No, now I get all the freaking bolts I'm missing and stuff. Then I'll lube the mess out of it haha

 

!st off, I don't cut the corners square, I leave the little radius. If you cut the hole square, at the 90 degree corner you make a stress riser and after awhile you risk starting a crack there. Just round off the corners of the cover to fit w/ a file or grinder...
To bend the cover ina vise, insert in vise with the desired axis, ie at whatever angle seems to best fit the direction of the bend you want. You can then place the block of wood against the cover and bend it straight across the cover, tapping and repositioning as required, and/or clamp a piece of 2X4 long enough to have sufficient leverage and twist the cover to until you gain the shape you need. It takes a little practice, but it's not rocket science. If you need a dish shape, set up a square/rectangle of 2X4's, making a open space in the middle, place the cover over the opening, grind/sand a radius end the approx shape of what you need on the end of a piece of 2X4...and get your 2lb hammer and bang away. Start easy and work your way up hitting harder and harder. Though, not to worry, it'll bend back if you if you go too far.

I know it's alot of words and sounds kinda confusing, once you start in on it, it'll get more clear.

On the topic of holes and cracks, sharp cornered cut-outs lead to cracking. If you find cracks, drill a 1/4" hole at the end of the crack, de-burr and guuber it shut w/a dab of silicone. Unless, you have a mig/tig welder. In which, case weld away, grind flush, paint and WarLar...thatz as close to french as I can get...no offense to any Frenchmen out there...
Good luck!

 

Sweet! Well Danny is cutting that sheet metal for me because he always has that kind of hook up! But the shaping I'll do obviously because he can't for me. Today I'm running to the hardware store to find the missing bolts etc. And I think I am going to strip my carpets because well I mean they are nasty anyways.

 

It appears that you are missing the rubber boot that goes witht eh metal plate on the top portion ( I believe you referred to it as a reducer)... Mine had a boot that sealed the top from water and dirt... Possibly you could find something workable at a farn (tractor) store... Just bring the metal plate with you for sizing the base part of it... Just a thought...

 

The one that goes under the foam stuff that you have to drill the rivets out of? Because i have that.

 

I HAVE MADE TWO DIFFERENT PROTOTYPES SO FAR. ONE WITH A PIANO HINGE ATTACHED AND ANOTHER ONE THAT WILL JUST SIT RIGHT OVER THE EXISTING GROUND STUD THAT IS ALREADY THERE.

The second one is made to wrap over the edge from the top of the tranny tunnel to the left side where you cut the hole. I took my time on the second one and it has the sides nicely formed and rolled and the corners I radiused with a bench grinder.

Give me a call this afternoon or tomorrow and I will get them to you.

 

Hey guys so I got my shifter working and it put all back together. I came across another problem though. After attaching the clamp to the spline, then the shifter to the transfercase, then the linkage, I found out the distance between the bottom of the linkage and the yoke was off and I could not get the C-Link on. After some fiddling I got it on but I could only activate (lock) the CDL and not unactivate (unlock) it. When the lever is pushed to the left the yoke goes right which locks the CDL but when I push the lever to the right the yoke does not go far enough to unlock the CDL. I ended up having to bend the linkage in different ways to achieve unlock and lock when the lever is in the right and left positions respectively. It's not an issue really now but I just wanted to see if you guys had any input as to why? I do have to kind of pull the shifter harder to the right than the left to unlock but not by much. Also, I don't have to put the CDL in the Neutral position to shift into the locked position. I can be in Hi or Low and I just throw the lever to the left and it locks. Is that normal? Remember my shifter never worked before so I'm not really sure.

 

Did you make sure the spline was as far as it could go out of the box when attaching the clamp?

 

If I understand what you are asking, the CDL is supposed to function regardless of whether the tranny is in N or any gear and at any speed.

The HI/LOW function will only shift with the tranny in N and less than a slow roll.

In th pics in my photo link I took multiple pics of the top section in each position.

Yours may not be fully moving yet if it was frozen in place really bad in that top box section.

Also keep in mind that someone had been in there before you and they may have bent something, screwed up some piece or something of that nature.

I would say you have made a lot of great progress though.

I packed up a USPS medium sized flat rate box for you. I will try to send it Monday.

 

Yeah the spline was fully out as far as possible. There was a small gas in between the spline and the flat edge of the base of the shifter so I KNOW it was as fully extended as possible (there was an o-ring on the spline that was fraying so I took it off, I think the o-ring was supposed to fit against the flat and the spline). I mean it works now, just the linkage is bent funny to make it work. I need a new **** though, the inner threading was stripped on accident and it twirls when it's on the lever.