Lowering Motor/Trans into bay

[Rusty76]

Oh man what's the trick. Talk about frustrating. First mistake is trying to do this alone. A lot of weight swinging from that hoist. I have new engine mounts and I just cant seem to get it meet up with the brackets.

Does anybody have any tips for this?

Thanks

[Rusty76]

No luck. Gave up and split them up. Engine went in smooth. Looking back probably
didn't have enough angle. Transmission tomorrow.
Thanks

[rang-a-stang]

Ah man. I wish I would have seen this. I did engine/Trans, no xfer case. NO WAY was it happening without my son there. Even then, I have a nice scratch in my freshly painted firewall. I also did it without the front clip on so that made it easier.

If you got your engine in already, you are not going to want to install the trans with the xfer case on it...

Did you post pictures anywhere?

[Rusty76]

It's all good. I didn't manage to take any pictures when I was actually trying to
get the engine/trans in. I could have sworn the frame was bent or something was wrong. Just couldn't get it to line up. After I split them engine went in smooth.
I put the transmission in from down below. It went smooth. Transfer case goes in tomorrow. Man I will be super curious if this big experiment works!

IMG_0338 by , on Flickr
IMG_0339 by , on Flickr

[rang-a-stang]

AWESOME!!! Looks GREAT!!!

I read in another post, you already have dowels to line up your xfer case. a couple other pieces of advice:
1) Install your front drive shaft on the xfer case before you install the case. it is a PITA to bolt the shaft to the yoke when the case is installed
2) Just because you use the dowels to line up your case, does not mean you cannot damage the seals on the input to the case/output of the trans (AMHIK). If you are not going to split the case to install it, use a trans jack or equivalent to support the weight of the case and keep it from touching or dragging on the transmission output shaft.
3) of the 4 or 5 times I have removed/replaced my xfer case, I have always removed the gear reduction unit (GRU). I have read posts from others that have not removed the GRU when removing/replacing the case. There is a large clip that holds a planetary gear set to the trans output shaft that needs to go on and I do not see how you can install that clip with the GRU installed. Also, it is very difficult to line up the trans with the GRU there because it hits the gas tank bracket.
You probably know all this but if you don't, there you go.

P.S. I love your wheels! What are they? Where did they come from?

[Rusty76]

Thanks! I painted the covers a long time ago. Was thinking chevy orange wagonner
but I changed my mind. A little too flashy for me. Going darker brown.

Anyway thanks for the xfer case tips. This was a serious pain and I might as well order a couple new seals... I took off the GRU and threaded the dowels in but the case would not slide on the dowels. I muscled it up on a couple but the dowels wouldn't stay true under the weight. Tried to do my best of getting it on without crushing the seal. Maybe I will get lucky but I'm not holding my breath.
Was using a cheap trans adaptor on my jack. It was pretty useless.

Good news is the engine/trans/xfer are in! Now to figure out whats next and how to do it! haha.. Cant wait just to hear it spark and fire up. (I hope)..

[Rusty76]

Sorry to answer your question Rang the wheels are plain jane 31,10.5 steel.
Looking for some of those sweet jeep center caps.

The tires are called Savero HT2. Lower budget (shocker) tires.

Thanks

[rang-a-stang]

But where did you get them? I like how understated but classy they look. I think they will look amazing with a Jeep centercap.

Are they wrecking yard wheels? If so, from what? Did you just order them? If so, from where?

[Rusty76]

I picked them up from a local shop in Calgary. I'm guessing you can order them in the USA. If you need any info I'm happy yo help.