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Jumbo - 97 F350 Project Truck

dustybumpers

don't play well w others
They disabled the negative reps completely
You can't give negative reps anymore.
You can still report the post.....
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And the saga continues...

Once I had the splines figured out, it was on the transmission/transfer case adapter. The adapter took a couple of tries as at first glance the bolt pattern on the transfer case appears to be even – but that is most definitely NOT the case on a BW 4407 transfer case. This was the first attempt.
Rto6610 AdaptermillR.jpgRto6610 Adapterv1R.jpg
On the second attempt I also changed the feet on the adapter to mate with the original rear mount. Some of you may notice that the transfer case shown is not the BW 4407 but instead a BW 1356 (taken from my previous 87 F250). Jumbo was still my daily driver so I borrowed the 1356 to fill in as they both share the same bolt pattern.
Rto6610 adapter v2R.jpgRto 6610 transtransfer R.jpg
 
a double dose...

With the the shaft finished and the transmission/transfer case adapter done it was time to tear into the truck itself. As the truck is the full size crew cab, I took the front seats out and rolled the carpet back to expose the transmission tunnel.
Rto6610 cab R.jpg
Transfer case out of the way.
Rto6610 undertruck R.jpg
And finally back to the engine block.
Rto6610 engine R.jpg
 
This 5 picture limit is kind of a bugger.

Ford's transmission tunnel wasn't exactly designed for a SAE #2 flywheel housing. The flywheel housing did not fit initially, but hey that is what a sawsall is for. And before anyone asks... I did consider a body lift to clear the transmission. However, then I would have to mess with the bed as well, which would also require modifications to the B&W Hide a Ball hitch I installed in the bed.
Rto6610 flywheel house R .jpgRto6610 1st .jpgRto6610 flywheel house1 R.jpg
First time I hoisted the transmission into place I did so without the flywheel and clutch in the way. I had to extend the engine hoist a bit :).
Rto6610 hoist trans R.jpg
 
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While I was at it I figured a few upgrades to the petal support were in order. My calculations for the clutch petal forces indicated that there would be a little more pressure involved. Plastic bushings?? Whose bright idea was that? I wish I had a before picture of the worn out pins and linkages.. it was bad. I’m actually amazed that the truck was still shifting as well as it was. Bronze looks a lot better in there.
Rto6610 petal bracket 1 R.jpgRto6610 petal bracket R.jpg
With the transmission mounted it was time for more sawsall surgery again. In order to maintain approximately the same drive line pathway the transmission hump needed a 2 inch lift at the back end. Cut lines for surgery..
Rto6610 Cab cut1 R.jpgRto6610 cab cut2 R.jpg
Free at last..
Rto6610 2nd cut R.jpg
 
Transmission in its final placement, the transfer case fit just right. Top of the transfer case still cleared the cab frame work by about 1.5 inches.
Rto6610 trans fitting R.jpg
As luck would have it there were six holes already in the frame right were I could use them to support the new rear mount. New rear mount tack welded and ready for test fitting.
Rto6610 mount 1 R.jpgRto6610 rear mount R.jpgRto6610 mount 2 R.jpg
Back up front.. not enough room for the throw out arm.. well as always a sawsall is a mans best friend :devil:.
Rto6610 3rd cut R.jpg
 
If you have particular questions please ask. :)
 

dustybumpers

don't play well w others
Doug, he's using your favorite tool..... a sawzaw......
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Yep done with a good ol' Milwaukee (though I do own a Dewalt now as well).
 
