[DomSmith]

Andrew-

Thanks. Yes it has, but I'm learning tons and having a blast. Picked up the driveshafts today and they turned out well. Rear is 22" and front is 30". Your ROTW is nice! I see the pics of you and your buds working in the cold and I'm ashamed I complain if it isn't 72 here...

[DomSmith]

I forgot to take a few shots of the final tranny crossmember so here they are after the exhaust...

Drivers Side:

1. Rear of bracket bolts through bracket, plates, and frame...

2. Front of brackets threaded through the bracket, 2 plates and frame...

3. Backside of bracket (these holes lined up ok to pass through the frame).

[DomSmith]

Once the tranny was finally secure I put the rams horn exhaust manifolds on with new gaskets and grade 8 bolts and trailered it to the exhaust shop.

I had an initial quote of $330+tax to custom build the exhaust w/ 3" stainless and a Y pipe from the manifolds back (over the phone). I knew fitment was going to be an issue because of the OBA tank under the rig and the Long Ranger Fuel Cell at the very back, so I did a little work before I dropped it off and I moved the air tank from the far left (drivers) side closer to the middle of the tub and prepared for the worst.

When I arrived 3 hours late for my appointment Chad was pretty cool. He understood that I had just driven home from work through Hell-A traffic and had lost the wrenches for the trailer ramps on the freeway (oops). So I mentioned to him that I thought the driveshafts would be ready today, but that I'd winched the truck on the trailer and we needed to push it around....



"No pushers", he said.

I hadn't given it much thought but he was a small shop and the only guy around. When he needed a second hand he had to drag a neighbor over. Minor oversite on my part. So off to the driveline shop to pick up the driveshafts, swing by the house to grab the driveline bolts, and back to the shop to attach the rear driveshaft. Finally under it's own power I pulled it off the trailer and into the shop.

After consulting about more specific details we determined it was doable but there may be a few extra charges if things didn't fit properly. I explained that the exhaust was quite important and that I would re-route air lines and fuel lines as needed. We discussed what kind of "sound" I was looking for as well. I made it very clear that I wanted a quiet rig that didn't make a ton of noise but would sound good if I got into it. This rig never has a top or doors on it so the noise was a big factor for me. I'm not into setting off car alarms the way my twin under rocker side pipes used to.

So Chad went to work...

[DomSmith]

When I picked up the rig two days later we had definitely had to make some adjustments. There was not enough room with the fuel tank and air tank to put a quiet muffler in without making it look Ghetto and I didn't want to put the OBA air tank inside the rear passenger area. So Chad recommended cutting the rear crossmember (that I thought I was going to have to move anyway) and weld a small square tube crossbar near the top of the frame to control any minor flex. This gave him the room he needed to fit the type of muffler I wanted.

1 & 2. Exhaust from manifolds... (yes I need new plug boots)

3. Y pipe below oil pan...

[DomSmith]

More...

1. Tie in

2. Flange

3. Muffler

[DomSmith]

More...

1. Tailpipe route

2. crossmember cutout

3. Small tube bracket

[DomSmith]

There were several spots where air lines, fuel lines, and cables were touching so I need to re-route a few. For the speedo and brake cables I just mounted a small bracket to the TCase to hold them off the muffler...

Before...

After...

[DomSmith]

Fuel lines... (will be replaced w/ 90 degree fitting)...

OBA lines will be run on the outside of the frame and heat shielded where appropriate...

[DomSmith]

I had Chad place the detachable flange near the drivers side tranny "L" bracket so I could remove the exhaust if needed to take out the bracket bolts...

After all was said and done it cost $420 for the exhaust, crossmember removal, welding in the tube crossmember and reinforcing a few welds that I needed more piece of mind from. Not cheap but solid work and I've accepted the fact that I have to pay for the things I have no clue how to do.

And the exhaust is just what I wanted. Quiet (and I mean quiet) at idle and a good roar when you get on it. Almost no exhaust noise on the freeway.

[DomSmith]

Since installing the tranny I have experienced a few clutch issues that have been difficult to diagnose since I have been unable to test drive it.

See here: http://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/165143-clutch-wont-disengage-sbc-h55.html

Now that the exhaust is done I will be able to get down to the cause a little more easily. After driving it around a bit and backing the slave nut off a little the re-engagement seems to be much less. I'll update this as soon as I get a chance.

[DomSmith]

Rear driveshaft (30"). Original 3 speed driveshaft with 4 speed slip yoke...


...and front FJ60 Split TCase flange from Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters...

[DomSmith]

So... I've been lagging on posting up. But here goes...

Rewind: I forgot to post this before... Once I had the tranny and tranfer filled and prior to the exhaust work I noticed this little gem...

[Degnol]

PSHIT!!! At least now's the time to find it......

Ed

[DomSmith]

Anyone who's been around 40's for awhile knows exactly what this is. How the hell was this seal leaking already!? I hadn't even moved the rig. So again I was forced to backtrack a bit and investigate.

