Figure 65. The transmission is now supported by a jack stand. We still need to set the final engine tilt at approximately 0 to 3 degrees back tilt. If it is not set properly, the engine will contact the body. We also need it set to position the rear transmission crossmember in the frame, and take measurements for how much drop we need for the new skidplate. We want as close to 0 drop as we can get, but we can get up to 2 inches of drop if need be.

Figure 68. Here is the used 20 gallon gas tank we acquired for this project. In this image, it is just back from the car wash where we pressure washed it. We had let it soak overnight with 2 bottles of fuel injection cleaner inside to clean all the gunk out of it before taking it to the car wash. After this image was taken, the tank was filled about 1/3 with water and a liberal application of dawn dish soap which was swished around at regular intervals for a couple hours, then the outside was scrubbed again by hand to get any stubborn clumps of dirt off. The dish soap was left to sit in it overnight, then rinsed out again and left to dry before installing it in the skid plate.

Figure 69. This is the GenRight Crawler skid plate. This thing is 3/16 inch thick steel and very solid. A little pricey, but very nice. We were going to get a slightly cheaper one the same thickness from a different maker, but they did not have any on hand and we did not want to wait to get it. This unit weighs 80 pounds empty, and has a nice powdercoat finish on it.

Figure 70. The original type rubber liner for the 20 gallon gas tank is no longer available. We substituted a cheapo rubber floor mat from Walmart and cut the pieces to fit. They are approximately the same thickness as the original and will serve the purpose just fine. A little money saved here and works just like the factory piece.