I have to go through and overhaul a C4. I have big homemade wooden workbench, heavy plywood top. I was thinking about painting the top surface with white gloss paint, tacking and caulking little rails on the edges and making a trough to catch the fluid in a bucket. I may use stapled on plastic (garbage bag) for the trough. Does this sound good?
Sounds like a good idea. It will be messy no matters what, but give it a shot. Worst case you will learn what not to do next time.
I'm pretty lazy but that sounds like a lot of work to build a table for the purpose of building one transmission. I use a table that's mostly a open framework which I put a piece of plywood across if I'm using it as a workbench. In the case of rebuilding a Powerglide I cut a hole in the plywood to let the tailshaft stick through with the front of the case pointing up when installing the internals. I can get a photo later today if you'd like a picture. BTW.....a friend of mine does quite a bit of woodworking so I get sawdust from him to use as oil dry for when I inevitably spill oil or ****** fluid on the floor, and it works fine. Why buy oil dry if you can get something for free that does the job? Lynn
I was thinking of skinning my workbench with a sheet of white Masonite or equivalent. I figured that it’s pretty tough and I could see better. Some kind of edging is a good idea, anything that finds it’s way to the floor in my shop could be gone forever, lol.
Many years ago I worked at a transmission shop part time while I was in engineering school. I learned a lot at work.... I got to do the low level work, such as tearing down parts transmissions, cleaning the parts, and putting them on the used parts shelves. We had a nice teardown bench, it had a steel top that was slightly sloped towards the center, and there were holes in the center, and it drained into a 5 gallon bucket. So when it was time to make my own teardown bench, I knew what to do...got a metal drip pan, built a wood bench with a big X cut through the top, trimmed the 2x4s that support it so it would have a slight taper towards the center, and it still works great 40some years later. and with the bench in action. Been a lot of TH400s on here over the decades.
My 9 inch Logan has a stand. On the stand someone made a drip tray that the lathe bolt on. Just sheet metal wi angle iron bolted around the perimeter, they used some type of sealer under the angle iron and in the “corners”.
Speaking of a drip tray, would the kind sold at AP stores be large enough? I think mines 3ft x2ft or there abouts.
Or you could buy this one. Or not. Snap on engine transmission teardown table bench new $1,200 Marketplace - Snap on engine transmission teardown table bench new | Facebook
When it’s clear of junk, I use my 50+ year old homemade welding table. , It’s usually not this clean! It’s worse! It’s a heavy sheet of steel diamond plate, and it’s on casters so I can move it outside for dirty work… btw, it’s not that little thing in front, it’s the one against the wall. Oh, you say it doesn’t look like a work bench? It’s not, usually, it’s a junk catcher
If the buyer was going to drill a drain hole somewhere, it wouldn't hurt near as much if the seller advertised it at "only $1,200".
It's probably just me. But I'm getting the aroma of Budweiser and cigar smoke. With maybe just a hint of that burnt ATF smell.
Never one to mess with slushboxes, but that gear lube smell is never forgotten... My workbench top is made of discarded solid-core doors (and not particle-board filler either; real wood) and I figure that all the 'stuff' that's got on it acts as a wood preservative... LOL
For any type of a "clean" work bench top I'd check the local big-box home stores and see if they had any formica counter top end-cuts or mis-cuts. Likely to find some with a back splash already on it. Mount it with a slight tilt to one rear corner. Might also check with the kitchen remodelers and see if they have anything used and left over from a kitchen tear-out. They used to show up sometimes on Craigslist or other cl***ified ads sites.
FWIW..... Here is my sometime workbench /transmission table without and with the board with the hole for a tail shaft. Crude, yeah. Unattractive, yeah. Gets the job done, yeah. I sometime throw a sheet of steel or a piece of Big c channel on it and it becomes my welding table as well. Lynn
Years ago we built a workbench, wooden frame and a bit lower than all my other benches. It's 8 feet wide and 3.5 feet deep. I got a tin basher from a local HVAC shop to bend up a tin top with the side and rear edges bent up and the front bent down to attach it to the bench I drilled a hole in the top and soldered a 5/8 inch copper pipe to it with a pail down below to catch the fluid. It works real well for both auto and manual trans work, keeping the mess to a minimum.
It looks like I haven't done a ****** for a week or two. Bench is actually 2.5 Ft. deep and 8 Ft. wide. I also have an adjustable bracket that attaches to an engine stand to support a case pump side up for ease of ***y.
I have a teardown bench I bought from my transmission parts supplier. My salesman called me and said that someone had bought a large supply of heavy gauge cold rolled sheet metal and had bent up a bunch of these. Wasn't much money back then. It had the trof in the back and had bolt on side panels. At home I got a 12 plus foot long stainless steel counter with a tall back splash. When I mounted it to the back wall in my ba*****t I set the legs to be shorter in the back and a slop to the left side. The oil runs to the back and off to the left so I put a drip pan there. The right side is next to my parts washer so when parts are cleaned they can just be transferred to the table and any cleaning fluid rust roll to the back and down to the drip pan. This counter was probably some restaurant prep counter. I got it at the local salvage auction for cheap.
That metal floor drip pan on the work bench is a great idea and cheap-n-easy I used to work for a small trans shop, owner had at least 5 nice metal work/oil drain benches that he built welded up , and with a 5 gal bucket drain at the back
To @F-ONE original post, I would be afraid of the paint coming off the board. That could pose a real problem if it gets in the transmission.
I use my teardown bench to take them apart, but I put them together on another bench that has a masonite surface, and a hole to put shafts through for stacking clutches, etc.
I don't do autos, but I did build a rotisserie for my T5 to facilitate a polish job. Put a hefty bag over the work bench and bolted down a make "shift" rotisserie to the top.
That had to be a labor of love or polish should I say. I had a guy that did that I only played with small fixings.
How'd ya do that polishing ? Did ya just use that Rolite polish or use fine wet or dry sand paper first. Is that Rolite good stuff? I Have some liquid green stuff from The Wax Shop that works 100 times better and faster than Mothers on aluminum rims .
Nearly all of the sanding was by hand. I could use 2" roto loc abrasives on the flats and for removing serial numbers and casting marks. I made some sanding "tubes" with brake line that I wrapped adhesive sand paper around and chucked up in an air drill, that worked for the tight inner areas. Polishing was done with dremel, die grinder and lots of Crown Royal.
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