thanks! More progress towards getting home. About 550 miles to go. Todays Buc ees stop let us see a few ot Chevy trucks, as well as a photo op pose with a beaver.
I got the transmission out and partly apart. Turns out it was the other thing that could have been wrong with 2nd gear, it rolled the sprag. So the 2nd clutch was not doing anything, even though it was still working.
A friend mentioned that it might have happened during a burnout. In Plan II I always did the burnout in high gear, it worked fine. In Cheep, I've been doing the burnout starting in 2nd then 3rd, because something I put in the car had instructions to do that. I think I'll go back to high gear only burnouts. I did that on the last pass on Friday, since I didn't have 2nd gear any more, and the burnout was fine. Makes sense to me, a burnout is brutal on a transmission if you're shifting, so I think it's better to just leave the geartrain all locked up in direct drive, and avoid potential issues. I ordered some gaskets and a 34 element sprag, should be here tomorrow.
Ya, you want to end the burnout in high gear, specially if the tires hook as you lift off the loud pedal. The shock load is high on the sprag or roller clutch if it is holding power like a T-400 in 2nd gear. I usually ran 400 grit wet paper over the sprag races when a new sprag unit was installed.. Just a practice I developed over the decades
I did shift before ending the burnout...hmmm... Anyways, to the rearend. With the car running 126 mph, it's close to red line through the lights. So I'm working on installing the 3.27 gears to replace the 3.73 that is in the 8.8 Ford rear now. But I can't get the pinion out! I removed the nut, then pulled off the flange, then put an old nut on the threads of the pinion gear. Beating on it really hard with a big hammer, it has not budged. now what do I do?
Front bearing seized to pinion? Can you get the front bearing out with a hook? The view looks like normal parts in normal positions. Only other thing is the spacer wedged or stuck, but that should still allow the pinion to move around...
Ordinarily, the suggestion would be to use some heat on that nut, but that being said, its dam near impossible to do that, with a rosebud, and NOT catch the oil on fire in the differential housing. I would imagine that using that kind of heat, might not be good for the temper of the metals you are trying to deal with. "All things are possible, through speed and diligence"
Reading old posts on mustang forums, it can be a real bitch to get the pinion out of the front bearing on the 8.8. Heat is probably going to come into play soon. With fire precautions.
@41 GMC K-18 The nut's off. The pinion isn't coming out! The image says use a bigger hammer, but Jim already used a big hammer! It's the desert, Jim. What fire precautions? Be safe, best of luck.
Jim, do you have a burp gun (air chisel)? I have not seen them move stuff a sledge wouldn't in cases like this, but when you go for the heat, it will avoid worrying about hold, hammer and heat.
I bought one to try, and it doesn't do anything either. I heated up the bearing and beat on the pinion a few times, still hasn't moved. Might take the housing out and put it in the press, and see what happens. If it's out of the car then I can see well enough to cut the bearing off with a torch if need be.
I took it out and put it in the 30 ton press, no movement. Torched the bearing, no movement. What fun.
That's crazy! I worked at a Ford dealership for 9 years, I've built about 25 or so 8.8s and I've never had one i couldn't hammer out. Good luck
WOW! I thought I was the only guy that runs into that strange stuff. At some point, the inner race must have spun on the pinion shaft and welded itself there. If that was the case, I don't see it coming apart until the inner bearing race is split and forced off the pinion with the press. I doubt there is enough clearance for the pinion to come out with the rollers all gone, but the inner race still attached to the pinion? Maybe the rear end issue caused the transmission issue?
I've seen some ignorant shit over the years, but this tops it all!!! How in the hell can a bearing be so damned stubborn?
Hey Jim what did you think of the kids Eagle wagon with the 4.0 AMC/mopar/Jeep turbo setup? I see he ran a 9.51 on the last day of DragWeek…
yeah, no....this ain't my first rodeo. Just the toughest. I pulled all the rollers out, and finally got the torch deep enough in there to split the cone, then the pinion just tapped out. Very weird. I've been fighting rearends for almost 50 years, never seen anything like this one. Oh...the Eagle wagon, killer car! I love it
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