Well, as it turned out I had installed one of the two seals I recieved in my parts collecting process. With my luck I chose the one in the Transfer Case rebuild kit with the idea that I would keep the one provided by SOR in the Split Case Parking Brake Kit as a spare. Unfortunately for me the one from SOR matches the shaft from their kit and the original I used was WAY too big and didn't even come close to sealing. So, I removed the retainer and pulled the old (new) seal and pressed in the SOR seal. Lesson learned.

[rockcod]

Dom, are you going to put in a CV drive shaft? Thats a pretty good angle working there, what angle do have on the other end?

The build up looks great!

[DomSmith]

I installed the front transfer case flange and bolted up the front driveshaft. It matched up well with the tranny crossmember and there seems to be plenty of room for movement once this thing gets off-road. The Toyota crossmember was the key here rather than fabbing up a custom crossmember with space for the yoke. Especially since my fab skills are VERY limited...

[DomSmith]

Tony-

The driveline angles actually came out better than expected. Here's the rear driveline angles. If I have a problem in the future I may go that route...

EDIT: Oh now I see what you mean Tony. That pic is just the yoke hanging there with no driveshaft attached.

[DomSmith]

Once the driveshafts were in and the exhaust was installed I double checked my list of TO DO'S that I made to prevent me from jumping the gun and trying to drive it w/o any fluids, etc...

Aside from the issue of the clutch not being quite right I decided it was time for a test drive.

First Impressions: I couldn't believe how low first gear was. Yes I know, it's not THAT low, but coming from a stock 3 Speed, it felt really low. It's basically for starting out, period. I was able to stretch my 3 speed's first gear and get some speed going (hey I only had 2 gears left anyway, right?), but not with this. I get out of the hole and I'm looking for second right away. The shifting is smooth and tight which took some getting used to. My 3 speed had a wide throw and slop all around, so this is a small little box to shift in. More on the driveability in a bit.

The shifter was positioned about as well as I could have asked. Centered right on the floorpan (I had to cut it a bit) and I didn't have to touch the transfer hole...


Yes I know, I'm having a tranny boot made to match the stock tcase shift boot...

[DomSmith]

But in second gear the shifter hits the seat...

[DomSmith]

So I attempted to heat up the shifter and bend it w/o success:

http://forum.ih8mud.com/60-series-wagons/168993-does-my-h55-shifter-unscrew.html

After catching the rubber bushing inside the shifter on fire in the process I am still stuck with the second gear issue. The bushing seems to have stiffened up again after drying from it's "gooey" state earlier. No biggie, but I'd like short people to be able to drive it too.

I'm considering taking it somewhere to have them bend it but I'm afraid I'll end up with a $110 unusable piece of shat.

[DomSmith]

One issue I'm not super stoked about is the lower transfer case clearance. From the pics I've seen this might be a common problem, but if I was to do it over again I might try to gain an inch or so by lowering the engine. As it stands, the tranny is about 3/8" from the tranny hump and I wasn't comfortable trying to push it up any higher and I didn't want to mess with the hump...

[DomSmith]

I'm going to look at building a skid plate that's something close (in my dreams) to what Poser did for this... (Stealing Poser's image from here: http://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/139889-h55-splitcase-into-02-79-40-series-5.html)...

[Degnol]

You can't go wrong with a Poser-design


Ed

[DomSmith]

Next is wiring up the reverse switch and 4WD indicator. This tranny/transfer uses the newer style connectors so I picked through some wiring loom bins at SOR for what I needed...

[DomSmith]

Cut and soldered the reverse switch with typical plug fittings that my old wiring had...

[DomSmith]

I did the same with the 4wd indicator. I haven't decided where I want an indicator to display in the cab so it's attached but not finished off. I remember my 71 w/ vacuum shifting had a green dash light but I'm not sure that's what I want to do. I could use this brake light (just remove the brake plate) as it's not hooked up. Anyone make a "4WD" plate?

[DomSmith]

After driving around for a while I noticed a small bit of tranny fluid at the front of the parking brake back plate. With a little investigating I determined that the bolts on the rear bearing retainer on the transfer case were seaping fluid. I originally didn't use any type of thread sealer on these bolts as suggested in the FSM so, I had to drain the fluid and take out each bolt and apply some sealer. I chose to use the gray RTV instead of thread sealer and it's worked perfectly.

[DomSmith]

Well I finally updated post #49 the cost breakdown. I dug through TONS of receipts and tried to include everything for a realistic cost. As stated this didn't include some generic items like the engine oil, gear oil, paint, a few special tools, etc. which I had most of anyway. It also doesn't include a few wrong parts I got and were unable to return.

I haven't gotten the courage to add it all up myself yet...

[madoc1]

i need a new exhaust system for mine and wondered what make, model, and in/outsizes your muffler was. love the description-quiet, loud, quiet. thx jim

[DomSmith]

Jim-

I'll be home tomorrow and will post up the info...

EDIT: OK, here it is: (Magnaflow Part#12289)

I've got 3" Intermediate into the muffler and 3" down to 2 1/2" (fit the aux tank batter) to the rear. I can snap a few more pics if needed.