The Wanderers build

[ExpoMike]

Bummer about the brakes. I hope it all works out. Sadly, I have been in the hot rod/classic car world for a very long time (40 years) and these calipers are about the worst system ever built. Biggest issue is with the e-brake part. After a while, they won't adjust the pads correctly so not only does the e-brake not work, you won't get good performance from the rear brakes as they end up out of adjustment. They were popular for aftermarket use, since they are cheap and uses a simple mounting system (I believe the same as the D52 style front calipers which is a common Chevy type).

 

[superbuickguy]

I agree that they're poorly designed. They are, however, adjustable... however they are not easily adjustable or self-adjusting. The arm is attached to the caliper via a 5 sided bolt - once the e-brakes no longer work, you can remove the arm, clock it counterclockwise one face and your brakes should work again. It is an utter pain but it does work (with the caveat that if you wait too long, it'll be frozen solid so you'll have to take extraordinary measures to get the darn thing to turn).

my biggest issue was the arrogant attitude of the seller. it wouldn't be arrogant if he had assembled the calipers correctly or that his 'instructions' had a picture like this

attached to it. At least in that case, I could have easily seen what was wrong and fixed it... but nope, so he gets hate. There is one other issue as well, the arm on the GM car has the tab turned 90 degrees so it captures the spring. This 'should' work, but I imagine that at some point I'll be fixing it because came apart (which, arguably, it shouldn't but it's not the best it could be).

At some point, I'll post up the t-case brake I did on my FJ40... works better but has issues if you were to ever place it on a vehicle with an open differential (meaning, it wouldn't hold the vehicle in place)

 

[superbuickguy]

for those draining a NV4500... here's the drain plug

time to pull the NP208

hopefully I get a minute to work on this tomorrow.... probably not, but here's to hoping

 

[superbuickguy]

Today's hell... getting thus nut off. Mind you, it being stuck isn't a bad thing, initially they would come off and destroy the transmission. Add to that the 12v Cummins had the death pin and you could get it from either end in those... but GM trucks weren't immune and a lot of the trucks got the t-case dropped then this nut removed and bathed in red locktite.

apparently it needs more then 500* to get it to come apart... ask me how I know... yeah
also, that nut, why the hell couldn't they just put a nut on it rather then the stupid pin thing? why am I ranting? the socket to remove that is $355.95 .... no blanking way... I'd weld a nut to it before I'd do that .... then, the same video I watched on removal of that nut suggested a solution but also mentioned that dimension is 2 3/8 of an inch... so basically the same dimension as hitch material....
first attempt, though, was chopping up a dana axle nut removal socket (it's already hurt, so no loss)

round 2 (after learning about the 2 3/8

round 3, moved the pins to the outside of the tube - that plus 738 degrees = full win

and yes, a bit of grinding to make it work - but not $355.95

what winning looks like

followed by the disappointment that my puller doesn't have enough depth to pull the balancer off
I plan on building a v4.0 to install the new nut that's coming.... but the concept... worked... key, though, is heat
the rear is done, it's plumbed, it has e-brakes...

 

[superbuickguy]

so let's try to make today into some semblance of sense... when we last talked, I had built a nut removal tool that eventually worked.
what I didn't do was pull the balancer off because I didn't have the puller. $21.98 and 100 Chinese children will eat tonight

it worked too... but it took a lot of heat

then it was time to give the output shaft a 5/8" shave

and success (blue tape to minimize crap getting into the trans)

then got dead stopped because someone removed the dowel alignment pins - and the fast way to destroy a transmission and transfer case is to ignore the alignment (for those cheaping out - that housing is from a Dodge version of the NV4500 - Advance adapters simply adapts that housing to the NP205). Careful shopping and you'll probably save $200 in parts buying piecing it together

then into the bulk of my night... 205 rebuild

some of the parts looked fine but since I already have new parts (good parts), I'll replace them like this bearing in the lower cover.

first was take the rest of the assemblies apart to check whether or not they needed replacement
this bit was fine

then pull the other t-case apart to see if it had any parts I needed to replace

sure comes apart quickly when you know what you're doing

sadly, a lot of the parts were junk - however, some good was found

the left one is the good one

and the problem with the other is the teeth are worn where they engaged - which would have allowed the case to pop out of gear.
one of the parts I needed to replace was the rear output shaft.... and no joy, while the other t-case part was in good shape, it's the wrong spline - and this one really matters

but the shift fork was in great shape - thankfully, they interchange - so even if the high range fork is worn, you can use the low range fork (which is the same part number)

interestingly, these were in good shape in the t-case I just took apart

they weren't in the one I'm building... too many jammed gears, I guess
this shaft - see the ridges on what is supposed to be a smooth surface? also the teeth where the ring engaged it was absolutely trashed

anyway, new, updated output shaft is on its way and a bunch of other minor parts... I certainly have plenty to do while waiting for them

 

[superbuickguy]

Back to the 'burb.... still gets a CEL under hard acceleration (and goes out when I pull out of the throttle) - but that's a totally different problem from before. I need to pull codes tomorrow (because the CEL may be a transmission issue).... but in any case, I'm willing to risk it and go to the NW Overland Rally. One final thing is get the freon level checked because it didn't seem to be blowing as cold as normal and I think I was hearing the compressor cycling tonight... but no surging and trying to die. I may still have problems - but it 'should' be okay.

 

[superbuickguy]

parts arrived

first install the dowels

glue in place

new problem.... trans mount....

onto the transfer case... the new shaft arrived... supposed to be quite a bit stronger

verify fitment of the other shift forks... they're not exact, but seem to meet all the critical dimensions

just for the record, the build date for one case is like 1976 the other 1978

 

[Johnston]

Wish I would have known you needed a nv4500 socket. I could have sent you my custom made one.

 

[superbuickguy]

I'm not thrilled there isn't a seal there - but ah well... onward
subassemblies (this time, the output shaft

install seals

needle bearings

bearings and races on the idler

rear output assembly

I hate spring clamps, but am really glad I spent the $70 on a decent spring spreader

front output assembly

test fit... I'm going to have to build a cross member.... what I have is too wide

 

[superbuickguy]

Wish I would have known you needed a nv4500 socket. I could have sent you my custom made one.

no worries, I like playing with fire

 

[superbuickguy]

doing this mod, so storing for later use

 

[superbuickguy]

so that video resulted in this

first fun, install this

installed, and gladly found the notch faced the correct direction

necessary tools

the 'fun' part, installing shift forks

the easy way, pin is installed on the top, shove the rod through the shift fork, then use another drift to hold everything in position while you tap it into place

4x....

alls well that ends

need to get some heavy duty pin style clip installers... ah well, tomorrow

 

[superbuickguy]

time to mark this doneish

getting close to install

oh the joy of balancing a transfer case

and test fitted... needs to come one more time, but close

the problem is I need to take about 1/4" off the output shaft

 

[superbuickguy]

trim and glue
trim

glued

measure for driveshafts

given how fast Tom Woods is, I imagine this will have driveshafts in it Monday night

 

[superbuickguy]

still looks the same

ordered oil yesterday, arrived today
I've found the DEF bottles and their fillers to work great for other things

outside of coolant and freon, that's it for lubes
then got the rear shocks finish mounted