Time for exhaust work.. The prior owner of the truck put a 3 inch round exhaust in the truck which didn’t fit with the new flywheel housing. I lost a little over 0.5 inches^2 of area going to the oval exhaust, but it did fit between the body and transmission without any additional massaging (prior owner had done some sawzall/hammer massaging to fit the 3 inch exhaust). Curving the oval lines around the flywheel housing and transmission proved to be a test of patience (cut, tack, cut, take a tooth or 2 out of my bandsaw blade smiliecrybaby, tack repeat..).
Rto6610 exhaust R.jpgRto6610 exhaust 1 R.jpgRto6610 exhaust lower R.jpg
As I had the back of the engine exposed, I figured I’d add bungs to each of the up-pipes for the addition of 2 thermocouples (one per side) to monitor pre-turbo EGTs. I'll cover the setup that handles the thermocouples in a later post as it is the latest feature. The Tee also allows me to watch the exhaust pressure driving the turbo.
Rto6610 ports R.jpg
 
With the exhaust down pipe fitted I started in on the final assembly. A new flywheel, commercial clutch and pressure plate ready to fit. Sure looks nice in there. This is a 14 inch clutch btw.
Rto6610 flywheel R.jpgRto6610 pressure plate R.jpgRto6610 flywheel install 1 R.jpgRto6610 clutch R.jpg
 
With the clutch and flywheel in place getting the transmission back in was a bit trickier.. with the exhaust down pipe dangling and the engine tilted down as far as I could get it, I managed to slide the transmission up and into place. I used 3 10 inch long 3/8 bolts with the heads removed as guides. I really (and I mean REALLY) dislike the plastic friction plate centering tool (next time I do this I’ll go buy a spare input shaft to use as the centering tool) as the first try I couldn’t get the transmission to line up with the pilot bearing. After about an hour and a half of fighting the alignment in the cold I got the bright idea to lean on the clutch throw out arm to pull the clutch in.. As soon as the pressure came off and the friction plate was allowed to slip, the housings came together and I was in business. As my transmission to transfer case adapter makes bolting the 2 together difficult I pre-assembled them prior to mating the transmission to the engine (sorry no pictures.. my photographer didn’t want to join me in the freezing cold – this happened during Thanksgiving 2018 in Northern Utah). After raising the transmission into position I added the new rear member and bolted it all together. I also put the original rear member back in as extra insurance.
Rto6610 final install 1 R.jpgRto6610 final install R.jpgRto6610 final install 2 R.jpg
 
Sorry to keep ya'll in suspense...

I have to apologize for lack of pictures in this next section.. I actually did most of the work described here much earlier in the process – long before I put the transmission in the truck. I knew when I started that the Eaton shift tower was going to be too tall and too far back. In my initial guesstimates I figured the shift tower would end up 5 to 7 inches behind the original position. So after taking some careful measurements and sketching the Eaton tower up I started to change the pivot point until I had a reasonable compromise between a reduced height tower and how much “swing” I would have at the top of the shift lever. As my new idea didn’t work with the original tower parts, I designed my own gimble and a friend with a cnc lathe machined a new finger to mate with the shift forks.
Rto6610 shift finger 1 R.jpgRto6610 shift finger R.jpgRto6610 shift gimble R.jpgRto6610 shift gimble 1 R.jpg
A shot of the new shift tower bolted to the transmission.
Rto6610 shift tower R.jpg
 
The fellow I bought the transmission from picked up a vertical lever/shift tower for me when I drove up to purchase the transmission. As that wasn’t going to work I cut it all up (and down) beat it up with my press and welded it back together as a shortened 90 degree tower.
Rto6610 shift lever R.jpgRto6610 shift lever2 R.jpgRto6610 trans hump R.jpg
 
On to the clutch setup.. Typically these transmissions are hooked up with a mechanical linkage, although I have seen a hydraulic setup that bolts to the bottom of the bellhousing on ebay. After digging around under the hood I decided that it might be easier to keep the hydraulic system verses trying to come up with a set of rods and pivots to maneuver the linkage around all the lines, electrical and chassis parts that were in the way. My first attempt was a disaster.. I had measured the bore and stroke of both the master cylinder and slave in order to calculate the correct offsets for the various parts of the clutch linkage. The lever arm on the transmission itself required a linear move of about 2.2 inches to disengage the clutch and squeeze the clutch brake. A little math and here is the first linkage.
Rto6610 slave fit1 R.jpg
All mounted and ready to go.
Rto6610 slave fit2 R.jpgRto6610 slave fit3 R.jpgRto6610 slave fit4 R.jpg
 

dustybumpers

don't play well w others
I am sooo impressed

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