I didnt think about that but hey while you are going to the trouble, what's a little custom tunnel work. They make it look easy on Xtreme 4x4 lol

 

When you have a unlimited amount of sheet metal and 40k in shop equipment/tools then yes it is easy lol

 

Got my transmission last week - a 2001 NV4500 from a Dodge Cummins. About got all my parts... Decided the ax-15 wasn't the way to go after all - needed the adapter plate for $300 plus shipping and if it dies the plate would be useless... Now I just need time to tear into it. Still offering the good running 3.9 for sale if anyone needs one - $500 takes it.

 

One more pesky bolt and my bed is off. Wrong end of the truck, you say? Right, but while I'm working on it I might as well brush off the frame and put a fresh coat of protection on it.
New input shaft in the mail - allows me to bolt up my NPD231D to the NV4500. The last of the serious parts - saves buying new driveshafts to just use my existing transfer case and location - now hopefully it's down to buying nuts and bolts and steel to weld up mounts and such...
Stay tuned!
Patrick

 

Rear of the chassis covered in POR15. We'll see how well that stuff works - used a wire brush and a tiger paw to scuff/remove the old paint then cleaned it with their Marine Clean. As much paint on my hands as on the frame when all was said and done. Tried just using one glove so I'd have a free hand to work with - mistake.
Diesel return line installed in tank.
Rear leaf spring shackle that was rusted in two almost replaced - awaiting a bushing that I ruined taking the old one out. Boy, that was a job!
After that I'm going to reinstall the bed and rear bumper.
Tomorrow I plan to pull the transfer case and swap out the input gear so it'll mate to the output from my NV4500. Then it's swap the trans, fab motor mounts, and install the motor.
Sounds like a couple days work - I kid! We'll see how long it takes but I hope to be done by the first of the year. New baby due on 13 January - no time to work after that!
Patrick

 

Bed back on after replacing leaf spring bushing.
Transfer case pulled and split. Input shaft removed. New shaft installed - partially. Only problem is it's the wrong shaft! Going to try to track down the correct one tomorrow through ManTrans in FL - their tech seemed to know what I was trying to do initially and indicated he'd ship the right part. Hopefully better luck tomorrow...
Next I'm going to try to pull the motor and trans as one unit for simplicity. No use disassembling beyond what I need to - just need to get the thing out of there.
Stay tuned...

 

cant wait

 

Spent the day today getting to the old motor.
Bumper - off.
Hood - off.
Condenser and radiator - out.
Alternator - off for possible reuse.
AC compressor and lines - off for possible reuse.
Fluids from motor and transmission - drained.
Lots of sensors and electrical stuff - disconnected.
Transfer case shift linkage - removed. Back to that in a minute...
Exhaust system - gone.

My transmission is from a 2wd Dodge but from what I can tell it's the same except that the tail section doesn't have threaded holes to attach the transfer case linkage. It has the little posts that are tapped on the 4x4 one so guess what I'll be doing? I'm actually going to be doing a little redesign on the shift linkage so it'll be positioned where I want it since the new tranny is a couple inches longer than the stock one.
Also gotta figure out how to make my alternator work - the PCM controls whether the alternator is running the system but uses a crankshaft position sensor input that isn't going to be on my engine. Going to have to trick the system into thinking it's there... Any ideas?
Talked with the guys at ManTrans in Tallahassee (a shout out for those guys if anyone needs any manual transmission parts) and they got me lined out on the transfer case input shaft issue I was having - it should have shipped with a smaller bearing to replace the one in the OEM case - hence the clearance issue I ran into when I tried to replace my shaft with the new one. In the mail...
Gravity holds the motor in tonight - all bolts are removed. Tomorrow first thing I'll disconnect the fuel lines and the starter wires and pull the thing out of there! Then it's on to cleanup of the engine bay and mockup and install of the new motor and transmission.

 

We all love to see them so pics pics pics!!!

 

^^yea that