Devil is in the Details!
As I waited for the mainshaft to get back from the shop, it was time to tidy up some of the
details that I discovered during the dry-fitting. After some drawing and fitting of pieces of
scrap metal plate, I decided that was not going to fab the motor mounts from scratch. My
existing mounts were old and tatty, too much work was involved, and this was one area that I
did not want to mess up. So...out came the cut-off wheel, and the chassis was looking snappy
by the time my new mounts showed up from
Novak Conversions. Bit pricey, but worth every penny! They are going to be awesome!
When Teri Ann did her conversion, Timm did a clever job of keeping the Land Rover master/slave
clutch cylinders to engage the T-18 clutch, and I wanted to do the same thing. This was a
nasty piece of 90W slime when it came off the transmission, but after some cutting and cleaning,
it was looking better. I decided that I was going to use the original bracket as a base, and
cut and weld it to the right size.
After some initial fitting (and mistakes), the bracket started to take shape. I did have
to enlarge the bolt holes to 1/2", but everything else fit very nicely. All I need is a
rebuild kit for the slave cylinder, and it will be ready!
In conjunction with the slave cylinder, the clutch fork had to be modified to fit into the Rover.
It was about 3" too long, and would hit the chassis and not travel. So, I had to shorten it a
bit, as well as trim a bracket plate off of the chassis itself. A few coats of paint, and all
the new parts were ready to go on. Once the flywheel and clutch are on the engine, I will fit
the slave cylinder and fork, and fab a connector to bolt them together at the right length and
angle.
Another "gotcha" that I had to fix was that the selector lever for 2WD/4WD stuck out too far,
and it hit the side of the T-18. That limited travel, and made it impossible for the shifter
to go up and down as required. I removed it, cleaned it, and cut 5/16" out of the middle, then
welded her up and back on she went! Nothing major, but another devil that was lurking in the
details!
Re-assembly of the transmission
created and maintained by
Matt Atkins
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