Trans Rebuild.... COMPLETED!

okokok... it was the MOTHER or all bitches getting it back in there, took me like 2 hours to figure out you have to have someone pushing the clutch in to get the input shaft into the clutch, and then it STILL took a lot of wrestling.

All in all WELL worth the trouble, I learned a LOT. :grinyes:

Tomorrow I'll be testing out how well I did, it was 9:00 PM when I finally finshed getting the shift rods connected, another complete pain in the ass b/c some moron welded the adjusting parts together... idiot. :screwy:

Another part of the trans rebuild that has to go on hold until I order the parts was the speedo cable fix. I knew that it had a kink in it, and figured that I could pull the core out from both ends and be good to go. Boy was that a dumb thought. To make a long story short... I need a whole new cable. :banghead: (More shipping charges... dammit). While under the dash I found this....


http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/9659/img38647sk.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Actually, I knew about it, but just realized how bad it really is. I got so fed up with looking at the mess in there, I actually did the radio delete option, and that (believe it or not) took out a BIG jumble of wires that I no longer have to figure out. :smooch: I guess I'm in for a whole new wiring harness, guages, and fuse block... unless someone has some excellent advice for cleaning up THAT mess. (We need a praying smiley).

Sooo... Rebuilt trans, new lockset (almost done, waiting on trunk gasket and passenger side lock pawl), and a big fat pile of spaghetti under the dash. Not bad, huh? :disappoin

Sorry if those post is so long, I'm kind of excited and depressed all at once.

thats good to hear Jim.

Wow.. sounds like alot of fun/a huge headache. One combination that never goes good together, especially when you're so close to being done. Hope it all works out for ya, good luck with it man.

jeez, i would just rip all of that out and get a painless wiring kit.

awesome, can't wait to see it running again...you need to post us some videos.

lookin good, wiring iss tough, fixing that would be tough, but so is installing a new one, now get that motor out

:angryfire :newburn: GOD-DAMN-IT!

HORRID rattle when in gear and moving. AND get this... After you shift out of reverse you have to hit 3rd to get out of reverse - otherwise the trans is locked between reverse and one of the forward gears (first?)! Not sure exactly what went wrong, but have a couple ideas (however not sure they are have anything to do with anything).

1. okokok... Shift rods are messed up, maybe bent one when pulling the trans, but don't think so, they never hit anything on the way out. When I look at the pics I took before I took everything apart they're identicle as they way they're on the trans now, BUT there is a LOT of tension between the gates, almost to the point of the gates in the shifter not lining up... (is that possible?) The 1st / 2nd rod is on the inside of the tab (ear?) that holds the rod to the case, and there is MAYBE 1/8 - 1/16 of clearance and the rods is loose... I think that may account for SOME of the rattle, but not the major part.

2. I think I put WAY too much trans fluid (80-90 weight) in the case. I've always heard this was bad, but not sure why. Too much resistance??? Would this cause anything to not be seated properly???

3. The clutch needs to be let out a bit, there is NO play in the pedal. I had it adjusted so that there was only like 1/4" of play, but somehow it got to be less, so I need to adjust that too. Not sure if that may be another part of the problem or not.

The noise seems to be coming from the front is the trans case, which makes me think it may ALSO be a clutch issue, but if I didn't take the clutch off the engine, it should be ok, right? Yeah I basically had to jam the trans back into the clutch... let's call it forceful shoe-horning.

Shifts right, drives great, no slipping, no gear grinding, slips out of forth but I think that is entirely a shift rod issue... so other than the shift being next to totally worthless (pretty sure it's the rods) and the rattle, it went great.

Anyone have any ideas?

that sucks

When we put a 5 spd in my buddy's rustang of similar vintage nobody had to depress the clutch, nor do I recall on any others. I think that's the rattle issue, maybe the fork?

Yeah, I'm not terribly upset with the reverse into 3rd thing, if anything its knid of like a theft deterrent. Whether it will break the mainshaft or something is an entirely different story though.

The rattle is what has me worried, the shifter not being smooth isn't that big of a concern, it was that way when I bought it but it IS wrong to be that way... might be time for a new(er) shifter.

When we put a 5 spd in my buddy's rustang of similar vintage nobody had to depress the clutch, nor do I recall on any others. I think that's the rattle issue, maybe the fork?

Dylan, no bullshit... I'm calling you tonight, you going to be around???

Not sure I've got a number of things to get done for my kids b-day party in 2 weeks, plus gimp my car home, sprung a leak somewhere in the brake system, so I had to drive 12 miles in stop and go like I had a egg under the pedal, then the last 4 stops had to be done with the parking brake (foot style on the kick panel, talk about fun :lol: ).

Let me know when's good for you, tomorrow or whatever.

