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71 Wheeling Rig

Discussion in 'Builds and Fabricators Forum' started by Fireball, Jan 18, 2021.

  1. Mar 18, 2022
    45es

    45es Active Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Naches, WA
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    Mar 31, 2007
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    Now why didn't I think of that. :rofl:
     
    Fireball likes this.
  2. Mar 18, 2022
    duffer

    duffer Rodent Power

    Bozeman, MT
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    Sep 17, 2009
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    4,460
    And you could always just pop a couple of weld beads in there to snug it up-------
     
    Fireball likes this.
  3. Mar 18, 2022
    Jw60

    Jw60 Sitting up n buckled down. 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Sedalia MO.
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    Apr 8, 2008
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    I hit my pilot bushing with a center punch to tighten it up in the bore on the 4.3 I hate that loose bushing noise.
     
    Fireball likes this.
  4. Mar 18, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2018
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    If the red loc-tite doesn't hold it, I'll probably do that being careful not to deform the bushing in the process.
     
    Jw60 and Ol Fogie like this.
  5. Mar 19, 2022
    ITLKSEZ

    ITLKSEZ Hope for the best, prepare for the worst

    Liberty Lake, WA
    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2015
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    I’d just run a bearing.

    :poke:
     
  6. Mar 20, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2018
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    Hoping to get the 4sp hung in the Jeep and start working on the crossframe tomorrow so I did some prep tonight.

    The red Loctite seemed to work fine and I got the clutch aligned and torqued into place:
    [​IMG]

    Pulled all the shifters off the transmission/transfer case so it can slide under the Jeep:
    [​IMG]

    Swapped the older style breather on the twin stick hosing to the newer style breather. I though about remote breaters, but the transmission one isn't threaded and I plan on avoiding deep river crossings. This will be fine for now:
    [​IMG]

    I forgot to put sealer on the yokes when I put the transfer case together, so I did that. I'd like to fill it tomorrow before putting it in the Jeep since it's much more difficult later:
    [​IMG]
     
    Rubicloak, dozerjim, Ol Fogie and 7 others like this.
  7. Mar 20, 2022
    duffer

    duffer Rodent Power

    Bozeman, MT
    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2009
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    The downside of those "stamped" breathers is they break off really easy when you go to remove them after a decade or two. IMO, well worth the time to run a breather tube. The transmission in my B isn't vented either but that hasn't been a problem in the 20 years it has been in there. I assume if it gets over pressured, the gear lube just exits through the double sealed 307 bearing into the D18. But we all know were the D18 overflow goes-----
     
    dozerjim and Fireball like this.
  8. Mar 20, 2022
    Rich M.

    Rich M. Shoe salesman 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Maryland
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    Mar 23, 2008
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    Undercoating
     
    dozerjim and Fireball like this.
  9. Mar 20, 2022
    duffer

    duffer Rodent Power

    Bozeman, MT
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    Sep 17, 2009
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    But first it cuts the wear on the ebrake shoes.
     
    Fireball, Rich M. and Ol Fogie like this.
  10. Mar 21, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
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    Feb 9, 2018
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    I got super lucky and ITLKSEZ came down for the day to help get the transmission in the Jeep. Thanks again man! I didn't take my usual amount of pictures because we were powering through the work.

    We managed to perfectly balance it on the hoist:
    [​IMG]

    In the beginning, the exhaust was holding to back of the engine too high and preventing us from sliding the input shaft in. The bolts to the manifolds felt like they wanted to break so we undid all the exhaust hangers instead. That did the trick and the transmission slid right in. It's sitting about 1 degree high right here, but will drop down when It's finally bolted to the crossframe:
    [​IMG]

    It's currently held in place with a jackstand for crossframe work:
    [​IMG]

    We decided the orginal crossframe could be centered under the mount with minimal mods. ITLKSEZ doing some cutting:
    [​IMG]

    ...and welding:
    [​IMG]

    In the end we did a saddle in the middle to get the right height and used the torch and a hammer to move the right side factory clearancing about 3/8" down and forward. It turned out pretty decent and is almost ready to paint:
    [​IMG]

    Once I drill holes in the frame for the transfercase side mount, the transmission can be fully supported in the Jeep.

