Build Clifford is home again- a 1965 FJ40 FST

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Green Bean said:
Will you be dropping the oil pan and replacing the rear main seal?
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Yeah I need to swap the bellhousing and I am going to go to a 4speed clutch system (but keep the slave on the driver's side), so while I am in there I do plan on replacing the rear main seal. Hoping I won't have to go back in for a while after this. :)
 
Got the assembly out from under the truck.
Peeked at the first gear in the 3speed…. Yeah I think it’s toast
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Took the back steel cone off the transfer case. Lots of rust flakes. The steel was rusting inside, probably from the poor truck just sitting for so long in its life.
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While this is not great to find, it confirms to me that this was the right project to do. It was clearly time for the old boy to get some serious love.
 
Ok, back on this. I got the assembly out, not it was time to get the transfer case off the three speed.
First was the rear drum. I should have taken this nut off while it was in the truck. But no worries. I made a quick SST to hold the shaft on the studs while I loosened it. Worked well.
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I kept the whole assembly together since I recently refreshed the parking brake and used a dual seal unit from Valley Hybrids. So I bagged up the parts and kept these safe until its time to go back on.
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Next was the rear cone to get the output shaft nut off the transmission. This is when I found the nasty rust grease. Thankfully it had nothing to do with the gears.
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I put the transmission in gear, put the transfer case in 4wd and used the immobilizer bar to keep everything from spinning and took the nut off.
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There were plier marks on the steel end spacer which indicates some goober was in here before. :P
 
It was time to push the transfer case off.
Next are the 5 main bolts, there are three outside the case and two inside:
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I allllmost could have used that little 6" puller I referenced from amazon earlier if it was a tad wider. I think there is an 8" wide model that would have been perfect. I used the beefy puller to get it off though. I took a note from @Coolerman and used two of the rear nose cone bolts and lips for the puller to bite on.
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Of course as you take it off, catch those two gears on the output shaft as they fall out. Transfer case is off! :) Now time to take it apart further.
 
Turning my attention to the h42 a bit.
I put the front input shaft housing and the rear housing on. FIPG on both sides of the gaskets.
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I installed a new backup switch. It will be cool to finally have a backup light in this 40! I have a cool little JDM Koito light waiting for that job.
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Next is putting on the 4 on the tree adapter!
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I am refreshing the seals on the column shifter top plate. Got these seals from @cruiseroutfit .
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I also installed a new breather valve on the column shifter top plate.
 
Slowly taking the T-case apart.
I checked this clearance. Limit is 0.4mm
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Mine ended up being about 0.31mm
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It’s within spec. I’m not sure what it generally starts at though and how low a clearance I should shoot for. Less than 0.1mm to the limit seems like I should adjust this instead of continuing to run this.

I also noticed this scoring on the rear t-case bearing that the transmission output shaft uses. The bearing seems right, but the scoring seems to indicate the race spun at some point? Or is that factory machining ?
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Happy New Year all! I tried to get this transfer case fully disassembled before the end of the year as a goal but was quickly thwarted by a weird 29mm front output shaft nut. Dang and WTF. :p
It’s on order! My goal is to get it fully rebuilt and mated to the 4speed this month.
Next after that will be to swap on the correct bellhousing, 4speed clutch parts and refresh any linkage ball joints while I have access. Thank you @middlecalf for documenting that transfer case linkage rebuild in your thread.

Cheers everyone and to a great and productive year ahead. :cheers:
 
Alright! Thin walled 29mm socket to the rescue. I got the front output shaft nut off and the flange off. Once those came off I unbolted the front "cone/housing":
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Next came driving out the transfercase output shaft. This was thankfully a straightforward step. There is of course a SST to support the large gear while you push out the shaft... but for me a 2x4 filled in on the job and worked perfect along with a rubber hammer:
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Once the shaft is out (through the front of the case), the large gear and rear bearing come free. Next step is to remove the front bearing and gear from the shaft. A press is great for this step... but once again some blocks of wood worked a treat. It took just a few light hits with the rubber hammer to push the gear off.
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Once the shaft was off you need to check oil clearances between the brass gear bushings and the shaft. The max tolerance is 0.09mm. I am coming in at about 0.04-0.05, so that is great news.
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At this point the transfer case is all apart! It's time for the most unfun part of the project..... cleaning decades worth of thick fossilized grease off. :P Stay tuned!

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Alright, after A LOT of scrubbing, scraping and rinsing, I think this case is clean enough to reassemble! A mix of acetone and a gel goo-gone degreaser worked a treat on this case. I am going to hit the gasket surfaces with a polisher wheel.
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Started to reassemble! Feels good to be at this stage for the transfer case. I gathered the parts from the kit I got from Valley Hybrids.
I started with the front output shaft housing. I cleaned it up a little more with a Dremel and polishing wheel. Then got to work on the internals. First was installing the output shaft onto the bearing, as indicated in the FSM.
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I inserted the bearing and the shaft into the front housing. To drive the bearing in I used this fat plastic puck that the gentleman that loaned me the puller also gave me. Its just the width of the bearing's outer race. I drove the bearing home using the rubber hammer then installed the lockring.
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Next it was time to install the oil seal. I just gently tapped with the rubber hammer all around until it was flush with the housing. I did put a very very thin coat of FIPG around the seal's metal diameter to further reduce leaking. Not sure if that was overkill.
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Next I turned my attention to the main case......
 
First thing to get installed in the case is the idler gear assembly. In the rebuild kit are three O-rings. For the new idler shaft, you will need the middle one. I made sure by measuring the old ring.
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Next I assembled the parts. From the front of the case it goes oil washer, gear assembly, oil washer, shim. On the inside of the gear you insert the needle bearing, spacer, then needle bearing.
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So install was definitely a tricky endeavor. I oiled all the parts up. I put a little grease on the washers and stuck them inside the case. They have holding tabs so they wont rotate thankfully. Once the washers were stuck to the sides of the case (dimple sides facing the gears), I partially inserted the idler shaft to hold the double washers in place. I slide the gear assembly in and between the washers. Had to be careful not to disturb the washers too much. Once the gears were in, I pulled the idler shaft back out. I used a long screw driver to re-align the bottom washer so the idler shaft could drop all the way in. Once the shaft was in, I installed the keeper and bolt. Next was checking that the clearance between the gears and the washers were within spec. Factory is between 0.1-0.3mm. I was reading a tad over 0.104mm so its ready to rock.

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Now on to installing the main output shaft assembly tonight.
 
Wildcat Walker said:
There is nothing more satisfying than brand new made in Japan bearings being pushed into their working positions.
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Indeed! Excited to get this all together.
 
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