Transfer case trouble, I think
 

Trying to narrow down the grinding noise when I'm in 4wd I'm pretty sure it's the transfer case. I'm wondering what years I can take a transfer case from that will bolt up to my all stock 83. Or if there is a rebuild kit available and it if would be better to go that way. Thanks.

Marlin has a rebuild kit, as does Trail-Gear.

You can use any gear driven transfer case from the Hilux (Pickups) and the 4Runners. They're found in the 4 cylinder models. The V6 Trucks and 4Runners use a chain driven setup.

Ok thanks, that was another question I had whether i had a gear or chain driven. I guess I'll be looking for a 4 cyl to grab one from otherwise ordering the trail gear kit and paying someone to rebuild it.

Not too bad of a rebuild. Only thing I had to farm out was pressing on & off the bearings. Otherwise it's really pretty simple, especially with the trail gear videos on their site. Everything else on my truck I've taken on & off myself but had someone else do the real rebuilding part. T-case I did myself and it really wasn't bad.

But of course it's up to your current skill level and what you feel like doing.

I'll try find a donor vehicle first. What about top shift vs front shift are they interchangeable or not?

That's dependant upon what transmission it's going behind. However, you can convert a forward shift case to a top shift.

L52, top shift. I found a front shift t case for sale locally for $25. Do I need a kit to convert it?

Found these which do I need?
http://www.trail-gear.com/top-shift-conversion-kits

Any Tcase from 79-83 will work.

They are gear driven cases

I went and got the t-case, its out of a '91 22re p/u. I'll be ordering the top shift kit but from the instructions on trail gear it looks like a rebuild would be easy to do while i had it apart like that so i'm gonna go ahead and do that as well. thanks for the help guys.

Perfect! So you'll have time & patience for the rebuild, and learn a good skill.