This is a transplant thread I've been updating on our local board. Since much of the original tech stemmed from 4x4Wire, its only right to have it here as well. That, and our local board crashes on occasion and dumps all of my tech write-ups... so this will hopefully keep the content from being completely lost in the event it happens again <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cyclops.gif" alt="" /> This is a direct copy and paste; so some of my comments may not make sense as they were in response to questions/comments from others on the local board that did not get pasted here. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/notooth.gif" alt="" />

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For those of you who don't already know, the male output shaft on Isuzu t-cases matches up in both size and spline count to the female input shaft. This makes doing dual t-cases completely doable without any kind of custom made coupler shaft... all it takes is a few medium-sized fab projects and about a million little nickle and dime things along the way. This project would have never even crossed my mind as a possibility if it wasn't for all of the great tech on 4x4wire, specifically threads/info by Houlster and RobG; so much of the credit is owed there. Thanks to Troy (94Rodeo) for pictures of his project and Matt @Independent4x for hooking me up with a new low gear for my Tera kit so I could use it in this project without buying a complete kit. A big thanks to Jessica as well. She's awesome for not caring that I disappear in the barn a lot lately. :-*

This will continue to be updated as progress is made. You guys have all already seen how the spare tranny/t-case was removed from the P'up:




So it was off to HF with a 20% coupon to get a cheapie engine stand. This was WELL worth the $42 investment. It allows me to rotisserie the tranny/t-case to easily access all areas, as well as roll it out of the way when I'm doing something else. Talk about making working on things a breeze!




Now the Amigo and the P'up are both slip-yolk style cases where the driveshaft actually slides up into the case instead of bolting to a flange. The snout on the slip-yolk cases is nearly 5" longer than that on the fixed-yolk case. With the already stubby 92" Amigo WB and 36" rear driveshaft, every inch I could save would be a huge plus. With that, I decided to make both cases fixed-yolk. I found two fixed-yolk cases in a junkyard for $47 apiece 8) , one from an auto '93 Trooper and one from an auto '93 Rodeo.




Now, you cannot just take the back of the fixed-yolk case and put it in place of the back of the slip-yolk case because the engaging slide collar for Hi/Lo has a different number of teeth (42 for slip-yolk, 48 for fixed-yolk). This means both cases must be stripped so everything on the upper gear cluster can be swapped out:






With the cases stripped, I temporarily put the idler gear back in place to mark a cut line. Since both driveshafts need to come from the same case, the front output of the front shaft must be cut off and plated in. The rotisserie option made this much easier:








The rear 1/2 of the fixed-yolk case was then bolted on and cut to match:




The speedo cable will no longer come from the front case; so I made a block-off plate to cover the hole for the driven gear housing:


[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1022.jpg[/img]


As you can see, the set-up is significantly shorter with the fixed-yolk rear housing:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1014.jpg[/img]

With the demo work done, it was time to start fabricating ;D An adapter plate must be made to connect the two t-cases. I made a template first out of steel to get all of the measurements correct, then transfered everything over to a piece of 1" thick 6061 aluminum:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1030.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1031.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1032.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1033.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1034.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1035.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1036.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1037.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1038.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1040.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1043.jpg[/img]


I drilled and tapped some extra 10mmx1.25 holes in the side. My intent was to make a mount for a 12V electric oil pump that would bolt on there; but having read more on the pumps, its recommended to mount them AFTER the oil cooler because the hot fluid will dramatically shorten their life span. So the holes at this point are just to add to the custom look, LOL <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1041.jpg[/img]


Everything mocked up utilizing my mobile welding station (metal bar stool):

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1049.jpg[/img]

Now to address the gaping hole leftover from removing the front output. I used 1/4" 6061 aluminum for this and added holes for the drain and fill plugs. Plasma cutter made short work of harvesting the bungs from the original case, and pieces of an aluminum tube clamp worked out perfect to bring the two halves together for a better seal:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1051.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1052.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1054.jpg[/img]


Bungs, plates, clamps, and adpater all welded up. I'm not set up to weld aluminum and it was going to cost me $300 to rent a welder, spool gun, and tank of argon from Indiana Oxygen; so I regrettably farmed the welding out. A place outside of Lebanon called SMART Mfg did the welding and I'd highly recommend them if you guys need some work done.

