Build Family haulin'

[boots4]

weekly update

Yet another weekend of random small projects all contributing to the bigger picture.

I got two packages last week.

This is the insulation stuff I am going to try that I got from http://www.secondskinaudio.com. The top bottle is the called spectrum firewall (heat insulation) and the tub is spectrum spray which is the sound insulation. I also grabbed a spray gun to put it on. The initial plan is to coat the firewall and underside of the tranny tunnel with the firewall product and coat the inside of the cruiser with the spray product. Both have rust inhibiting properties.

In the other box was my 203 to splitcase adapter. It comes nicely packaged.

Splitcase side of adapter

203 side of the adapter

New output (203)/input (splitcase) shaft on the left, old shaft on the right, and the bearing retainer and gear reused from the 203 case.

The 203 bearing retainer fits into the this spot. It was a little too tight so i ended up lightly sanding the bearing retainer housing until it fit into the adapter snuggly. The minimal instructions also said to remove that tab on the bearing retainer but there was a cutout for it in the adapters so I left it.

Now it fits

The shaft is installed and I ended up replacing that bearing. Napa wanted $59 for it but I found a bearing house and they had one for $29 so I went with the bearing house.

The doubler is assembled. You can see the access plate that I made. I just need to tap the hole for a fill plug and paint it.

Shifter side, the adapter comes with a hole and fitting for a breather

The kit comes with a sealed bearing to separate the two cases. There are two bearings in a row, one on the adapter and one on the bearing retainer of the 203.

Tranny side with the shaft retainer bolted on. Those allen head screws are too tall and are bottoming on the 4L80e 4x4 adapter so I'll have to look for something slimmer to replace those screws.

 

[boots4]

Replaced the front spring hangers I made with new ones. I spaced them out to account for the width between the shackles on the rear of the spring. I also scooted them forward just a tad since I didn't get them as far forward as I would have liked the first time. I just tacked them on this time and will weld them on later.

Before

After

I'll put some gussets on them for additional support.

After I kept thinking about it I decided to just rebuild the turbo now while the engine is on the stand. I ended up taking off the starter, exhaust manifold and turbo. It will make it easier to clean up the block so I can paint it.

Painted and baked my exhaust manifold. I thought the paint was silver and not wanna-be chrome, but since I started it I guess I'll just use it. It's 1200 degree stuff so it might last for a couple of months.

Painted the wastegate accuator while I was at it.

Wire brushed the block heater.

Trying to get the turbine housing off the turbo. I'll soak it this week with some PB blaster while I'm at work and hopefully it will come apart this weekend.

Wife's been great letting me work on my stuff outside while she watches the kids and makes sure I eat something during the day. She'll be happy to have another car once this is back on the road.

 

[Kavik]

Hell yes! Great pics and info.

 

[boots4]

Hell yes! Great pics and info.

Thanks. Once I get to drilling the 203 for the 4x4 adapter, hopefully I'll be able to completely answer your question 1 or 2 pages back about hooking up the 203 to the tranny. I read on your thread you have all your parts together for your repower plan. When are you planning on putting all that in?

 

[Tapage]

Wife's been great letting me work on my stuff outside while she watches the kids and makes sure I eat something during the day. She'll be happy to have another car once this is back on the road.

Your wife really loves you ..

 

[Kavik]

Thanks. Once I get to drilling the 203 for the 4x4 adapter, hopefully I'll be able to completely answer your question 1 or 2 pages back about hooking up the 203 to the tranny. I read on your thread you have all your parts together for your repower plan. When are you planning on putting all that in?

I'm ironing out my spring over right now. I really want to get some wheeling in before I start pulling it apart again. I'm also trying to find an extra split case so I can build the new set up in the garage before the teardown.

Keep up the good work!

 

[GreasedPiggy]

"Trying to get the turbine housing off the turbo. I'll soak it this week with some PB blaster while I'm at work and hopefully it will come apart this weekend. "

I just got my Turb housing separated from the Bearing housing. Mine was WELDED (it seemed like it). I used PB Blaster both outside and IN. Twice a day, everyday. On the Sixth week (no joke) it came apart fairly easily...

...I quietly celebrated in my workshop


Great build! keep it up!

Best Regards,
George

 

[boots4]

I just got my Turbo housing separated from the Bearing housing. Mine was WELDED (it seemed like it). I used PB Blaster both outside and IN. Twice a day, everyday. On the Sixth week (no joke) it came apart fairly easily...

Just curious, did you just spray liberally inside? Or did you take off one of the wheels so you could see inside to spray? Thanks, I'll be prepared to do something else since it sounds like one week won't be enough time for soaking.

 

[Eskimo]

Lubrication Engineers (LE) makes a penetrating oil that spanks the s*** out of PB blaster, and I was a PB fan prior to using this.

 

[boots4]

Lubrication Engineers (LE) makes a penetrating oil that spanks the **** out of PB blaster, and I was a PB fan prior to using this.

That's funny, I just quoted you on another thread. Any more info on that magical stuff?

 

[redcorn]

www.kanolabs.com
Kroil is amazing too

 

[GreasedPiggy]

Yeah, I heard of Kroil and LE and would much rather use that stuff but the PB Blaster was what they had on the shelves at the moment. I've heard of guys separating the housing in just a couple of days. I think mine was the worst case, the PB stuff did work though.

Also, I bought a gallon of kerosene at the hardware store to break up the carbon on the inside of the housing . I soaked the whole unit in a bucket. 2 weeks of that and it was still WELDED. A bunch of carbon chunks came out though, so I knew I could spray PB on the inside joint.