But let me ask this.... if the clutch is too tight (no play in the pedal) when reinstalling the trans, I may have messed up the clutch alignment somehow???

I'm just thinking in theory, that problems getting the trans back in and having to mess with the clutch, absense of play that was once there, and the only thing that could really "rattle" on the front end would be a loose clutch fork. :dunno:

Yeah, I'm not terribly upset with the reverse into 3rd thing, if anything its knid of like a theft deterrent...


that's hilarious... a theft deterent! Way to look at the positive side of things!!! :)

Sorry , i don't know enough about manual tranny's to help you.

so kevin you going to paint your car, you know orimer absorbs moistues, if you dont paint soon you may have a rust problem

:nono: BABS, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT RED DEATH'S LEGS HERE... (Not that I don't care about Kevin's troubles, but he'll get it painted when he needs to... I've got imports to smoke).

**smacks self in head*** THINK DAMMIT, THINK! :banghead:

if it was my car it would already be smokling imports making like 500 hp, witha rebuilt motor trans and rearend

ummm.. but it's not your car...:loser:

...and considering it's a 74 454, when the restrictions killed HP ratings, originally rated at 425-450 hp, considering the mods I know of... (headers, 3" exhaust, lopey ass cam, 8mm wires, AC delete, electric radiator fan, I have no idea what's been done to the heads / intake yet but will soon) I'm gonna make a semi-educated guess and say I'm close if not over 500 :smokin:

Rear is fine, trans is going to be fine, motor is coming up as soon as trans /clutch rattle is corrected. :smooch:

AND I just got done fixing the shifter and adjusting the clutch, BUT considering it's 11 PM, the test will come tomorrow. :banghead: Shifts real nice now, no wrestling the stick into reverse like before. :grinyes: The shift rods are working better now too, I guess a 8th" or 16th" of an adjustment really does make that big of a difference after all.:rofl::rolleyes:

Sorry I missed your call Jim, took a bit of extra time going home in Chicago rush hour traffic with little to no brakes. Apparently a piece of a pothole that flew up last week slowly did it's work, so alot of downshifting and driving like a granny but she made home then the line grenaded and caught a nice marsh mellow fire right in front of the house. Man I lve that car, anyother car would have done it half way through the trip.

So anyway, I had to wash the maro off so I could get it on the street without it looking like an abandoned vehicle. Then get the prick started and around the block. By the time that was all done I buried myself infront of the boob tube and left my phone upstairs.

But like I said, it's got to be in the the clutch assembly somewhere. Did you try seeing if the fork moved rediculously while engaged?

Sorry I missed your call Jim, took a bit of extra time going home in Chicago rush hour traffic with little to no brakes. Apparently a piece of a pothole that flew up last week slowly did it's work, so alot of downshifting and driving like a granny but she made home then the line grenaded and caught a nice marsh mellow fire right in front of the house. Man I lve that car, anyother car would have done it half way through the trip.

So anywy, I ahd to wash the maro off so I could get it on the street without it looking like an abandoned vehicle. Then get the prick started and around the block. By the time that was all done I buried myself infront of the boob tube and left my phone upstairs.

But like I said, it's got to be in the the clutch assembly somewhere. Did you try seeing if the fork moved rediculously while engaged?

I didn't seem to... When my wife was pressing the pedal the fork and thrust bearing seemed to move fine, no hesitation sticking binding, etc. The fork itself seems pretty tight, not loose at all.

This thought came to me after looking at a picture of the clutch....
Is it possible that I bent some of the fingers (or whatever the hell they're called) on the pressure plate (or whatever the hell they're attached to), or knocked off the clutch alignment or something when pushing the input shaft into the clutch??? I KNOW I was way off when trying to line it up and am hoping that I didn't damage anything while shoving, sweating, wheezing and farting trying to get the damned thing bolted up.

Oh and there's no clutch fork return spring.

The fingers were a second thought if the fork checks out ok. You know I hate just throwing a laundry list of possible suspects out all at once.

What type of pressure plate is on there?

No spring eh? It WAS that way whne you took it apart? No little box of "leftover parts" is there? :lol2:

The fingers were a second thought if the fork checks out ok. You know I hate just throwing a laundry list of possible suspects out all at once.

What type of pressure plate is on there?

No spring eh? It WAS that way whne you took it apart? No little box of "leftover parts" is there? :lol2:

Ummmm.... an orange one? heh, all I know is it's a centerforce dual friction clutch, etc. :smooch:

No there weren't any leftover parts... that I know of. (My 2 year old probably has a bearing or two in with her building blocks or something.:rofl: )

The spring was always missing, I knew about it. The mechaniprick that replaced the clutch told me it was missing and that he "tightened everything up" so that it didn't matter. I can see where it is supposed to go on the clutch fork, but have no idea where the other end goes.

