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1981 RHD Scrambler build (UK spec)

Don't know if you have anything like it over there but in the states we have rust preventative sprays that go on the chassis and body to protect it. I think krown makes it. There's a few shops in my area that call it rust cop. We get the roads salted heavily in my area and it can really help protect things even if not driven in the winter. I spray my snowblower with it yearly and have had it 9 years now with no rust.
 
Oh yeah its heavily undersealed and the box sections sprayed with a range of chemicals made by Dinitrol plus the chassis has been galvanised so that part should out last me.
But its not just the salt issue as i have to pay road tax if i want to use it and i also have a classic car insurance policy on it which restricts the mileage to 1500 miles a year, so i am going to try and keep it as a spring/summer toy and just stay warm (and dry) in the Isuzu instead through the winter.
 
Spent a bit of time on this today installing a temperature gauge for the auto box as it seems to get a bit too warm but i dont really know how hot it really is?.
Need to find somewhere to put the sender now was thinking i may get a boss welded on the transmission pan, it can double up as a drain hole then as well...

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Time for a 2 yearly update!.

Some clown (me!) ran the TF999 in this one low on ATF which revealed itself when drive simply didn't in 3rd and reverse only just did (on the flat at least!)!, so over Christmas i decided it was time to take it out and rebuild the poor thing as due to the Chevy powered 8 i hadn't had chance to do anything with it for months.
I also realized that i had amassed enough of the parts to actually make this Jeep a manual, so its decision time, do i stick with the auto or put the 4.2 on to the T176 manual box i own.
So i thought about it and decided manual was the future, the TF999 and all the hills where i live just dont seem very compatible and i suspect a 4 speed manual rather than a 3 speed auto has to be better?.
So i may live to regret this decision yet and the first regret was that it turns out upon closer inspection that the T176 is in good a shape as the TF999 it was replacing ☹️
So for Christmas i treated myself to the smell of gear oil and stripped the manual box down.
The guy on Youtube who did the excellent video about a stripdown and rebuild i now owe a beer or two as i have never touched a gearbox before but it came apart quite easily, Getting the filling plug to come loose was the hardest thing and took a bit of heat to break it from its corroded existence.
Everything seems to have been tainted a brown colour?, The oil which was possibly 40+ years old must of done this, the synchros especially are no longer shiny in any way,shape or form, no markings on the bearings so maybe someone else has been here before me, who knows!

So I now have a T176 in bits which thanks to a D300s input shaft which clearly must be made out of much harder stuff eating it alive, it looks like it needs a mainshaft.
The mainshaft is going to end up a Chinese made affair from what i can see as thats the only choice and a rebuild kit which no doubt is also from the Far East. Lets see what lands and how hard it is to put back together.
Other jobs are the pedal assembly and the fitment of a master and slave cylinder to operate it. Oh and then there is the 1/4" pipework required, a flywheel to fit and a clutch of course.
Hoping the standard CJ master and slave cylinders work for this and attach dead easily, yeah right!.

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How does that transmission mainshaft feel inside the Dana 300 input? Is it tight or is there play?
 
@spankrjs If you are asking the question and worried about wear in the input then the D300 that the T176 was attached to when it left the factory is sat in my other 8.
As i changed to the 4L60E the D300 got a brand new input shaft to match the auto, so if it was worn i wouldn't of noticed as that part is long gone in a scrap run.
 
Thoroughly enjoyed putting this gearbox back together, not something i have ever done before and pretty pleased on how its turned out.
Main issue i had was the rebuild kit bearings were unbranded and felt notchy straight out of the box so they ended up in the scrap bin and i just went and bought some proper ones from the local bearing suppliers.
Only other thing i could fault in the kit was the snap rings didn't seem the right sizes so i ended up reusing some of the old ones.
The replacement main shaft installed exactly as it should do, not what i usually find with Crown/Omix parts, i was bracing myself expecting a nightmare, but no that seems to be made correctly, proof will be when its got a few thousand miles on it though i guess.

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Back together with the D300, Just the simple matter of a clutch master and slave to sort out next and yeah also need an additional pedal to operate it all.
Could of rebuilt the TF99 by now, never mind 😀

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Master cylinder fitment time.
I didn't want to take my dash in bits as that meant taking off the dash pad which also means removing or at the very least loosening the half cab so i could fold the windshield forward to get to the dashpad screws...
So by removing the steering column it is actually possible to get the auto pedal assembly out and install a manual pedal assembly without removing the dash, i was amazed!.
Holes marked up and then drilled to accept the master cylinder and its fixings, bit of sealer and hey presto one master cylinder installed.
Sling some 1/4" pipework on it and thats one end done.

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Or is it... Clutch pedal sits way higher than the brake pedal and i was under the impression both had factory linkages.
So which ones wrong?, does it even matter, it just looks wrong not sure my head can handle them being different....

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Clutch slave in and bled, pretty tight in there with the brake lines and an exhaust also in that area.
Had a leak on the flexi hose, all seemed to work okay even with the leak...

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Did slave and then put the gearbox back in, no drive yet as the rear props now 3" short and front one now 3" too long, so now away getting modified 😁

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When it came to filling the T176 up rather than try and get it in the filler hole i found it far easier to take the filler plug out, remove the gear stick and pour the oil where the gear stick goes until it reaches the level of the filler plug, way less mess that way.
Should get the props back this week and then see if all this work to turn my Jeep manual was worth all this effort...
 
Whilst i wait for a rear prop i made myself a new transmission tunnel cover out of aluminium using an old one for a different gearbox as a guide, not sure why the D300 cut out is so large on an OEM cover, it doesn't need to be?.
Just need to measure where the T176 is sat and put a hole in for that as well.

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Rear prop eventually came back, threw it back in today and i now have a manual Jeep.
The T176 shifter seems overly long and kind of comical but it works.
Need salt off the roads now so i can take it for a proper test drive and see if all this work was actually worth it.

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Its been a while and due to numerous things i haven't been near the Montana blue scrambler for quite a long time other than starting it up every now and then and moving it about the workshop so its about time it got a bit of attention i think.
Anyway i took it out for a bit of a blast and then home to the garage for the winter so i can do a bit of work and clean the poor thing.

First time out with the manual box and comparing the T176 to the TF999 my 4.2 seems far happier with the manual gearbox, even though the T176 is a clunky piece of work, reminded me of an old Ford Transit van with the way it shifts but it suits the Jeep and i had a smile on my face all the way home so all is good. 😀

First job is that i have splashed out on a carpet set for this 8, so after 2 hours at home its already had a bit of a strip down to allow fitment.
Never fails to amaze me how much dust gets in the cab and under the seats, will clean it all up later in the week and then wait for FedEx to drop my carpet off.

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