Well, been away for a little while. Life and too much work.

I got my '12 Rubicon back from my kid is not so great shape. Higher mileage, but I had bought it new and I really like it so I decided to keep it and do anything that needed to be done.

One of the guides on the timing set had broken and it wouldn't start. Timing set and 2 phasers replaced and that seems to have been sorted. That was interesting but not too bad.

The 6 speed transmission, well first is shot and wont stay in gear. The throw into first is awful. Then to top things off the throw out bearing went. Love that squealing (ya,not so much)... Needless to say the NSG370 needs attention. So it has been sitting while I have been busy. It still starts and runs, I just don't drive it.

I have/had bought parts before I got busy. I got a B&M shifter since the tower needs/is recommended to be replaced. I also picked up a McLeod racing Super Trail Pro kit. This has the new flywheel, hydraulic throw out bearing and everything. So now it is time to get a transmission.

I know some will say the NSG370 sucks and swap it for something else, but I am going to stick with what it had. The NSG370 with me driving and taking care of it did 130k miles with no issues, but who knows how the kid treated it. I am looking at a rebuilt NSG370 from High Impact (which I believe is High Gear sourced). They (High Impact) are in the same state as I am and I wil be checking with them later to see if I can take the old core to them and pick up the new rebuilt one. It is only a 3 hour drive across the state. That will save me having to deal with the shipping, receivin, core charge and core charge return.

Like my other threads, I will keep this one posted as progress is made....

 

And recommend you use the Amsoil Synchromesh fluid in the new one as the transmissions run a lot quieter and shift smoother than with the Mopar oil and nearly half the price for Amsoil.

 

Thank you for the info, will look into it.

 

Well this is turning into some work.

Found a giant rust hole in gas tank skid. This is where the other skid plate bolts to. The mounting point is completely gone. Time to look at Clayton skids, thinking I should just do all of them. Here come the $$$ increase of "while I'm in there...".

Exhaust flange bolts on the crossover heavily corroded and snapped. Exhaust is always a pain.

The engineer that put those tiny soft bolts and keepers on the drive shafts need their heads examined. I am probably just going to cut the heads off since the bolts and keepers will be replaced. Tried heat and working them off, but the heads round over pretty quick

Other than that, it is pretty clean underneath for being a '12 and seeing time in NM and CO snow then moving back down to FL.

Got the new foam insert for the shifter and trimmed it to fit the B&M.

Waiting to get the transmission out at that point I will order the replacement.

 

Quick update.

I was able to get back to my project. I work slow and working a full time job and 2 contract jobs leaves very little time.

Ig ot all the bolts out of the drive shaft and only had to cut one. Anyone doing this job, get a 6 point 5/16 stubby socket on a 1/4" drive. It works extremely well. The 6 point gives a better bite than a 12. 8mm is a little loose.

The front drive shaft has a torn boot on the CV. I was expecting that since I saw grease on the underside. It is torn all the way around. That means I will be replacing the drive shafts. Figure I will just do both. Thinking of going Adams or Woods.

The exhaust flange bolts all broke, heavily rusted. I am going to attempt to press the nuts out using a ball joint press. Hopefully it goes well.

The gas tank skid had corrosion on the transmission skid mounting point. The skid will be replaced with one from Clayton.

Everything else is going pretty well even at my slow pace. I will provide another update as soon as I have one.

 

Another update, progress has been slow with too much life work to do...

The shifter was removed. It has seen better days. The B&M is a much heftier unit on comparison.

Got the transfer case out. Used a motorcyle jack to pull it off. The transmission is supported by a transmission jack I bought for the job from Harbor Freight. It is the scissor jack and has worked well. I think the transfer case may need some freshening up so I will look into the parts for that. Overall removing the transfer case was not bad, but those nuts are in some tight places. Ratchet wrenches help a lot.

Loosened all the bell housing bolts with the exception of the top 2. Will work on that next weekend and the transmission will come out. I will remove all the pieces that dont come with the new one (clutch fork, bearing, guide tube, etc...). At that point I will order the new one from High Impact.

The clutch pieces from McLeod are pretty nice. The flywheel is a beast. The hydraulic throwout bearing is interesting. I wont end up needing some of the old pieces I will take off the transmission.

Since the gas tank skid needs to be replaced, I am looking at the Clayton. It goes back in place of the factory instead of over. This got me thinking, maybe do all the skids. So I am probably going to end up going with a Clayton crossmember as well. This will allow me to used their skid system.

Other than that, working on the Jeep as a project has been kinda nice. A project that I will have for a long while and enjoy. I may look into a cat back exhaust at some point.

 

Thanks for the update! It looks like you are on the right path, or at least, the JEEP path (Just Empty Every Pocket)!!

These machines require a LOT of tender, loving care to provide the level of support that we desire when we are in the backcountry. Or just driving around town. The upside, as you are probably figured out, is that they are relatively easy to work on. That's a rare thing these days!

Keep us in the loop!

 

OK, last weekend was shot. I had to put off pulling the transmission till today.

It is out woohoo!!!! Now I can order its replacement.

The old transmission is grimy but not too bad. It could be cleaned up, but since it is being replace there's no need.



I need to remove the TO bearing, fork, retainer and guide tube. I also found why the TO bearing was making so much noise. Total failure. The cap separated from the bearing. Here is the cap sitting next to the new TO bearing that came with the McLeod Super Trail Pro clutch kit:





Funny part is, that new TO bearing won't be used. The fork, guide tube and retainer will not needed as well. The McLeod hydraulic TO bearing is waiting to take all of its place




This will be used with the Super Trail Pro clutch kit I ordered. It has the pressure plate, clutch disc and max mass flywheel.




So finally progress being made. I will see how long the shipping takes for the replacement transmission and get it ordered. During that time I will remove the old clutch assembly and get ready to install the new one.

I have a new shifter for it, hope this works out well...





Will post more when I have more. It'll be interesting to pull the old parts and see what kind of wear they have on them.

 

I'm not doing near as much upgrades, but adding the mcleod clutch and TOB as well. Hopefully don't this week. May post the results. Thanks for your detailed progress!

 

Right on. Please let me know how it works out.

The McLeod items seem real nice. The flywheel is beefy.

The clutch, shifter and TOB are the only real upgrades on the transmission. The transmission itself is just replacing my high mileage very worn out unit.


ETA: Just ordered the new (reman) NSG370 from High Impact. Will post more details when it is received. They said it is 7-10 days lead time. Will keep the thread posted...