1978 Russet Metallic 4x4

[buffydores]

I'm not interested in going through the hassle. I want to know why it's clocked. I don't think it was an accident. Either it was the rebuilder or mechanic. Just want to know if there was a good reason for the change. But I'm not jacking with taking it back. That housing is designed to be clocked for different situations. Previously the output was way up high. It's just not a big deal.

[buffydores]

The NP203 transfer case showed a leak at the speedo cable. I unscrewed the cable and then the sleeve, and of course the speedo gear comes to see me.



The problem appears to be the sleeve. There's an internal o-ring like scrubber that seals around the shaft of the speedo gear. A new sleeve is AC Delco Part #326561. It's a discontinued part, so I'll have to get one mailed to me. If you look at the second picture, you can see the groove inside the sleeve where the scrubber seal goes. Mine was non-existent.

[buffydores]

I talked to the rebuilder. Apparently, that is a new rear output housing. And not surprisingly, they're not all the same. As a confirmation of the correct installation, the breather tube is indeed mounted up high on the housing. Now I just have to wait a few days to get the sleeve. I went ahead and ordered two sleeves because the seal tends to wear out, and I don't want to try to hunt one of these down ten years down the road.

[buffydores]

Here's the plaque installed. Lighting sucks in the garage.



And backed up so you can see the sticks.

[phillipm]

Looking killer! Thanks for sharing the pics.

[buffydores]

The rear armrest is a nice spot for the fire extinguisher:



ARB Fridge Freezer nice and securish:

[phillipm]

Man the Fridge is cool but takes up so much room! Are they carrying your luggage for you on this adventure?

[buffydores]

Originally Posted by phillipm

Man the Fridge is cool but takes up so much room! Are they carrying your luggage for you on this adventure?

All I need is my canvas duffle. All my other gear is packed in the various compartments. But indeed, they do have a luggage vehicle. This is what the back will look like while driving. The cooler is carrying valuable alcoholic treats and other tasty morsels that warrant valuable real estate. There's also the back seat for soft gear if needed. I'm still waiting on my sleeve. I'm not terribly patient. I'm driving it hard next week and then onto the trailer the following Sunday.

Update....sleeve is in. I'll pick it up a little later and get it installed. Heading down south tomorrow with my boys to fish for specs and reds. We're pumped.

[buffydores]

So I buttoned everything up and found another leak at the rear seal to the transfer case. Apparently, no one took the time to actually press the seal in. So after a little wrenching and hammering, all the leaks are addressed. Now I'm just driving it as much as I can over the next few days and then looking over everything over and over again.

I just purchased a fancy VIAIR 400P Automatic Air Compressor for tire refill duty. I don't want to be the guy waiting on support trucks to transition me back to the road.

Besides my final selection of hand tools and supplies, I think we're close.

[buffydores]

Again, I admit, I'm a novice at prepping for overland adventure. The organizers apparently have a whole support staff of trucks and mechanics coming, so technically, I don't need anything. But.....that just doesn't feel right. If I can handle most basic stuff, I'm not gonna act like I've been neutered of ability and rely on somebody to show up. That would be throwing away part of the fun of back country adventure. So above are my basics. It's not all of my stuff, but most of the hand tools. Chime in with any opinions on the matter. I'm all ears.

No leaks have showed up. I'll keep pushing it. While testing the brakes, looks like I don't have enough clamp to lock them up. Any ideas there. They're good, just not enough to lock. They also pull a little right with full pressure, so I suppose my left brake line is showing it's age.

[phillipm]

Originally Posted by buffydores

Again, I admit, I'm a novice at prepping for overland adventure. The organizers apparently have a whole support staff of trucks and mechanics coming, so technically, I don't need anything. But.....that just doesn't feel right. If I can handle most basic stuff, I'm not gonna act like I've been neutered of ability and rely on somebody to show up. That would be throwing away part of the fun of back country adventure. So above are my basics. It's not all of my stuff, but most of the hand tools. Chime in with any opinions on the matter. I'm all ears.

No leaks have showed up. I'll keep pushing it. While testing the brakes, looks like I don't have enough clamp to lock them up. Any ideas there. They're good, just not enough to lock. They also pull a little right with full pressure, so I suppose my left brake line is showing it's age.

Like you said, since they'll have people there too I'd just bring things that may be either unique to your truck, or things that you'd just feel comfortable knowing you've got. For the brakes I'd normally say you're probably not going to be going fast enough for it to matter, however if the traffic line is close together that could be bad!

