231/Dana 300 Doubler Build

[2Greys]

Nothing much other than did the following:
- routed new vent lines for both transfer cases and raised them up to the height of the cowl. The stock 231 vent line stops about halfway up the engine. Need to get another 1-way valve (anyone got one?).
- swapped out old input shaft for new longer shaft from Novak
- cleaned up new 231 shifter plate.

Got an email from NWF, they should be receiving the new cables early next week according to the tracking number.

 

[junkpile]

It seems like you've been waiting on those cables for so long you could actually have sh!t them out by now! Jeebus! Your patience is astounding

 

[2Greys]

Not so much patience and more of not having a choice. I also priced out the equivalent from another vendor and just 1 cable is over $100 US. That was in my back pocket just in case it was going to be longer. I do have two of them so it isn't slowing me down now.
Right now my fear is that I noticed yesterday that there may be interference between the back plate of the 231 and the front output housing and it may not allow me to get the Dana 300 clocked flat, it may end up clocked low which would introduce interference between the shifter bracket on the 300 and the skid. To fix this I have two choices:
1. Cut a slot in the skid to allow the small amount of bracket that would be touching to go inside it. The concern with this is that it would undermine the structural integrity of the skid
2. Rotate the 231 a little more towards the passenger side but the catch with this is it would mean I would have to probably move the exhaust which is not a small endeavor and I would also have to redo the shifter bracket on the 231 as the lever would have moved compared to the bolts.

 

[2Greys]

Got the shifters in

I quickly (in relative terms) realized the Novak Dana 300 cover makes it really tall. I am going to see if the stock cover fits.
Anyone want the new cover? It increases the amount of fluid you can fit in assuming you are passenger drop. $100 assuming I can't get it to fit.

 

[junkpile]

Shifters look great, far enough forward that you won't hit your knee on them, but easy to reach. The shifter knob at far right, are you planing anything or just leave it as is?

 

[mucovich]

Looks great!!

 

[2Greys]

Shifters look great, far enough forward that you won't hit your knee on them, but easy to reach. The shifter knob at far right, are you planing anything or just leave it as is?

Thanks, I may actually end up switching the middle for the far left depending on how much it interferes with my knee. I usually do the right knee over when driving but we shall see once I have the seats and console back in. The far right of the three shifters is the one that will be hooked up to the 231 so I can go from low to super low

 

[junkpile]

I assumed by the engraved knobs that the left was the 300, the center for the 231, and the right shifted the 300 from 2 to 4wd, and I wondered why the right knob was also engraved H & L

 

[2Greys]

One of the benefits of the Dana 300 is that unlike the 231 the outputs are individually controlled by two shift rods. By default from the manufacturer they are attached together so when you shift one the other follows suit but by removing a plate between the two rods and getting a dual shifter kit you can individually control the outputs giving you options like Rwd lo and FWD hi and lo. Once done the cables come out the back of the shifter box I just mounted and the 300 shifters will go straight back over the 300, down the back of it and then head forward as the shift rods used to on top of the front output but since it is now flipped it sits underneath. The 231 which is the right one will immediately do a 180, go over the transmission and then another 180 to attach to the 231 shift lever. Hope that makes sense it should be a bit clearer shortly

 

[Kunker]

If that's a bit confusing, basically for the D300, you have a shifter for each output, front and rear. The one that's just H/L would be the 231 range box in front.

 

[junkpile]

Gotcha! I forgot all about that. Billavista had a similar set up that I read about a while back, split shifting a Dana 20 giving front dig-ability.

 

[2Greys]

Put in the whole thing this time with the stock cover for the Dana 300 and it is... close. I put it in and realized I had interference on the driver side (literally right in front of the passenger side rear bolt hole for the driver side seat) so I pulled it off and massaged the tub. Put it back on and still too close. Unlike the 231 I can't box it in as the way the rear leg of the seat is would be right there (maybe I can modify that one leg?). The good news is I have about 2" of clearance between the shifter bracket on the 300 and the skid plate so I pulled it out yet again, took the 231 off and clocked the 231 plate.
Tomorrow evening will try once again.
Think to always keep in mind is I am trying to squeeze it in a jeep with a tummy tuck that sticks about 3/4" below the frame rail while a stock TJ usually is around 2" so it isn't surprising how tight it is.

Also measured the distances for the drive shafts
Rear (flange to flange): 18"
Front (yoke center to yoke center) 45"

Oh, I see a snag I may hit involving the rear crossmember and the exhaust. Need to think about that...

 

[mucovich]

getting close! all the headaches will be worth it in the end!

 

[junkpile]

I wonder would a small engine lift net the clearance you need for the 300? Crazy?

 

[2Greys]

Unfortunately I already have one and usually it justs changes the angle on the tc output. It was actually one of the first things I did when I got the jeep as I thought I had some vibes due to pinion angle.in reality it was one of my stock motor mounts was failing

I wonder would a small engine lift net the clearance you need for the 300? Crazy?

 

[2Greys]

Latest snag is the driver side of the Dana 300 and the tub.

The back plate for the 231 has holes in it to clock the Dana 300 however moving it from one hole to another results in a change of about 1.75" at the driver side. At the lower hole there is about 1/2" between the shifter bracket on the Dana 300 and the skid plate and maybe a bit less than an inch between the tub and top of the Dana 300. I need more room than that underneath and more room up top due to any kind of rotational torque so it will have to go closer to the tub and boxed in. The only issue is the seat is located pretty close to it and there will be interference. I think I may be able to get away with putting the seats on about a 1/2" spacer.

 

[2Greys]

Had to do some more clearancing between the hole in the post above forward to the hole for the shifters. Reason was for the yoke on the 300 just hitting.
Will need to put the seat up on about a 1" spacer to clear the box for the Dana 300. Probably order some small pieces of steel from Loucon. Pretty much need about 20" of 2"x1" plate for both seats (don't need to do passenger but might as well make it match).
Ran out of gas so I won't be able to touch this until at least Tuesday. Definitely won't be ready for next weekend.

 

[2Greys]

Pretty simple. Driver side is boxed in

There is oodles of room but it means I need to do something about the seat. I was going to put spacers under it and instead decided to build a new seat bracket. I looked at the Corbeau ones and they look pretty simple to copy. Since the slider is part of the seat itself I will just be losing the tumble perspective but I still have the passenger side.

There is light at the end of the tunnel I just need to find the time and there hasn't been a lot recently with recent life changes

 

[mucovich]

Almost there!

 

[Kunker]

There is light at the end of the tunnel I just need to find the time and there hasn't been a lot recently with recent life changes

I hear you on that front. Looks good, and I'm interested to see how the new seat mounts work out.