Chuzie's monster transformation

[chuzie]

4R70W install continued...

First order of business was to remove the D20 from the C4. In doing so, the spud shaft (D20 input shaft) decided to stay with the C4 intermediate housing instead of come out with the D20 and the roller bearings all ended up in the bottom of the C4 case. I had a garage covered in gear oil.

I had to completely drain the D20 and remove the inspection cover to retrieve the 13 roller bearings. Used wheel bearing grease to make them nice and sticky and put them back where they belong.



After cleaning up my garage and finishing the bearing issue, it was time to swap the new spud shaft and bearing on the old drive gear.

Here is the old assembly...



The snap ring holding the drive gear on the spud shaft was a real pain the butt since it had no eyelits for snapring pliers. Advance Adapters does not include a new snap ring so destroying it was not an option. I ended up opening it up enough with my snapring pliers to get one end just out and over the spud shaft spline. Then I slowly worked it with a couple of flathead screwdrivers. I tweaked it a little but felt comfortable it was still usable. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but there is not much axial load on that snapring anyway.



Drive gear removed from old spud shaft and bearing.



Next I had to mate the adapter ring, bearing, and new spud shaft which are all a pressed fit. I followed 76MaBronco's suggestion and mated the bearing and shaft first. Since I do not have a press, I opted to place the spud shaft in the freezer for 30 minutes and the bearing in the oven @ 350 degrees for 30 minutes. The two mated like a couple of horny high school kids! Slid right on with no force whatsoever.



After letting the assembly cool for 5 minutes or so in front of the fan, I threw it in the freezer and placed the adapter in the oven @ 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Once again the parts came together perfectly with zero force.



Now the bearing had to be secured in the adapter with the large inner snapring provided by Advanced Adapter.



Next the drive gear was installed on the new spud shaft assembly and the darn snapring was reinstalled. It is not any easier installing it now than it was during removal.



I used blue RTV in the channel of the adapter where the new O-ring seats.



Then installed the new O-ring. I also added a coating of silicone to the OD of the O-ring once it was installed to reduce friction during installation to the D20 housing.



*** EDIT: Some folks (including me) have been trimming the gasket that goes between this assembly and the D20 case thinking it goes over the assembly and not under it. Before installing this assembly, install the gasket and no trimming will be necessary. The gasket is dummy proof so it will only go on one way.

After the gasket was on (in theory ), I installed the assembly and gave it a slight tap with the mallet to seat.

Now my D20 is complete with new spud shaft, adapter, and bearing!



Next, I installed the ZF adapter ring. All 6 holes line up in all configurations but the adapter does have a dimple that goes at the 12 o'clock position. The 6 allen head bolts secure it to the D20 case.



The gasket that goes between the ZF adapter and the transmission is dummy proof too, but not as obvious. Just be careful to make sure that all 6 holes are lined up. The ZF adapter has 6 sets of 3 holes each for multiple clocking options. I just did as others have in the past and went with the middle of the three holes.

I marked the gasket to the ZF adapter to make sure it didn't rotate during mating to the 4R70W. To my surprise, it slid on rather easily and I had it bolted in no time.



Now most folks using a T-Shift D20 with this setup make a vertical cut in the webbing on the driver's side to accomodate the transfer case shift adapter and cut off the rear boss so the inner flag can move forward.

Today I chose not to do that as I am waiting to decide if what JB @ JB Fab is sending me will work with my J-shift or if I am going to have to modify my old twin sticks. I just don't want to jump the gun and make irreversible modifications if I am not sure how I am going to proceed with the twin stick issue.

Since the twin sticks are coming from the West coast, the project may be on hold for a few days. Waiting to resolve this before installation would be wise.

I noticed there is not a breather in the 4R70W intermediate case like there was in the C4. Has it been rendered unnecessary?

Oh, I also reinstalled my flexplate and, as always, realized how much I HATE torquing that darn thing!!!

Add $90 to the total cost for 14 quarts of Mecron V trans fluid and a new trans filter.

Add $105 for the Lokar trans dipstick I have on the way

Add $140 for the new twin sticks from JB Fab (if they work).

Score one for the good guys too. Found that the mini starter I was using on the C4 will also work with the 4R70W; came off a 92 F-150 5.0.