TH350,s in a few other cars so sitting on the freeway at 3000-4000 rpm is not new to me

[SCANAS]

My 2 cents but I would swap the 4 speed for a 5 speed you won't regret it. Although 1st is still very short it's a better all round package and whilst it won't drop your revs as much as a diff ratio swap it will help out and be easier than doing two diffs.

Another point is that the 4.1:1 is very common and easy to get a replacement as every town has at least one dead 60 in it to steal from, get lockers for etc.

With a 5sp and 33's you should be doing around 2250rpm at 100kph (not indicated on the speedo as it will be out due to the 33s)

In regard to noise I think they would be very similar at highway speed.

Just my HO

[Stackson45]

Will depend on how you want to use it.

I had a 1979 FJ45, 283 chev, stock 4 spd. On 31's, cruising at 100 was fine noise wise (for a 45) extremely hot inside the cab, but this was because i had twin stacks on it, and the mufflers and pipes ran up under floor both sides of the cab.
Windows up noise ok, but little bit sweaty....
Then i had it on 35's, better for highway, but 1st gear high (for towing car trailers) and 1st low (for rock crawl speeds) were noticably too high for my liking.
This time round, in my 75 (petty 5spd), i've gone 35's and 4.56 diff gears, which puts it back to as if it had 31's. Sit's on 2400@100kmh - our stock 105 petty sits on 2600@100kmh. This gives me the good crawl ratios, and also keeps some power for the high highway speeds.

In the old chev ute i was always wishing for a 5spd, i would recommend getting - now $600-1000 should get you a good 2nd-hander, with the handbrake setup being the main thing you'll have to look at if you go 5spd, as your 4 spd prob has it on the back of the transfer, where the 5spd's don't. I'm not sure if you can fit them to the 5spd, someone else on here will know.

Cheers
Rob

[droopypete]

The main reason (in my opinion) for swapping in a later model 5 speed, is the 2 piece transfer on the back of it, the old one piece was/is not up to the stock engine, let alone a v8, the newer 2 piece most certainly is, I am unsure what transfer case is in your 45, but the extra strength is worth factoring in.
I had a very healthy 400 SB Chev in my 76 40 and my 4th transfer case was a 2 piece and never had an issue after that.
Peter.