NV4500/D20/Twin Sticks/Tunnel Cover Ideas?

[Green76]

Okay, so I'm in the process of installing a Wild Horses Twin Stick on a Dana 20 that was given to me by a Bronco buddy of mine that installed an Atlas (twin stick was given to me, not the t.c.). I've got a 2 inch body lift, 302 and a NV4500 installed and I've already cut an access hole in the tunnel cover and modified the shift rails. When I took out the J shifter and went to install the twin sticks on the shift bracket, the twin sticks weren't long enough to engage the shift rails. I don't know if the bracket that was bolted to the AA adapter was fabbed by the PO or was something that came with the NV4500 kit that the PO purchased 10 or 12 years ago. I placed an order for the Wild Horses shift bracket (NV4500 and D20) that is supposed to arrive in 2 days. Hopefully that will locate the twin stick pivot block a little lower on the A.A. adapter/transmission tail housing. Has anyone had this similar setup/issue in the past? The second question I have is -does anyone know of a complete diamond plate tunnel cover option that doesn't cost $140. I can only locate one- on Ebay. Also, I ordered the twin stick boot and trim ring from Wild Horses and later read on this site that it probably won't cover up the hole that I'm going to have to provide for the transfer case shifters (because of the body lift). How can I cover up the hole so that it has a good clean/finished look? So many questions.... Oh yeh, I wanted to say that this is an awesome sight with a wealth of information on it! Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Pa PITT]

I'm not being a smart ass But I'd just buy a few sheets of scrap diamond plate cut them to fill in the gaps .Trying to make them look square..
...Your sounds like you want a nicer job than mine But what I did was got an Oil case box and cut it to match like I wanted used a little duck tape to hold it together. Then I fiberglassed over it inside and out .. I've sawed it into 3 or 4 times and repaired it .. After my repairs I just spray paint it black and slide my carpet back up on it .. Works really great .. It's about 1/2 inch thick so screws hold fine.

 

[Green76]

I thought about building my own and welding it together, but I thought If I could find one reasonable enough I'd just buy it-free up time for more bronco projects!

 

[70_Steve]

Has anyone had this similar setup/issue in the past? The second question I have is -does anyone know of a complete diamond plate tunnel cover option that doesn't cost $140. I can only locate one- on Ebay. Also, I ordered the twin stick boot and trim ring from Wild Horses and later read on this site that it probably won't cover up the hole that I'm going to have to provide for the transfer case shifters (because of the body lift). How can I cover up the hole so that it has a good clean/finished look?

OK, so I have a similar setup. 351, NV4500, t-shift Dana 20 with twin sticks, and a 2" body lift.

First, yes I had a problem with the location of the shifter. The AA bracket mounted the shifter up too high, so I modified it a bit. But the front drive shifter arm was too short, (remember, t-shift) and caused the link between the shifter arm and shift rail to be at too extreme of an angle to be able to easily shift the front drive. So after some discussion with John at JB Fab, he lengthened the arm.

Here's a pic of what I did for a tunnel cover. Sorry for the poor pic, and the missing drive train. But hopefully you'll get the idea. The pic shows the hole in the tunnel for the NV4500 shifter and twin sticks. The twin stick come up through the edge of the top of the tunnel. So, I just took a piece of aluminum diamond plate, bent it to match the tunnel, then (didn't show up all that well in the pic) extended the tunnel cover a little farther out to provide a flat mounting surface for the twin stick boot. I don't remember what the diamond plate cost me (maybe $25?) and I gave my welder friend $20 for tigging the extension.

 

[Green76]

Steve,
Mine is a J-Shift, do you think I'll have an issue with the front shifter being too short? Good looking tunnel cover, exactly what I was looking for...

 

[70_Steve]

Steve,
Mine is a J-Shift, do you think I'll have an issue with the front shifter being too short? Good looking tunnel cover, exactly what I was looking for...

In thinking about the way the j-shifter works vs the t-shift, I wouldn't think you'd have a problem, especially since you've got a shifter bracket coming from Wild Horses.

That tunnel cover was a quickie design. It came out real close to what I needed, but there's a couple things I'd do different. Mostly providing a larger area around the twin sticks for the boot and trim ring.

 

[Green76]

I got the twin sticks installed with a little bending of the arms and made a cardboard template for my new tunnel cover design. I ended up extending the top section about 3 1/2 inches further back to the console area so that the twin stick trim ring and boot will all be on the same plane (no bends). I have a neighbor that owes me a few favors that owns a business that makes truck beds with integrated tool boxes and crane bodies. They have a CNC plasma cutter and powdercoating line and plenty of scrap 1/8 inch treadplate! He's gonna draw out the design in Autocad and let the CNC plasma do all the work. Oughta turn out great. I'll post pics when it's complete. Thanks for the help...