    After ITLKEZ left, I stuck the shifters in to see how they'll work:
    [​IMG]

    The immediate consensus:
    • The transmission shifter hits my leg in 2nd gear. The upper bend needs to be straightened to move the knob closer to the dash and it needs to be bent slightly to the right.
    • The overdrive shifter linkage is hitting the floor tunnel at the back of the overdrive. I'll need to change some angles and offsets to get it to fit, but it looks pretty easy to do.
    • The 2wd/4wd lever looks like it's going to hit the passenger seat when in 4wd and will need to be bent forward a bit.
    • Amazingly, the high/low range lever seems fine.
    Huge proress today, but lots and lots of little stuff to go.
     
    Stakebed, blalp!, Rubicloak and 13 others like this.
  11. Mar 21, 2022
    ITLKSEZ

    ITLKSEZ Hope for the best, prepare for the worst

    Liberty Lake, WA
    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2015
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    It was my pleasure! Glad I could help.
    Whatever it takes to get that thing back out on the trails. (y)
     
    blalp!, fhoehle, tomasinator and 2 others like this.
  12. Mar 21, 2022
    Rich M.

    Rich M. Shoe salesman 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Maryland
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    Mar 23, 2008
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    Fixed that for you.
     
    Rubicloak, homersdog, Jw60 and 2 others like this.
  13. Mar 22, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
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    Feb 9, 2018
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    Busy work tonight.

    Got the crossframe, side mount bracket, and shims all cleaned and degreased for paint:
    [​IMG]

    And one side painted. I'll paint the other side tomorrow morning and hopefully bolt it all in tomorrow night:
    [​IMG]

    Also cleaned and straightened the flywheel cover:
    [​IMG]

    One trick we used yesterday that may be helpful to others was grinding some ready rod to a point and screwing it into the transmission mount:
    [​IMG]

    Then we located the crossframe and gave it a whack with the hammer to mark the mount hole locations. I only made one doodad so we had to do it twice but it worked great. The holes lined up the first time.
     
    blalp!, Rubicloak, Jw60 and 5 others like this.
  14. Mar 23, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2018
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    5,627
    Parts all painted and ready to go:
    [​IMG]

    I ended up moving the brake return spring bracket to the front side of the crossframe after this picture was taken. That way it ends up about the same distance from the brake pedal as it used to be.

    The upper side mount bolt wanted to end up right where the upper body mount rivet is. You can see the diagonal old mounting holes via the whitness marks in the picture:
    [​IMG]

    Since I couldn't get a good swing on a hammer to center punch the round head for drilling, I ground the head off with a die grinder:
    [​IMG]

    It still didn't want to come out, so I drilled it too:
    [​IMG]

    Finally it came out with a few good whacks to a punch:
    [​IMG]

    The new upper hole is exactly 2 inches back from the old one. I marked and drill a new lower one based on that:
    [​IMG]

    Here's the mount all bolted in place. The head of the other body mount rivet conveniently fits into the u-shape of the mount:
    [​IMG]

    Unfortunately the mount shifted the back of the drivetrain to the driver's side about 1/8". I had to slot my "perfectly" located holes in the crossframe. Once that was done, it all bolted together with no issues and the transmission/transfercase/overdrive are now suspended in the Jeep:
    [​IMG]

    The drivetrain angle ended up within 0.2 degrees from before the swap. I'm pretty happy with that.

    Before with the T14:
    [​IMG]

    After with the T18:
    [​IMG]

    With it bolted in place I measured and ordered some Tom Woods driveshafts.

