Toyota 80 Series LandCruiser 1HD-FT with a 5 Speed A750 Tip-Tronic Automatic

However, I have a little teeny incy wincy problem with my left foot… I don’t have one!

So I spent most of the time crunching 2nd and 3rd gear because my prosthesis can’t bend at the ankle and I have trouble pushing the clutch all the way to the floor. I was determined to master it, but unfortunately I could never get a consistently smooth gear change.

Fast forward 5 years and I’m now working for Wholesale Automatics, specifically handling the Manual to Automatic Transmission Conversion Projects and the Compushift Transmission Computer systems that we use to do the conversions. I had an idea, and that idea has finally come to fruition. Put the 5 Speed auto from the 100 Series into my 80 Series LandCruiser. But not just that, make it Tip-Tronic also. So out came the old H151 5 Speed Manual to make way for my beautiful 5 Speed A750 Automatic (and I mean beautiful in the way your child is always more beautiful than all others).

But much debate was done over how to do the cross-member. Originally we were going to cut and weld the cross-member but this obviously meant difficulty for being able to send these out as kits. The final decision was to plate it. This solved 3 problems.

1. The Cross-member needed to move 75mm rearwards
2. The Cross member needed to drop 20mm to allow for a slightly taller transmission
3. I REALLY didn’t want to hack my cross-member apart

So this weekend, I’m on a road trip to get the mob that did an awesome job of our 70 Series 6 speed console, to make a console that looks the part (and it also needs to fit in the custom center console fridge that I am making – more on that another time).

The last software feature that we are working on for the A750 will be to do with the Torque Converter Lockup process. Through the use of the powerful processor inside the Compushift we will be implementing a software algorithm that will calculate, on the fly, a smoother application of the torque converter clutch. So instead of having a fixed speed and pressure application of the clutch, it will instead be applied using a algorithm that will apply the clutch smoothly in a given space of time. This will make application of the torque converter at low throttle far smoother.

The best part is that once we have it perfect will be able to roll this out to our other transmission controllers including the Toyota AB60 6 Speed and the Nissan RE5 5 Speed

Between the Brisbane 4×4 Show and some annual leave that I am taking it was a good opportunity to get the console work done. After the Brisbane 4×4 Show (11th, 12th and 13th March) our USA Software Engineer will be returning to help us go full steam ahead to finish off the A750 (and Nissan RE5) control systems.

Below is examples of the two types of shifters. Tip-Tronic or Sports Shifters has physical locations for Park, Reverse, Neutral & Drive and then usually a side shift to an area that allows for control over the gear changes by pushing up or down. Gate Shifters have a physical location for all gears and usually configured into a Z-Gate type pattern to prevent incorrect selection of a gear.

The Differences

Update

Just a quick update for those of you who managed to make it to the end of the post!!
Here is my finished console with the fridge section as part of it. Pretty happy with that result!

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