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1059.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1060.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1061.jpg[/img]


And everything bolted together for real this time:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1062.jpg[/img]


With the front output of the front case lopped off, it decreases the fluid capacity by more than half. This is less of a concern off-road; but things will get hot pretty quickly at highway speeds. In an effort to NOT have bearings seize up at 70mph, I decided to add a temp gauge and a switched system for circulating the oil through a cooling system. This will consist of a 12V electric differential pump and a remote mounted aux tranny cooler.

Since there is no longer a front output on the front case, it is not necessary to put the 2wd/4wd shift rail back in place.

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1064.jpg[/img]


There is also nothing keeping the shifter rail from coming out of place; so I tacked on a small stip of metal. The shifter now ONLY moves forward/back for high/low, not side to side at all:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1066.jpg[/img]


Since that shift rail tube is now vacant, I decided it'd be a great place for the oil return line. Drilled and tapped the original hole for 1/4NPT fittings and it was simple as that:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1067.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1075.jpg[/img]


Finding places for the oil pull line and temperature sensor was trickier because they both must be below the static oil level but not get in the way of any moving pieces, bolt heads for sealing the case, or drain/fill plugs on the transmission. The temp sensor was the worst of the two because it is a lot taller.

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1076.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1074.jpg[/img]


Mechanical oil temperature sensor with option of wiring in red, green, or blue backlighting. I intend to use green to match my dash lighting; and wire the light into a relay fed from the ignition circut and tied into the on/off switch on the oil pump. When the gauge light is on, that will remind me the pump is on as well. Since it will only NEED to be used at higher speeds, I hope to extend the life of the pump dramatically by not using it while off-road or tooling around town.

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1077.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1078.jpg[/img]


Now comes the issue of making the speedometer work. The Amigo uses a mechanical speedo while both of these married cases use electrical VSS. They also have different differential gear ratios. Luckily, the VSS is still fed by a similar mechanical drive/driven gear set-up; so the "hard" part is done. The slip-yolk case (Amigo/P'up) uses a plastic drive gear held onto the tailhousing shaft with a metal clip:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1082.jpg[/img]


The fixed-yolk case uses a metal drive gear which is held fore/aft by a spacer/bearing and kept in sync with the tailshaft via a detent ball:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1081.jpg[/img]


The ID of the plastic and metal drive gears is the same; so they can be interchanged between shafts. The hole for the detent ball is also adequate to accept the anchor on the cliip. The problem is spacing on the shaft. With the clip anchor in the detent ball hole, the drive gear is about 1/2" forward of where it should be. It does still engage the driven gear; but just barely:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1083.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1085.jpg[/img]


I don't think this will be a major problem. I can likely either modify the clip or drill a new divot further down the shaft. Drilling on a curved surface of case hardened steel should be easy, right? :P


I will also need to extend the speedo cable 11" to reach the rear case. Houlster pointed me toward some aftermarket extensions available for Toyotas that could be modified for Isuzu use; but I think I'm first going to try to use part of the P'up speedo cable combined with some other stuff I have laying around.


So that's about all for now. I'll provide updates as able. Things I know that still need to get done:

-pull my current tranny/t-case
-swap my Tera Lows into the new rear t-case
-all new seals in both cases (cheap insurance, IMHO)
-new rear main seal and bearing in engine, clutch, flex plate, and throwout bearing
-rebuild my clutch slave cylinder that's been leaking for 6 years ::)
-get the speedo extension worked out
-purchase and mount oil pump, cooler, and lines
-cut off OEM crossmember that's behind the tranny crossmember and make a new crossmember for the second case
-modify stock crossmember to clear the driveshaft since it will be at a different angle coming from the rear case
-lenghten my front driveshaft 11"
-modify a Toyota front CV driveshaft to work as my rear driveshaft (which will only be 23" long, BTW <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> )
-cut off my rear spring perches and rotate the pinion up to point at the rear t-case flange (necessary because of the CV shaft)
-weld new perches on the rear axle at the appropriate position
-make some kind of mount for the temperature sensor gauge
-fabricate a new beefy skid plate to protect it all


And other stuff that will come up along the way <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />



I got the drive/driven gear engagement issue taken care of. I decided the best thing to do was move the hole for the clip anchor. As before stated, drilling a hole in a curved surface on hardened steel isn't an optimal situation; but knocking the curve down a bit with the grinder, center punching a hole, keeping stickout of the bits from the drill press as short as possible, and stepping up gradually from an extremely small bit proved successful:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1087.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1091.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1092.jpg[/img]


I ended up moving the hole about 7mm. These before and after pictures show how much better alignment with the driven gear will be now:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1085.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1093.jpg[/img]

Got what will eventually be my rear driveshaft today. Its a front driveshaft from a '92 Toyota 4Runner V6. The CV joint should help immensely with driveline vibes once I rotate the pinion up to point at the rear of the t-case. Here's the best part... rough measurements put my rear driveshaft at ~23" long statically once the dual cases are in. This driveshaft is ~21.25" long fully compressed and has ~5" of slip. That means I may very well be able to use it as-is in terms of length ;D Also, it wll accept an Isuzu u-joint at the differential end with a little grinding; so the Isuzu differential flange is easily adapted. I'll have to drill out the Isuzu t-case flange to match the flange on the Toy CV joint. I will also clearance the CV for greater usable angle as outlined in THIS write-up. But with a little elbow grease, I may have the rear driveshaft covered for less than $20.






Next hurdle to take care of: the Toyota CV flange is larger than the Isuzu t-case rear driveshaft flange. There's enough meat that it could 'probably' work; but I'd feel better knowing that there are complete holes for the driveshaft bolts:




A piece of 3/8" steel and the plasma cutter yielded a ring with an ID that matches the OD of the Isuzu flange and an OD roughly 1/2" larger. Don't have a picture of the ring; but here are the remains:




Then used the 20ton shop press to bring the two together (this is actually a staged picture taken after the fact; so try to ignore the welds <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> )




Next I welded the ring to the flange. Completely welded to the front and 4 welds across the back just to keep things in place. I tried to keep the welds on the back somewhat evenly spaced/sized to maintain balance as best I can:




The giant belt sander once again proved a good purchase and worked well to surface the flange:






This picture shows how much was added. Modified flange on bottom face-up (shiny outer circle) with another stock flange laying on top face-to-face:




And finally the result. First picture is again showing stock flange to Toyota flange, second picture shows the modified flange:






Got the modified Isuzu flange drilled with the Toyota bolt pattern tonight after work. Things weren't working out using a compass to mark the holes because the center hole in the end of the output shaft was much larger than the end of the compass, thereby allowing way too much play. After scratching my head for a bit, I came up with an alternative that I didn't expect to be much better; but actually worked quite well. The output shaft has a convex taper on the end and the Toyota flange has a concave taper. Positioning the output shaft through the modified Isuzu flange so it barely engaged the Toyota flange caused the two to self-align in respects to one another:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1123.jpg[/img]


Once everything was lined up and held in place with clamps, I used a transfer punch to mark the holed:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1124.jpg[/img]


Quadrupel checked to make sure the punch marks were in perfect alignment with the Toyota flange bolt holes, then knocked them out on the drill press. Here's the completed flange with both patterns:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1125.jpg[/img]


And the two bolted together:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1127.jpg[/img]


If the weather stays gross on the weekends, I may be getting more done on this than expected since I won't be climbing (honestly, I can fab any time of the year and am pretty bummed about the lack of climbing so far). This coming weekend I'm going to try to get the CV completely clearanced and put back together.


Got the driveshaft all done to work for my application. Clearanced the CV joint for greater working angle. Stock form is just under 25* by what I can find on-line. I'm not sure what the angle is now; but its certainly quite a bit more than that:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1132.jpg[/img]


The caps on the Isuzu u-joint are just 1/1000 inch larger than those on the Toyota u-joints; so adapting the Isuzu driveshaft differential flange to the Toyota driveshaft was a breeze:

Isuzu->Toyota->mated together:
[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1129.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1130.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1131.jpg[/img]


I think I'm going to pull the flywheel from the P'up and have it resurfaced. With 220k miles on the 'Migo, it probably needs done and it'll be a lot more time effective to swap in the already resurfaced P'up flywheel than to pull the Amigo one and have it done in the middle of the project.