    Next I'm going to work on the shifters to get them where I want them so I can start on the floorboards.
     
    blalp!, 3b a runnin, fhoehle and 9 others like this.
  15. Mar 23, 2022
    ITLKSEZ

    ITLKSEZ Hope for the best, prepare for the worst

    Liberty Lake, WA
    Joined:
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    Cheater. :rofl:
     
    Fireball likes this.
  16. Mar 23, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
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    Yeah. Looking at the balance of time, money, and the likelihood of me screwing it up, I took the easy way out. Redoing the floorboards will be enough work as it is.
     
    Ol Fogie and ITLKSEZ like this.
  17. Mar 23, 2022
    ITLKSEZ

    ITLKSEZ Hope for the best, prepare for the worst

    Liberty Lake, WA
    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2015
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    I don’t blame you one bit. I’m just projecting my own jealousy. :D
     
  18. Mar 24, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
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    It was one of those nights of just doing fiddly stuff. Spent hours in the shop and don't have much to show for it. The plan was to get the shifters squared away starting with the overdrive since it's in the middle and bending everything esle to clear.

    I originally made my overdrive shift linkage on the bench assuming getting it low to clear the floor was key. It looked like this:
    [​IMG]

    Once it's in the Jeep, it turns out the tunnel narrows in that spot and interferes with anything to the side like that. I did two different attempts reducing the offset but it just moved along the floor without really increasing clearance. I finally ended up with a straight shaft that goes over the top of overdrive:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Like an idiot, I managed to mismark and cut the tab too short and had to spent an extra 20 minutes extending it back to where it was.

    Now the overdrive lever is working well and adjusted so it just clears the dash with the overdrive engaged. With that done, I put the passenger seat back in for testing.

    Observations:
    • The shift lever that came on the T18 hit my leg in 2nd gear and interfered with the overdrive going into reverse.
    • The shift lever from the spare T98 fits better but needs more bending.
    • Both shift levers have worn out pin slots and lots of slop which isn't helping.
    • The 4wd lever hits the passenger seat in 4wd and needs to be bent forward. Luckily, it should clear the overdrive lever in the new position.
    • The High/Low range lever is fine as is.
    I ordered a new T18 shift lever from Novak to reduce the slop but plan on bending the T98 lever to fit in the meanwhile so I can use it as a pattern.

    That's as far as I got. It was getting late and I didn't feel like starting up the torch to bend the lever. Hopefully I'll have some time tomorrow to get the two levers bent so I can start looking at floorboards.
     
    blalp!, dozerjim, fhoehle and 10 others like this.
  19. Mar 25, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
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    Better progress tonight.

    Used the torch to bend the transmission lever to the left and forward at the top bend. Used the vice to cold bend the 2wd/4wd lever forward away from the passenger seat and kinked to fit under the overdrive lever when in 2wd/OD off.

    Now everything clears and the full range of all levers is within easy reach from the driver's seat.

    This was the tightest bit. 2nd gear clears my leg:
    [​IMG]

    Reverse barely clears the OD lever when the OD is off:
    [​IMG]

    Of course I bought the requisite decals:
    [​IMG]

    I'll probably stick them over the factory decal even though I feel a little guilty covering it up. But... it's not like the factory one will ever match this Jeep again.

    With that done, I prepped the two levers I bent for paint:
    [​IMG]

    And they can dry overnight:
    [​IMG]

    I threw the floorboard in to get an idea of how much trimming will be involved. Less than I thought:
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    But I need to get all the bedliner off. Ugh.

    I started with the shift cover. A lot peeled of pretty easy once you got it started:
    [​IMG]

    The bulk of it:
    [​IMG]

    It seems to really stick to places with bare metal underneath, like the shift boot area:
    [​IMG]

    The heat gun and a scraper got it of without too much hassle:
    [​IMG]

    Not looking forward to doing it on the big floorboard, but that's next.
     
  20. Mar 25, 2022
    47v6

    47v6 junk wrecker! 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    USA
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    You're really moving right along on this. Looks great!
     
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