Trans Rebuild.... COMPLETED!

[Earlsfat]

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.

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.

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. (More shipping charges... dammit). While under the dash I found this....




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. 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?

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

[Rally Sport]

thats good to hear Jim.

[blindeyed]

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.

[kahjdh]

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

[666_speed]

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

[1986Z28]

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

[Earlsfat]

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?

[666_speed]

that sucks

[wrightz28]

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?

[Earlsfat]

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.

[Earlsfat]

Originally Posted by wrightz28

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???

[wrightz28]

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 ).

[Earlsfat]

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???

[wrightz28]

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.

[instantkevin]

Originally Posted by Earlsfat

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.