For a while, I've been tinkering with some Jeep Liberty parts to adapt the Toyota R-154 transmission rather than the Dakota parts (bellhousing, starter, flywheel, etc) because the Jeep Liberty parts are more compact. My thinking was that the smaller parts would be happier living with the TTI headers & such. The Libby bellhousing uses a 10.4?" clutch and a flywheel essentially the same size as the 130-tooth old-school flywheel, but it appears to have 131teeth. AND, the bigger deal seems to be that the flywheel ring gear is located about 1/2" closer to the block than on the older engines. I found this out after bolting up my old 130-tooth FW and noting that the unique Liberty starter motor wouldn't reach the ring gear.
So, in a nutshell, I've got all these Liberty parts that will physically bolt the Toyota trans up to my 340, and I'm seeing what it's going to take to get a flywheel that makes the whole shebang work. If it's going to take a custom billet flywheel to do the job, the Liberty parts go on eBay and I'll pick up where I left off with the Dakota parts I have stashed. If I can get a FW with the right offset on the ring gear for a reasonable price, it'll be another option for folks who want to do this swap with mostly factory parts.
