Alice in Chains build

[x factor]

Had to take the cab mounts loose and raise the back of the cab up a bit to get the new section in.

It needed a slot cut on the reinforcement to slide up inside the rear cab mounts and a 1/4" trimmed from both sides of the outer skin at the lowest corners.

Welded in and ready for grinding.

 

[x factor]

Finally got to pulling the trans for the W56 twin case addition and hit another bump in the road. The W56 is one that had a top shift case behind it which did not come with the trans. I do not have a shifter for the front case and will be building one that will have the triple sticks. I'm going to use a baby bottle nipple to seal the shifter to the case. That should allow me to use one pivot rod for the 3 shifters.

 

[TRoss]

Awesome work man! Been watchin' yur thread for a while now. I so want to replace my tank with a cell located further back then get rid of the tank/cab indent like you did. Nice job!

 

[Jeremy9A]

Looking good, Bill. I hope that extra storage space you gained won't be housing any un-water friendly electronics...

 

[x factor]

Awesome work man! Been watchin' yur thread for a while now. I so want to replace my tank with a cell located further back then get rid of the tank/cab indent like you did. Nice job!

Thanks bud, every square inch of space helps. I'm sure I'm going to like the extra storage.

Looking good, Bill. I hope that extra storage space you gained won't be housing any un-water friendly electronics...

Nah, only the speakers that survived the first major drowning.

 

[x factor]

Don't know what I was thinking but I found the top shift stick. Silly me, I used it to make the twin stick and set it off to the side where I found it this morning.

I debated on whether to still build my own or modify the original.
A couple of my hole saws disappeared so I went with the stock mod.

Fisrt I needed to come up with a way to deal with the snap ring from . I ended up modifying some old Craftsman snap ring pliers to get that thing to open up enough to get it on.

Modifying the G52 shift rod was interesting to say the least.I made a block for the shift fork and cut the long end of the rod off.

A couple cut to fit pieces of angle iron with holes drilled to match the factory pivot point heights.

Pivots will be shoulder bolts from tail gate straps.

 

[Jeremy9A]

Bill, I'm sort of confused about this shifter here.

Are those pivots for the linkage for the rear case's twin sticks? Like to put triple sticks next to each other?

And it looks like you converted a front shift case to a top shift for the crawl box?

 

[x factor]

That is correct on both. The W56 that Joe gave me was made for a top shift case which forced the conversion of the original from my G52 remote shift trans.

 

[x factor]

In staying with the idea of using what I have on hand instead of buying things that I can make, here is the start of my linkage rods.

Heim joints or lawn tractor tie rod ends would have made excellent linkage ends. Using the non threaded part of a regular bolt creates a good pivot and a place to tighten the nut to like a regular shoulder bolt also. The barrel nut provides some adjustment.

To provide some anti rattle I drilled out some bottle caps then used regular side cutters to cut them into palstic washers.

My original idea was to make the shifters all toward the back for high/high/2wd and all forward for low/low/4wd. This worked by having the high/low range shifter both pivot from above the shifter pivot and the 2wd/4wd pivot above on the rear case and below on the front case.

I also wanted the shifters to all be even when in either all forward or all rearward positions. I measured the movement of the twin stick and determined the the 2wd/4wd moved approximately 55.5% of the high/low. I kept the pivot on the high/low at the same hight as the twin stick which was 1 3/8" and shortened the 2wd/4wd to 3/4" from the shifter pivot and got really close.

I ran out of welding wire so I finish it up in the morning, but I am pleased with the results so far.

 

[x factor]

Modification of the stock W56 stick was necessary as I did not want to bend the triple sticks back.
Before:

After:

 

[x factor]

Cross member mods done.

Floor cut for trans and shifter clearance.

I was hoping to be able to use the stock console again but it wasn't ment to be. So I started the custom console.

Starting the frame work using 3/4" angle iron. the entire top will be open to be able to remove shifters.

Using 1" angle iron I am making a duplicate cover frame that will pinch 1/8" plastic over the hole and use allen head cap screws to attach it.

By making the inside edges of the angle iron flush it will give me an 1/8" gap to tuck carpet under on the sides as well.

Clamped together, marked and starter hole drilled for the cap screws.

 

[x factor]

One thing threw me off briefly. The radio area of the dash is not centered and is offset 3/4" to the passenger side.

 

[x factor]

Do to a delay on the console while I try and find a source for #10x32 3/4" button head cap screws in stainless, I worked on streching the front square shaft.