Got a lot done over the extended weekend. Actually pulled the Amigo out of the barn under its own power with 2 t-cases yesterday; but more on that later. First thing was to take all of the essentials out from under the Amigo and pull the tranny. By lifting it up as high as I could with 6 ton HF jack stands on all four corners and using my low-profile, high-reaching jack, I was able to get the tranny out AND wheel it under the truck while still on the jack. Talk about a greasy mess, though <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> :

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1134.jpg[/img]


The rear crank bearing was shot (felt like a ratchet when I turned it), rear main seal didn't appear to be leaking; but I replaced both with new OEM pieces while I was in there.

Old:
[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1133.jpg[/img]

New:
[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1136.jpg[/img]

New clutch and pressure plate:
[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1137.jpg[/img]


Project tranny got a new throw out bearing before going in. I took some .25" plate steel and drilled two holes to bolt it to the holes for the tranny mount, then welded that to the platform on the jack. The platform swivels around and I left enough slop in the mounting holes to equal a couple of inches of travel up and down at the end of the bell housing. My brother was here from California for the weekend and was a big help getting the tranny seated:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1135.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1138.jpg[/img]


For now, I just looped some fuel line between the oil feed and return lines on the front case. If temperature DOES end up being an issue, I'll take the time/expense to run an electric oil pump and remote cooler:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1144.jpg[/img]


Had to cut a crossmember to make room for the second case. I will ultimately need to clearance the torsion bars mounts and reroute the passenger's side e-brake cable as well. I think I'll end up taking 1" out of the modified Toyota driveshaft also. It only has about .25" of spline showing; so I'm concerned about it compressing too far while off-roading and destroying my hard work:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1145.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1146.jpg[/img]


I also made a mount for my temp gauge and got it mounted. Had to drill a 7/8" hole in the tranny tunnel for a grommet for the temp sensor copper tube:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1143.jpg[/img]


Next, I rough sketched the mount into some .120" plate and cut it with the plasma:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1140.jpg[/img]


Used my spur-of-the-moment home made brake press to bend it evenly:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1141.jpg[/img]


And cleaned it up with the belt sander:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1142.jpg[/img]


Time was getting tight, which is when mistakes happen. Didn't wait long enough after painting the temp gauge mount and it got a bunch of carpet grossness stuck to it during installation. No pics yet of the finished mount; but I'll try to get one in the near future. Turned out pretty well even with the carpet grime, IMHO.

Still a ton of work to do; but it was awesome to be able to creep around the yard with it. Stock crawl ratio was 38.5:1, its currently at 86:1, and will end up at 118:1 once I get the Tera Lows swapped into the second case. I'm going to probably take a week or three off of the project; so another update may take awhile. With family obligations this weekend, I didn't get to start working each evening until 6PM or so and was in the barn until 1AM, only to get back up at 7 the next morning. Three straight days of that and I'm a little burned out :-\ Some time away from the barn and I'll be refreshed, remotivated, and ready to wrap this up ;D


[quote author=BigSwede link=topic=493.msg4795#msg4795 date=1243345264]
It's nice when the project isn't your daily driver, isn't it? Come back to it when you are ready...
[/quote]

Absolutely!!! Here's the temp gauge. It doesn't look nearly as horrible in person as the picture makes it look; but I'll likely eventually strip and repaint it anyway as it does have carpet grime dried to it:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1147.jpg[/img]


Got the front driveshaft extended 14.5" tonight after work. I didn't end up taking as long as I expected. I don't think its true enough to work in a rear application at highway speeds; but for low speed crawling in a front application it should be okay.

Used a cut-off wheel to remove the female splined section from the u-joint section:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1153.jpg[/img]


Cut some appropriately sized tubing to length:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1150.jpg[/img]


And bevelled the ends for welding:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1151.jpg[/img]


Used the shop press and some welding magnets to keep everything lined up for welding:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1154.jpg[/img]


And the u-joint end:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1155.jpg[/img]


All slid together and loaded with fresh grease:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1156.jpg[/img]

Got a bunch of junk cut off of the frame in preparation for fabbing crossmember and skid plate. I also made an extension for the speedo cable so that it will reach the rear case for accuracy.

Cut a predetermined length off of the P'up speedo cable and exposed ~1" of the inner cable part:




Then harvested a driven gear and its associated housing from a 2WD tranny I have laying around:




Cut the gear off the end of the shaft, drilled a hole in the end of the shaft, split it down the side with a cut-off wheel, and crimped in onto the exposed inner cable:




Here's the "finished" product.




