General vehicle thread

[Irving]

I got everything back in, and it all spins like it's supposed to.

There was lots of interference between gears and it was generally a pretty big hassle. A big enough hassle that when I started and everything was going smooth I was thinking that this was a pretty easy job, but now I wouldn't really want to do it again. I didn't replace any of the seals, or the o-ring, so I probably will have to do it again at some point. I'll update with photos later (which will look the same as every other photo so far), but right now it's late.

[Irving]

This was the best way I was able to get everything back in. I can't say it's the only way, or even the right way, but I had to try this multiple times to get everything back together. Basically, start by placing the idler gear in position, but don't push it down into the hole at all. Once the idler is in place, you can put the fwd gear set in it's hole as well. You have to leave the idler loose because you'll need to lift it up and down to fit each of the other gears with the shift collars around the idler.



Once the fwd gears are in place (but not all the way in place), you can fit these two shift rails together, and slide them into position together.




You can see in this photo how the shift fork and collars interfere with the idler. This is why the idler is left loose so you can lift it up enough to clearance those shift forks under the top idler gear.



Once both shift forks are in position, you can start to tap everything into place. You'll want to be a bit careful how you go about seating each of the three shafts. I tapped them in with soft deadblow hammer. You need to be careful because the clearance between each of the gears is so tight if you seat the idler too deep, it hangs up on top of the other two gears, and vice versa. So once you start tapping everything into place, once you hit resistance, stop and see what's going on. This isn't something that should, or even can be, forced.



When it comes to placing those lower, inside snap rings back, I found that long nose straight, and bent, needle nose pliers works very well.




The snap ring on the idler leaves little clearance to use pliers though. This is where the Jerry method comes in with using a zip tie. If you remember, I tried to use this method with wire on the disassembly, but it kept breaking. I don't know how a plastic zip tie holds up better, but it does.



Lorenzo pointed out that each of the seats for the gears has an opening opposite of where the snap ring arms fit. In each case, you can use a screw driver to hold the snap ring in place, then let go, or cut the zip tie at the front and it snaps into position.

[Irving]

That is all I have for photos. Review Lorenzo's posts about the pins in the shift rails and make sure that you check that you've staked each drive shaft nut as you put them back on, have all your snap rings and bearings back in place (the bearing on the idler gear will no longer have a snap ring so you should have one extra when you're done.

A few notes on reassembly:
- When you get the cases back together, both the shifter housing and the 4wd motor will still be off the case. What I did was put the shifter housing, AND the shifter back into place. This allowed me to shift into 4-low, which allows the shift rail for the 4wd motor to be pushed in. Once you install the 4wd motor, then shift back into Hi range. I then took apart the shift housing, cleaned up the old gasket and sealed with the Ultra Grey sealant that Indy4x sends with the gears.
- Be careful of the 4wd actuator plugs. I broke the same one on BOTH transfer cases that I got.
- At some point, when manipulating the front wheel drive gears, the shift fork fell off and the collar slipped out, exposing these little filler gear things. They all fell out and I had to look at the spare case to figure out which way they go in. This is how they are oriented. You shouldn't have to deal with this at all, but if you do, here is the photo.


Overall, I'd put this process as somewhere around a 5-7 on a 1-10 scale of difficulty for DIY stuff. Where I'd rate a battery change as a 1, suspension lift and ball joint flip as a 4, and a diff drop and locker install as a 5.

Honestly, I haven't done a ton of vehicle stuff in my life, so I'm not the best judge. I don't have much experience, but in doing this I realized that I've got quite a lot of tools that make this easier (3-jaw puller, hydraulic press, etc).

I'm sure this could have been more thorough, and I feel like toward the end I got a little worn out and just wanted to finish and didn't take every possible photo. I hope this helps people in the future tackle this job. Enough people on here have done this that there should be help for anyone who attempts.

Bonus photo: The 41mm socket that I made, worked for turning this nut on, and torqueing it back on again.

[MrPrena]

I am a dumbass.
I tapped my car with my wife's car on a driveway.
Truck* has been buffed and touched upped. Looks okay, but my wife's vehicle will be a 1/2 day project.


*taco

[Irving]

My wife did that the other day backing into the driveway through all the drifts, with MY car, hitting her car. Fortunately, all my cars are old and dented when I buy them so it doesn't matter. She didn't actually damage anything though.

[MrPrena]

I jokingly said to my wife " you could have guide me or warned me about this" and that got her .

If she is in good mood after work, I can probably work on her car later this week. If she is still not on good mood tonight,i might be doing 4 coats of spray till 3am starting tonight.

[TailDragger]

Latest project. 1931 Model A. Ground up build late 40's traditional hi-boy roadster. Only modern thing on the car will be the new Burtz reproduction 5 main crank engine. Modern internals but looks exactly like it should externally. The guy that just started selling the engines has been working on them since 2005, pretty interesting stuff. http://www.modelaengine.com/

[Fentonite]

Wow, that’s really cool. Any idea how long it’ll take?

[Irving]

Cool project.

[TailDragger]

Wow, that’s really cool. Any idea how long it’ll take?

Thanks!
I get the motor next Wed but still need a body. Roadster bodies are hard to come by and steel reproductions go for around $8k. Short answer, no clue. Longer answer, this summer if I'm willing to sleep on the couch a while.

What it'll look like...