[buffydores]

Originally Posted by phillipm

Like you said, since they'll have people there too I'd just bring things that may be either unique to your truck, or things that you'd just feel comfortable knowing you've got. For the brakes I'd normally say you're probably not going to be going fast enough for it to matter, however if the traffic line is close together that could be bad!

I adjust my driving patterns to the performance of the vehicle. So wide berths for me.

Also, after running it about fifty miles, I started to bleed transfer case fluid like a stuck pig. It took me awhile looking at it with the good folks at Foreign & Classic today to figure it out. It was the improper clocking of the rear output housing. Here's what I think was happening. Because it was clocked, the air vent tube was not directly on top of the housing. As the housing filled up with oil, the air vent hole would get submerged in fluid. Now the air couldn't escape. As things warmed up the air expands creating pressure on the fluid pressing the fluid up the vent tube or out the seal or the sleeve. Since oil was being refreshed into that part of the housing, the oil level didn't lower to where the air could escape, so it would keep pushing oil out. So, we clocked the rear housing to where I remembered it, and lo and behold, the vent is pointing straight up and we're no longer bleeding oil. Feels good.

The twin stick starts to rattle a bit at speed, so I'm gonna piece together an isolater that will also prevent inadvertent shifts of the 4x4 levers.

[buffydores]

I made this little isolator with my orange HDPE I had leftover from the tailgate. This does two things: (1) prevents unintended transfer case shifts (2) eliminates rattles from the shift levers. It's a little obnoxious, but it works perfectly. I hate rattles. It pops right in and out.

[buffydores]

Lookie there. Properly clocked output housing.



I can't reiterate enough what fun this thing is to drive. It takes things like train track crossings like a dream. We're ready to go folks. I'm gonna park it tonight and start detailing in preparation for the haul on Sunday.

[phillipm]

Originally Posted by buffydores

Lookie there. Properly clocked output housing.



I can't reiterate enough what fun this thing is to drive. It takes things like train track crossings like a dream. We're ready to go folks. I'm gonna park it tonight and start detailing in preparation for the haul on Sunday.

So he didn't have it on right, or this way just works as well?

[buffydores]

Originally Posted by phillipm

So he didn't have it on right, or this way just works as well?

They didn't put it on right. Super easy to fix. This way, the air vent points straight up and releases air pressure no matter the oil level. This is how it was designed. He had never had this problem reported to him. I'm not exactly sure why. The best I can figure is that my high speedo cable configuration, as a late production NP203, was not nearly as common as the earlier NP203. And in fact, my later model NP203 is generally stronger with the heavier differential carrier(instead of the stamped carrier) and chain setup. Perhaps he sees very few of these, even with his extensive experience.

I've since looked at a whole bunch of examples of NP203s installed on the trucks. Apparently, my rear output housing was native to the last two years. Before that, the speedo cable exited near the bottom pointing out towards the driver's side. Pretty exposed. The '78s and '79s look like mine, nice and high, out of the way.

[aggie91]

Glad to see you got it figured out. Maybe after your adventure you can dress up the "Stick Holder"...

[buffydores]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Glad to see you got it figured out. Maybe after your adventure you can dress up the "Stick Holder"...

Thanks Karl. I might round off the edges more. Originally I considered attaching some of my orange pyramid rubber, but after making it in HDPE, I was satisfied with the simplicity.

Ran into one last issue. The fuel nozzle was ejecting as the tank topped off. The vent hose was too small. Fixing that in the morning.

[buffydores]

And so it begins.....



Still need to add some straps over the top.



Final assortment of gear. "Help me Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville Cordless Blender, you're my only hope." I think that's how the Star Wars quote goes.

[68Timber]

I thought a little bit of gear-stick rattle when you let off the gas was part of the charm? Congrats on getting it sorted and prepped for the trail, looking forward to the pictures!

[phillipm]

Man I'd be worried the flapping of any part of that tarp would do more damage than driving it across the interstate...

[buffydores]

Yep. Me too. It has a padded car cover underneath. Too late now.

As an update, it arrived safe in Scottsdale. There was some minor paint rubbing on the leading edge of the hood that I'll buff out with my orbital, but that's it. On the way home, it's traveling uncovered. It will be dirty. No need to protect dirt or let it get rubbed in like sandpaper.

[buffydores]

I'm just counting the days waiting to get this started on Saturday........

[aggie91]

Enjoy your trip. Take plenty of pictures so that we can be jealous of the fun you had!

[buffydores]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Enjoy your trip. Take plenty of pictures so that we can be jealous of the fun you had!

Will do, Karl.