I spent some time at the wrecking yard yesterday, measuring and looking over the W56, and decided to abandon this project (too impractical for the knowledge I have).
The bellhousing appeared to be integral to the tranny, so it wouldn't be possible to swap it if somehow it didn't bolt to the 20R. The bolt pattern for the extension housing was different from the standard car transmissions. Maybe there is an extension housing that would work, but it probably would be hard to locate.
I'd like to put a W56 5-spd transmission from a Toyota 4WD truck
>into a 2WD car which currently has a W50 5-spd (to get a lower
>1st gear, without affecting highway RPM's and mileage).
>
>The truck has a 22RE engine, the car has a 20R. I'm pretty sure
>the W56 will bolt onto the 20R, but if not, the bellhousing can be
>swapped. But the W56 extension (rear) housing is big and rectangular,
>and forces the tranny mount to be low (not a problem in a truck, but
>would be in a car with much less ground clearance). The big housing
>is needed to support the transfer case, but I won't be using the
>transfer case in a 2WD car, of course.
>
>Does anyone know if the truck extension housing can be replaced with
>a narrow one tapered one from a car transmission?
>
>I realize there'll be other issues, spline counts, driveshaft length,
>transmission crossmember, but the extension housing is the big one
>as I see it. I'm also hoping that putting a driveshaft yoke on the W56
>output shaft won't be a problem (but I've never worked on a 4WD,
>so I don't know I'll find after the transfer case is removed).
>
>Thanks for any help,
>
>--doug (remove "kk" to email me, from Reply-To address
> also) toy_fan snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com