Varg In Jeep's Clothing

A friend of mine did something similar adapting a Lexus 6 speed Automatic to a doubled Toyota transfer case.
He used some kind of a rubber coupler to allow for the possable not perfect alinement of the two shafts.
That coupler was standard for the Lexus but not unlike the ones on steering shafts.

Is your plan to hard couple as shown in the picture?

 

I like his style!

In a word, yes. Stay tuned to see exactly how. It'll be easier to show with pictures than try to describe it. It'll involve two plates and some 1/4" wall, 5" wide tubing. I should have it together in a few days.

 

A lot of british military vehicles use some sort of rubber coupler as well. Lots of swearing when they have to replace them.

 

Like I said in another thread, the torch is my friend. I'd be lost without it.
The connection happens tonight. I'm psyched!



It took me 2 hours to get a perfect precision fit on the inside of that ring.
I mowed off the D300 shifter bracket, too. It was just going to be in the way and go unused.

 

thats real frickin nice for not having a mill. It would be nice WITH a mill.

 

That would be cheating.

 

That is flabbergastering!
You just need to buy steel, because you create the body ex nihilo! That is witchcraft.

• 

 

Thanks guys.

"Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it."
-Michelangelo

 

I finally got to bed at 3am this morning.

Assembly: I started by cutting a section of 5" pipe to exactly 5 3/16", allowing the shaft ~1/16" of space before bottoming. I centered and tacked that onto the t-case plate.



After cutting a slot for the shifter rod, I then removed the bull gear assembly from the D300 and dropped it in the hole to allow it to center the rest of the unit for me.



I had to notch out a section for a gusset on the bottom of the trans plate and cover it with a section of small tubing.
I was hoping to seal this adapter to keep water out, but there really was no way with the shifter rod on top, so I had to drill some drain holes in the bottom.



All finished!



A peek inside. I need to shorten the shifter linkage/mount to try to fit it in between the cases. That could get interesting.

 

`dooood, wow. I am not sure i can actually explain how i feel about that part. I am fully amazed. What process did you use to weld that? Did you use a motorized table? wow.

 

this is how I feel^

 

Thanks Chris! No, no motorized table, just thousands of hours of mindless repetition as practice and a good MIG welding machine. Tight seams, clean material, plenty of anti-spatter, a consistent pattern, and finish every weld on the beginning of a previous weld. Stacking dimes.


I had two hours last night and managed to rough-out a shifter mount and get it tacked together and shorten the shift rail from over a foot to under three inches. It's coming together.

 

Thats just crazy. This level of craftsmanship with minimal tooling is straight up amazing. How does it work so far?

 

Kudos to you! Interesting to see the level of craftsmanship that can be achieved with some knowledge and patience.

 

That's pretty impressive... I've thought about building an adapter like that just to be able to clock the transfer case, but that's awesome

 

Thanks guys. I'm having fun with this. I've been doing this build in my head for 6(?) years. Finally bringing to life is exciting.

It shifts great. I got the shifter finalized today and the reverse 'stop bar' on the shifter mechanism modified to fit and work. I may have to modify the shifter length/ratio/angle after it is in, but it should be close. I'm planning on lifting the drivetrain up as high in the jeep as possible for premium ground clearance, so the short shifter might work out just fine.

One thing that does raise alarm is the fact that nuetral feels like it has just a little more drag when I turn the trans input shaft than it did before, like something isn't perfectly aligned. When I dis- and re-assemble the whole mess for the last time with gaskets, I'll drop the trans on to the t-case vertically to eliminate any side-stresses before tightening it down. When it is where I like it, I'll drill and drive 2 rolled pins in the trans side of the adapter to lock it in place.

But overall, so far, so good.

 

Just WOW!

Great work!

 

So I've decided to hold off on using the turbo. I want to make sure this thing runs and moves before I start adding complexity to the mix. To add the turbo to this block, I'd have to drill and tap oil and water feed- and return-lines into critical spots in the block, and I'm not sure all the risk and work is worth it. I'd be adding turbo to an engine with 9:1 compression. It'd be ok for a few pounds of boost, but anything more and I'd be asking for trouble.

I'll build the jeep so the intercooler will drop in in front of the radiator, and a turbo-engine swap would only require exhaust mods. I'll keep my eye out for a donor car with a turbo to swap the whole mess over. But for now, I'll just be using the compact, side-exiting exhaust manifold from the turbo and the oil cooler setup. I'll keep this turbo and intercooler as spares.

Now I'll be able to start working on engine placement, motor mounts, frame boxing... I haven't touched the front half of this frame yet. I'll have to get the frame up on stands and squared up, drop the tub on, mount the grill, and raise the engine up as high and forward as possible (while fitting the rad and intercooler) to find my starting point. I'm expecting need to cut an access panel in my firewall to be able to access the distributor. It is on the back of the head and needs to move rearward 2" for removal. I can't imagine being able to do that on a Volvo without pulling the engine? Design flaw.

 

I rolled the tub out of its corner yesterday and threw it up onto the frame.



The first thing I noticed was how little room I'm going to have to do a lot of stuff. I've forgotten how tight the engine bay of a flatty is. Using the intercooler is out of the question without cutting the grill or stretching the engine bay, which neither are happening. The intercooler was more for "coolness points" than anything else, since it wouldn't have much effect until you crank up the turbo with tons of boost anyway.

The second thing I noticed was that my assumptions about needing to cut the firewall to accept the distributor were correct. To get the engine back far enough in the bay, the back of the head almost needs to be touching the firewall, and the distributor bolts to the back of the head. I'll build a fancy, removable sheetmetal box to access the cap and wires from inside the cab. I wasn't too broken up about cutting this section out because it looked like swiss cheese with holes, and would have taken just as much work to repair.





Because I'm building this around the plan to have a bellypan that is flush with the bottom of the frame, and my only option for the exhaust routing is between the right of the transfer case and the frame, I have to shift the drive train up and over to the driver's side as far as possible. This is really going to cut into the driver's foot-room. It should be OK with some creative pedal and steering column work though.

 

AWESOME! killing it! There is precious little room for your feet as it is. Think real hard about cluttering it up more. The master idea is ok but will be a gigantic pita to fill it or check it. This is cool.