Need some serious help if we have any North Idaho or Eastern Washington guys..

[LCAM-01XA]

How does your shifter connect to the transfer case, do you have a Z-linkage with a flat bar connecting the shifter and the transfer case levers? Or does the transfer case have a fork-like lever on it sticking straight forward that meshes directly with the shifter lever (which sticks straight back) thru a single plastic roller/bushing?

The NP208 setup is the Z-linkage style, that shifter generally does not care if the case is NP208 or BW1356 or even a later BW4407. It also does not care how many bosses the adapter housing has, as it only needs one. If you have Z-linkage you should be able to use either adapter housing.

The fork-like mesh I've only seen with BW1345s and they all had the gated plate. Those require the 2-boss adapter housing.

Can you post a picture of the rear of your transfer case?

 

[Hyde]

It has a "fork" bar sticking straight forward, I will take pics when I tear it down. Like I said truck is 60 miles away and I'm just going from my partial teardown when I got the truck home, and when I replaced the case when I got the truck.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Aye, that's the genuine bw1345 setup, AFAIK at least. Weird it has no gates, but whatever, if it works it works! Oh and don't worry about pics, no longer needed.

I have a single-boss adapter available for measuring, it shows 4-9/16" between center of bolt-hole and rear flange surface the case mounts to. If anyone here has a 2-boss adapter and can come up with the same number, then you'll be able to run either style of adapter housing, thus making it easier to find one. Cause it would totally blow if you spend $120 on a 2-boss housing and it turns out you can't use it.

 

[Hyde]

That would be awesome for those measurements! you guys are a huge help! Also the BW that's on there is not the original case, although I'm pretty sure the one I pulled off of it originally was a BW too, but who knows if that was even the original in the trucks 28 year life

 

[LCAM-01XA]

I'm pretty sure you had a bw1345 to begin with, I've pulled two NP208 shifters from the yards and my buddy has one complete trans and case setup in the basement and all have been Z-bar linkage. On the other hand I've only seen that forky linkage on bw1345 cases. It's really too bad you don't have the Z-bar, then you could run whatever adapter housing you happened to find and simply adjust the bar length or rebend shifter if even needed...

 

[Hyde]

Noe that I googled a 1345 shift linkage I think I may have been thinking of the wrong thing. Im pretty sure the shift actuator on the case is a lever. I asked my buddy to take a picture of the linkage and where it mounts on the adapter when he gets home since its at his house, I already unbolted the linkage from the adapter. Will post pics when he sends them to me

 

[towcat]

Towcat, he meant that the transmission looked like a NP435, he wasn't questioning a BW was on the ass end of it.

As far as mounting bosses go, in my oservations the single-boss setup was always used with a NP208 transfer case, while the 2-boss setup is for BW cases. With the single-boss you can pull the shifter from 2wd straight back all the way into 4x4 low - not a big deal if you're paying attention, but you see the potential for destruction. When the BW cases came about Ford also switched the shifter mechanisms to the style that requires you to move the stick to the left in order to clear the gate for neutral and then 4x4 low (thus preventing goofballs from shifting from 2wd straight into 4x4 low and destroying stuff). That is what the 2-boss setup is for, the front hole is for the shifter's pivot pin and the rear one is for the bolt that secures the gated plate to the transfer case.

Considering he mentioned in the first post he has a BW case, I'm almost positive his adapter housing is the 2-boss setup.

for what it's worth, here's a pic of the rest of the trans. I've had a helluva time finding a shifter for the transfer case, only one style works and i have all the other ones but the one I need.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

This is what I'm talking about when I say bw1345 fork linkage, it's all I have seen on '80-'86 trucks, and '87s as well cause they don't have the driver's floor pan cutout yet:

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Then I think in '88 they switched to this setup, the bw1345 Z-bar linkage:

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You must be registered for see images attach

Notice how the shifter in the last pic sticks way out to the side? That's to line it up with the cutout on the side of the transmission tunnel, as opposed to having it come straight out the top like how yours is.

And finally here's the NP208 linkage - Z-bar, no gated plate (I know it's a lousy picture, blame Google for it):

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[Hyde]

Mine is definitely the z-bar then, I vividly recall popping out the ball and socket joint from the long link piece. The first style I dont see the ball and socket joint. I really dont think mine has the two bolts on the bracket to adapter but Im still waiting on pictures. Since I dont have a gated plate is mine a 208 linkage?

 

[LCAM-01XA]

for what it's worth, here's a pic of the rest of the trans. I've had a helluva time finding a shifter for the transfer case, only one style works and i have all the other ones but the one I need.

That's a T19, so same as what Hyde runs. Out of curiosity, what model year truck was it in?

 

[towcat]

That's a T19, so same as what Hyde runs. Out of curiosity, what model year truck was it in?

1988 is the truck.
but it's a morphidite. orig a C6 truck but got a manual converson. lord knows the parts sourcing.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Mine is definitely the z-bar then, I vividly recall popping out the ball and socket joint from the long link piece. The first style I dont see the ball and socket joint. I really dont think mine has the two bolts on the bracket to adapter but Im still waiting on pictures. Since I dont have a gated plate is mine a 208 linkage?

Well, Z-bar and 1-hole adapter housing with no gated plate is indeed your typical NP208 setup. At least from what I've seen so far. The only BW1345s I've seen in '80-'86 trucks have had the gated shifter. But that don't mean ALL were like that, it's possible some had the non-gated shifter as well... Heck if I know at this point, and frankly, I wouldn't really care - if it shifts fine run it, and as long as you have the Z-bar linkage you should be able to run either adapter housing. IIRC all three of my shifters use the same pivot bolt, but I'll double check tomorrow. I'll get you some bar length measurements too, FWIW.

 

[Hyde]

Good deal, I found a guy locally who I cant believe I didnt think of before who has a gold mine of Ford drivetrain parts. He has a few he said plus complete trans an case combos. Meeting up with him on Friday after I pull mine all apart to make sure I get the right one.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

1988 is the truck.
but it's a morphidite. orig a C6 truck but got a manual converson. lord knows the parts sourcing.

Aye, I got a truck bed full of parts sourced from at least 5 different trucks, likely more. End goal is the same as what you had going on there.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Good deal, I found a guy locally who I cant believe I didnt think of before who has a gold mine of Ford drivetrain parts. He has a few he said plus complete trans an case combos. Meeting up with him on Friday after I pull mine all apart to make sure I get the right one.

Coolness, I'm pretty sure there are only the two t19 adapter housings, so should be easy to get what you need - if it ain't one it's the other