Using 1" angle iron I made a couple sleeves for the inside of the tubing. Plug welds on one side ground smooth with a 1/4" gap between the tubes I clamped the sections together using 2" angle iron on opposite sides to hold it straight while I tacked the two exposed corners and let cool. I ground the corners smooth to change the angle iron to the opposite side and tacked the other two corners and let cool. Taking one side angle iron off to expose the two sides to weld, cool and grind. I repeated for the other two sides and the rest of the plug weld holes to the angle iron on the inside. Test fit was perfect, no binding. I then caped the end of the tube so it won't fill with grease.

Zip tieing a piece of inner tube on the shaft was an epic fail for a grese seal. The new plan will sandwhich a piece of a rubber oil resistant boot between two round discs.

A 1/4" bolt with the head cut off will be welded to each side of the larger tube along with one of the round discs. The other will be the "cap" to hold the gasket.

A long time ago I got this conduit punch in a package deal at an auction and finally found a use for it. It made the discs from a 3" die.

 

[x factor]

Using a square to start the layout, I used the 2" wide side to make the first two lines by centering it and scribing both sides of the square. Turning it 90* and scribing the other two gave me the inside dimension for the large tube. This was also the square portion that needed to be cut out. I also scribed the outside demensions of the square tube but that wasn't really necessary. With the wall thickness of 1/4" and using 1/4" bolts I needed to make the marks for the bolt hole at 3/8" from the inside demension for the bolts to be against the tubing.

 

[x factor]

I also tacked the two round disc together for drilling and cutting so the layout only needed to be done to one. The bolts and first disc were weled to the tube.

After cutting and grinding the disc to match the inside of the tube I left one nut on the end of each bolt to be able to tap the bolts into alignment for removal of the second disc. I enlarged the holes in the second disc to 9/32" and used it to mark the holes in the gasket for the bolts. With everything in place I marked the gasket for the tube and left an 1/8" extra for the seal. I ground out the corners of the gasket to match the tube as I could not pull it apart due to the vacuum it caused. I will update on it's success or failure down the road.

 

[x factor]

Back to the console and the front sheet metal went pretty well. Scabbed some filler pieces on the front corners and went on to the sides. I left the top on and screwed down which let me slide the sheet metal between the top and base. Scribing the top and bottom to confirm coverage and provide the line in which I flanged the top so I could tuck it behind the base and plug welded all but the front that was solid welded.

On to the side grab handle for the wife. When I started to fit it I realized that it was going to have to be removeable in order to get the cover off. After coming up with a plan that would have used a set screw through the round cross tube I ended up breaking off my 1/4" tap and decided to go another route. Alot of trimming and fitting and I finally had the location the best it was going to get. By welding a small tab on the side I could lock it down with a single bolt.

Using a piece of conduit provided the tubing sleeve for the cross over tube. With this set up I can remove the one bolt on the side and pivot the grab handle up out of the way to access the top cover.

Clearance for the 2wd/4wd shifter is tight but is best in 4wd position.

The washer on the shifter is where the outside edge of the shifter knobs will be. Those will be made using chain links to make the ball.

 

[x factor]

Just a pic of how the handle will pivot.

Boxed in the area for the handle base which will also keep it from pivoting when bolted in place.

Just a pic of the handle.

I found a way to incorporate at least part of the console. I like having the factory switches as well.

 

[x factor]

Boxed in the rear portion of the console floor and ready for grinding and seam sealer.

 

[booty]

As usual awsome work Bill.

 

[x factor]

Thanks Mark.

I'm going to have to cut the console project short for now. Gotta get her back together for PYS IV. It's a private week long wheelin' trip that so far has included Flat Nasty, Washita and only the first year SMORR in Missouri. I wrote a story for Toyota Trails about PYS II and although It didn't make it to print it did get a web exclusive.

Seam sealed everything I could reach with the trans in place inside and out. I used mostly brushable with an acid brush but did use the remains of an old caulk tube as well.

Back masking, for those that have never heard of it, is when you put the paper covering what you are ging to spray then pulling back over leaving the sticky side of the tape as the exposed edge of the tape. This leaves a less harsh line when the paper is removed. This works good for primer but can also be done for door jams, fenders and hoods. The white coating is paintable gravel guard for a little protection.

Having already built my rear shaft out of schedule 40 pipe all I needed to do was cut it down for the twin case addition. The inside diameter of the pipe is slightly larger than the flange for the u joint by almost .060. When I original bought the pipe the fab shop I got it from suggested using pieces of the welding wire to make up the difference to keep it centered. Works perfect.

With this in place and 3 tack welds I mounted it in the truck and set clamped a piece of angle iron to the springs and wire to the angle iron to show the run out.

It was about 3/32" out at first so I cut loose the tack weld that was closest to the large gap tapped it with a hammer to get it close retacked and checked it again. Third time was the charm. Got it within a couple of thousants.