What better day to modify a crossmember and put in a driveshaft than easter sunday ?

I got back from the easter car show (showing my Beetle) at about 3:30 and decided since nothing was open I would have no reason to go anywhere so out came the jack and the impact gun

My idea for modding the crossmember to fit the 205 worked GREAT. I cut the crossmember at the bottom of the driveshaft hump, just to the PS of the hump, and just to the drivers side of the tranny. I then moved the flat piece from between the tranny and hump, put it in the hump to make it wider, and welded the new hump to what was left of the crossmember

Slid that in place, bolted it down, threw the front DS in there (only snag, i had to run to autozone to get u-joint clamps 5 minutes before they closed), tightened it down and stood back in wide eyed wonder.

At full droop there is no bind in the shaft and none at full compression either

No funny noises in 4x, all and all it was a success. Now i just need to put the shift linkage in place and all will be good. It's a bit of a pain trying to shift the case with an 18" screwdriver through the access panel

Hopefully tomorrow afternoon i'll be able to shift in under 5 minuted

Justin

 

awesome! sounds like what I am gonna do to my crossmemeber if i can ever get ahold of a 205.

-jason-

 

You're the man Hoxiii! That's an extensive project, lots of time and lots of work. Glad to hear it all worked out for you the first time.

 

I know that thrill of victory. I finally shortened my driveshaft, and now my conversion is (nearly) complete. I have the rear end tore up for the new 4.10s I am putting in. Then the two axles will be geared the same and no-kidding turning! Good luck with the rest of your project. Ted

 

hey hoxiii, yah gotta get some pics up of your shifter. Twin Stick? i'm having one heckuva time getting everything to work out with mine being twinsticked.

 

Good deal Hoxiii. Theres nothing more satisfying about coming up with a tricky fab to solve a problem and pulling it off smooth as snot. Pics?

 

If i can get my uncle to take some i'll have pics up. Only issue with the crossmember was that it's wider at different spots, so i had to make up some tabs to get it to all stay together. Made it a tad bit ugly, but nothing a bit of paint can't fix. But it works, that's all that matters.

Rolled it into my backyard today. All that grows there is wild onions so i tried pulling out in 4x2 and my tail was going everywhere but forward (normal). Slipped it in and out i went

Little things like that make me so happy. It's pretty embarassing when you have to pull yourself out of your own backyard. Had to once before i started the conversion, chained the truck to my dad's xterra and out it went. Never again (unless it's a serious stuck )

Justin

 

good job and good mod!!!!

 

Allright guys, pics should be in my gallery tonight.

Justin

 

Allright folks, pics are up in my gallery. I only got about 5 up becaue my computer is being stupid. I had a couple real good shifter and crossmember shots, but they wouldn't transfer. BUT, you can still get the idea.

Justin

 

Good job Justin. How well is the twin stick working?

Next I think you should take it all apart, sand it and paint it. Then you could turn this into a ten year project...

 

All the stuff is sanded and painted, at least the stuff i rebuilt. Front axle, rear axle, tranny, t-case. Now i just need to get the shifters all nice and black and it'll be good It has made it a bit more interesting giving rides to two people at once, just tell the people either they have to be comfortable with one another or whoever is in the middle has to be ::VERY:: comfortable with me.

Twin sticks work great, just need to go find a place to play with them. I have a bit of a shimmy out of the front end with the hubs locked in about 25 mph, so that's my next project. Shouldn't be too bad.

Justin