The damn thing is also missing a flywheel cover. :disappoin

There's pretty much no way to check the fingers without pulling the trans back out is there? :banghead:

There's pretty much no way to check the fingers without pulling the trans back out is there? :banghead:

just whatever little inspection hole they give ya.

well, fuck. I just tested it out at lunch time. Shifts nice and smooth. But now reverse is stuck in gear... even after you shift out of it. So the old shift into 3rd trick no worky.

I guess I'm going to have to pull it back out and pull the tail housing off and see wtf happened to the reverse shift arm. It's a little loose and I think it may have come off the reverse gear flange.

Damn that sucks Jim, going backwards isnt good, but since you're doing it, might as well as go ahead and get the spring back in there eh?

Trial and error my friend, trial and error :lol:

So the shifter physically won't come out reverse, or it does and just flops around and the trans is still in reverse.

okokok.... the shifter works fine, the shift rods work fine, the linkage to move the gears works fine...

The FUCKING reverse gear is no longer attached to shift fork because the pin that holds the reverse shift arm in place worked loose... while the shifter is working properly, reverse is engaged all the time, even while first, second, third and fourth are engaged - won't move at ALL unless going in reverse and will probably shatter the main shaft if you try to engage a forward gear while reverse is engaged. (Next time I'm slamming that little bitch in there with a mini-sledge.)

However... I also have an issue with fourth slipping out, so I'm going to take it apart and fix that anyway... so... I'll accept defeat so long as we call it a tie... and I get to drink beers whilst correcting my errors.

I just need to find out where the shim goes to make fourth hold... and get new friggin gaskets.

Oh and Dylan... I WILL be smoking while drinking beers while fixing the trans again. I just accepted the fact that you (at least me anyway) can't wrench on anything without smoking... it has a significant positive impact on my stress level and blood pressure. I can play a little roulette, well, at least I'm GOING to. And while I'm being honest.. I fell off the wagon several weeks ago and have been smoking like a banshee.

Bad bad :nono:

What I found gets me by is the Captain Black (little stogies) or black and milds. Especially last night after my brother in law left me standing there for an hour and half with my thumb up my ass to bleed the brakes. 2 f'n vacuum pumps laying around and can't find a shred of one. So it took me a little over an hour total to partially drop the tank, remove the old lines, bend new ones and install, but have to wait an hour and half to get the end results.

Worth it tho, I always hated the pedal in that thing, was always soft, everything new on all 4 corners, master cyl, still soft. Talked with a couple of Buick techs and they said that's the way it is so the older drivers have a 'comfortable' fell. Not me, I want to tap it and get results. Well, pretty close to that now :thumbsup:

Anyway, didn't you say "mechaniprick' had something welded in? hmmm, think ya just found out why.

yep! That bastard. I may have to slouch down to his level just to get the damned thing to work though...

Anyhoo... I think that's going to be my relaxing task - ME TIME - for this Saturday or maybe Sunday. (In between laying a hardwood floor, putting up all new baseboards, crown moldings, trim, and preparing a huge chunk of wall with headers and jack studs for french doors, and THEN she wants a deck and patio coming off the french doors***whimper, whimper***... between this damned car and redoing the dining room my freakin hands are so chewed up it's not even funny).

I just can't get past smoking though... I have dreams about it. And you know, the smell of trans fluid, oil, etc just lends itself to smoking.... I'm getting to be like the crack addict who lives right in the middle of Camden's crack district. It's terrible. I can't stand stinking and having to clean up before I pick up the kids, but then I can't wait until they go to bed so I can go smoke a half a pack or so before I go to bed. IloveitIloveitIloveit... You know, the most fun things in life are the worst for you, smoking, cheesesteaks, drinking excessively, driving really fast down a twisty country road, teasing your wife about her outift...

teasing your wife about her outift...

There ain't a smiley for how damned hard my gutt busted on that one.

Hey don't feel bad, after 2 1/2 months I finally got the tub fired up for the first time since cramming a 6 ft tub where a 4 '7" one once was. All that's left is to greenboard around it, mud and DONE.

Anyways, back on topic, sort of, I'll be joining you shortly on the "Camaro under the knife" theme. Getting a deal on a Corolla, so I might be saving the Buick and getting rid of the vette. Subsiquently have to find a temporary home for the AMC and gut the 'maro.

you have a vette, corvette or chevette, what kind of amc, btw jim hope you can get this thing going soon, you need some video too

Err, chevette :rolleyes:

But hey it's not an eye sore, it's really clean and gets good mileage, so with gas the way they are so what.

AMC is a 68 Rambler American.