I shot the PB into the housing using the red sprayer straw. And just tilted it around then put it back into my huge vise and would go to work. Then later, I'd shoot it again, and also give it a few test wacks. Hammer didn't work. My deadblow hammer did nothing. I used my mini-sledge (bigger BFH) and hit it all around. DON'T crack the cast housing!

Tip: you also have the Holset so be sure to leave the retainers bolted in place but a little loose. This will keep the Turb hsg from flying off and bending your turbo shaft. That thing is DELICATE! Do not bend.

So about 6 weeks later, I routinely wacked the housing and all of a sudden, I could see a micro-budge. Flipped it and hit the other side.

Then, it just slipped off. Super happy but kinda disappointed...

I almost could not believe I WON!I was soo pissed before.

(I'm in my happy place now).

Now I can rebuild and plan to rotate to align with my custom manifold

Good Luck. Yours may come off right away...

 

[boots4]

Thanks for the info Greasedpiggy, I'll put the retaining bolts back in and get some kerosene. Are you documenting this anywhere? On 4btswaps maybe?

 

[GreasedPiggy]

I have just about acquired every major part. I am just starting to clean up each and yes, I'm taking photos.

I plan to show the build here once it gets more serious...

...until then I enjoy watching and learning from other members.

 

[HI^C]

did you test fit trans to engine ? th400 you pulled is a BOP pattern which is wierd thought all were chevy pattern.
suppose you could have a dual drilled adapter.

a518 to 203, or 47rh to 203 are easy bolt ins no electronics, rh lockup converter with three wires, dodge bell adapter only item needed, takes same
doubler adapter. 203 from 727 which is everywhere. all swapable. built to handle anything you want the through at at it, billet parts in the rh is puller and drag diesels use ( same 727 stuff ). havent done it myself but options.

did you reclock the 203 ? trans and 4bt is degree mounted, punching your own holes in the 203 allow you to run sqaured up, or clock up flat

 

[boots4]

did you test fit trans to engine ? th400 you pulled is a BOP pattern which is wierd thought all were chevy pattern.
suppose you could have a dual drilled adapter.

a518 to 203, or 47rh to 203 are easy bolt ins no electronics, rh lockup converter with three wires, dodge bell adapter only item needed, takes same
doubler adapter. 203 from 727 which is everywhere. all swapable. built to handle anything you want the through at at it, billet parts in the rh is puller and drag diesels use ( same 727 stuff ). havent done it myself but options.

did you reclock the 203 ? trans and 4bt is degree mounted, punching your own holes in the 203 allow you to run sqaured up, or clock up flat

I thought about the dodge trannys but decided on the 4L80e since my 4bt came with the chevy adapter, which does have two patterns. I've eliminated the electronics from the 4L80e so it too needs no computer, just my arm for shifting manually. I am going to wire my lock-up to a button (location undecided) and idiot light to give me efficiency and provide me with downhill braking in any gear. I've got the tech manual for the 4L80e to help me. The output on the 4L80e is 32 spline and the internals are compared to the turbo 400 so it should be pretty strong. I think more of these tranny's will be used in future projects who want a strong overdrive. If the computer control units decrease in price (like other technologies) that will make these pretty attractive.

The chevy adapter on the back of the 4bt along with the motor mounts give it the tilt, the tranny stays level. The main reason I will clock my case is to get the front drive shaft to clear the tranny if needed but I'll need to get that in the chassis before I commit to drilling new holes in the 203. The allen head bolts on the bearing retainer on the front of the 203 case are a little too tall for the 4x4 adapter that came with my tranny so I will need to find shorter ones to get the adapter mounting surfaces flush.

 

[boots4]

weekly update

Family help is all gone and we have the house back to ourselves. We were greatful for the help but it's nice to get back to our routine. We've had visitors for the last 5 weeks.

I got out the turbo and swung the hammer at it a couple of times but no luck so far. Fortunately the UPS guy knocked on the door this weekend and dropped off this:

A rebuild kit for my splitcase plus some other stuff I picked up from Kurt from cruiseroutfitters. Good guy and fast delivery. So with the turbo soaking I got started on the TC rebuild and getting it attached to my 203 doubler. I started with the front half and after getting the front output taken care of (seals, bearings) I attached to the adapter.

Here's the adapter sandwiched.

Replaced all bearings and put the gears on. Getting the bearings off the output shaft wasn't easy but getting it all back together wasn't hard.

I found some plugs at a local hardware store and the plug was just big enough. I filled the hole with the RTV silicone I've been using and tapped it in.

You can see the bigger picture of the hole I plugged. It's right underneath where the input and intermediate gears meet.

Test fit the back cover to get things lined up. Had to figure out how to line up the 2 to 4wd shifter shaft on the shifting fork. I got it cleared and then it slipped into spot.

Tested all shifters, rotated parts, and then torqued it all together. I thought I'd test fit the combo. Findings: Looks like the front drive shaft will clear the tranny pan (plus it will be angled down whereas it's level in the pic) with the 203 pretty much straight up and down (no clocking), the output shaft on the tranny is bottoming in the input of the 203 before the 4x4 adapter it flush so I'll need to trim that.

My splitcase was pretty dirty. I pressure washed it but 22 years of grime didn't come off. I tried a wire brush wheel and while that worked it couldn't get into everything so I ended up using some degreaser and a green scott pad and it cleaned up pretty quick.

 

[Eskimo]

You totally eliminated the computer control from a 4L80E? There are more than a few people who would be VERY interested in that...

 

[redcorn]

You are unravelling so many of issues and mysteries for me on this build!
Thanks.

Your front driveshaft may have to be flipped end for end to eliminate the factory crossmember..


Great work and documentation!

john

 

[Tapage]

You can make a new custom cross member ..