The current speedo cable screws onto the aluminum part and then the other end of the extension screws onto the t-case in the standard location. It needs a little tweeking; but I hooked it up to the Amigo and it worked reasonably well.


I installed the Tera Lows in the rear case and took the Amigo for another stroll around the yard. Its pretty cool and a little terrifying that I can stand on the brakes in lo-lo and not stall it <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> I also got the shifters all figured out to where they'll shift through all of the potential settings in the original hole without interfering with one another. That took a multiple fine adjustments of each shifter; but I'm very happy with the outcome. All of the following pictures were taken with the tranny in 5th gear since its closest to the t-case shifters in that position.

Modified t-case shifter for the second case. This one took the most work for a couple of reasons. One being that it resides in a shallower part of the tranny tunnel since nothing originally went there. That fact and working in conjunction with the other shifters was further complicated by the overall arc of motion. Since this shifter is considerably longer than stock, small movements at the t-case to shift end up being several inches of movement at the shifter.




Road gearing (1:1 2WD). The picture is taken head-on with the shifters; but from the driver's seat I have an unobstructed view of the temp gauge. This was important since highways speeds are most likely to get temps too high:




2.28:1 2WD:




1:1 4WD




2.28:1 4WD:




3.07:1 4WD:




7:1 4WD:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1179.jpg[/img]


I think I've finally stared at the underside enough that I have a rear t-case crossmember/mount figured out. The problem is that the torsion bar mounts are right where it'd be easiest to put said crossmember and the one on the passenger's side is only about 1/2" away from the side of the t-case. Things will be tight; but I think I'll be able to work around it, as well as reposition the e-brake cable to be functional again. The rear t-case is where the e-brake cable originally crossed over. Looks like weather is FINALLY going to be appropriate for rock climbing in Slade, KY this weekend; so I probably won't have another update for awhile. I've usually been climbing 3-4 times by now each year but its just been too wet!


More progress today. Got the rusted out exhaust system and all of its associated hangers cut off of the frame so I could start work on the rear t-case bracket and mount. Used my HF pipe kinker to take a piece of 3/4" ID sch40 pipe from this:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1180.jpg[/img]


To this:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1183.jpg[/img]


And the plasma cutter, transfer punches, drill press, die grinder, and angle grinder to take a piece of 1/4" plate steel from this:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1184.jpg[/img]


To this:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1188.jpg[/img]


Now I need to hurry up and get my climbing stuff packed up for the weekend trip to Kentucky before Jessica kills me :sad:


Lots of progress on the Amigo this weekend... not much progress taking pictures. I'll post a few I have and try to get some more next weekend. I got both crossmembers made, supports for the adapter plate and rear t-case, skid plate for the rear case, holes drilled and tapped in the frame for all of the new hardware, then connected it all.

Here's the support for the adapter plate:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1194.jpg[/img]

And mounted. The thing behind it is the front crossmember and the flat plate welded to it now has tabs which connect it to the support:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1199.jpg[/img]


Here's the crossmembers. On the front one, you can see the flat plate and the tabs I was referring to above:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1203.jpg[/img]


3/4" and 1" sch40 pipe (measured by the ID)

I had to modify the OEM tranny crossmember to clear the front driveshaft. Used some 2x4x3/16" tube to make a "bridge". Here's the marks layed out:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1191.jpg[/img]


Bridge welded in place and offending portion cut out. I plan to plate in the cut areas to keep grime out:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1207.jpg[/img]


I used the plamsa cutter to cut a circle out of the rear t-case bracket and welded in some tube for a bushing. Here it is in place and connected to a tube which spans across to both crossmembers:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1209.jpg[/img]


Next I cut a bunch of 1" wide strips from 1/4" plate to span across the curves on each crossmember, forming a skid plate for the rear case. There were 14 total, IIRC:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1205.jpg[/img]


Here they are tacked in. Tonight I welded all of the borders together under the truck. Would have been nicer to do it on the bench; but I wanted it all bolted in place to minimize warping:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1211.jpg[/img]


The crossmember/skidplate/mounts combo got buttoned up tonight. Here it is after removal from the Amigo:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1213.jpg[/img]


And after a coat of primer and some paint:

[img]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/strawmyers/Dual%20Cases%20Project/IMG_1214.jpg[/img]