Getting a deal on a Corolla, so I might be saving the Buick and getting rid of the vette. Subsiquently have to find a temporary home for the AMC and gut the 'maro.

Dylan... what the hell does that mean? Getting a corolla, keeping the buick, 86'ing the vette, kicking the rambler out of its home and cutting into the maro.... because you only have 3 places in your garage???

Oh and thanks babs, Yeah... I'm trying to hunt down another set of gaskets for the M21 and then I'm off to the races. And I'll have to bum a vid cam off someone, my kids tossed mine in the toilet (along with the cordless phone, my cell phone, a remote or two)... so it no worky.

Ain't it fun when your wife puts something on and asks you how it looks and you just can't stop yourself from laughing... I always say: If you don't wanna hear the answers, don't ask the questions, cause I'm not gonna lie.

That meant i can't do a damn thin gon anything because there's too many damn non-moving cars around trying to get into one garage. If the village would let me I think i'd put up a pole barn and be happy, don't think so on that :lol:

I swear it's like the one Foxworthy line, "if you own a home that's mobile and several cars that aren't..........." minus the mobile home.

So right now I have no where to work on the 'maro. Hell I had to do a brake line last night on half concrete half gravel, not only did it feal wonderful but cars make some interesting noiseswhen jacked on gravel. But I don't reayy want the 'vette anyway, stick in rush hour traffic (avg. 45 min. to go 13 miles) not really too over excited about. So, the corolla gives a chance to get rid of car that's sitting on it's duff right now (no plates) and get the camaro in for much needed repairs, hence join you on the "under the knife" in your sig

get it :slap:

Ain't it fun when your wife puts something on and asks you how it looks and you just can't stop yourself from laughing... I always say: If you don't wanna hear the answers, don't ask the questions, cause I'm not gonna lie.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Mine always end with, the truth!?!

YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Pole barn would be perfect, but would take up most of my postage stamp sized yard. I'm going to manage with the current setup as long as I can, then drop 10 and punt... buy a couple acres and build house.

hey im lookin for a rambler american wanna sell it

hey im lookin for a rambler american wanna sell it

No, wanna buy a chevette tho? :lol:

not unless it has a big block or something, what kind of kind of condition is the american in, i just looked at one a 67 65000 original miles, mint interior, no rust but had been tapped on the back end(very fixable) for 2500, starting to wish i had bought it now

Mine is '68, with a Ambassador interior, 3spd and driveline from a javelin/amx.

Backend was wrecked trunk was in the back seat, cut sectioned and welded back together. About all that's left is to patch the infamous right hand floor pan hole, new headliner, fuel gauge sending unit and a final brake bleeding and she's road worthy.

Oh, for the 'vette, got a 250 sitting right in front of it :thumbsup:

dam i was hopin you would say like 502, or 572 or 738 on nitro or something

babs... why does every engine size you ever mention equate to a 454 being bored, like 1000 times over???

Size complex babs? :dunno:

babs... why does every engine size you ever mention equate to a 454 being bored, like 1000 times over???

:lol2: I was thinking almost the same thing.

because cubic inches owns over anything, come on who dosent agree with me, would you rather have a plain old 454 or have it punch out to 468, or 504 or something really crazy like this for example, come on 737 ci and 2200 hp you cant beat that, and its carbed no less!

... 468, or 504 or something really crazy like this for example, come on 737 ci and 2200 hp you cant beat that, and its carbed no less!

Ummm... unless driving to work consists of 1/4 mile stints on a track at like 300 MPH... totally worthless as a commuter vehicle. Fun, I'll give you that, but you'd have to get a second job just to afford the gas. Besides, a motor that heavy in a Chevette??? Bottoming-out ain't the word. You'd basically have to build a frame strong emoung to support the weight and torque and then bolt the chevette body on. All that work for it too look like such a P.O.S.???

Babs, you need to quit drinking all that coffee and Mountian Dew.... do you look like this when you sleep... http://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/images/smilies/jumping.gif (http://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=1442664#)??? Or is it more like this... http://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/images/smilies/hot.gif (http://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=1442664#)???

2 mere little words:

Bad Seed :D

meh, its all the fumes and beer from dragracing

so kevin you going to paint your car, you know orimer absorbs moistues, if you dont paint soon you may have a rust problem

yea... i was originally planning on having it painted towards the end of this summer, but considering that i might be losing my job (thanks to Bush forcing the use of military operational funds to war in Iraq), I might have to put that on hold.

a couple of small parts that i didn't cover so well with primer have started rusting already, but it's no big deal... its only flash rust. plus, it's very very easy to sand back down to the metal since that's the only thing below the primer now. i'm not worried about it.

i appreciate the heads up.