1959 ford fairlane custom has horrible shake in first and reverse

Ok so I am not the best mechanic and have had a couple people look/try to fix an issue I am having. I purchased a 1959 ford fairlane custom 3 on the tree 6 cyl engine 4 link and air ride all the way around. When i purchased it, it had a horrible shake when taking off in first and in reverse rattles the whole car. the man i purchased it from said he replaced the clutch but did not replace the pilot bearing and said that is why it does it I figured easy enough SO the mechanic at my shop replaced the pilot bearing and put everything back together and still does it. We also put the vehicle on the lift to take the load off and put it in gear still would shake. Spoke to a transmission guy he said remove the drive line put it back up on the lift if it shakes it is from the trans forward if it does not it is drive line back mechanic did remove the drive line and there was no more shake. So he adjusted the drive line thinking it was maybe binding and also changed the u joints still no change. We also checked the bushings on the 4 link little worn but dont look that bad. Checked the rear end yoke and has very little play. Any help would be great... hopefully I described everything ok.

 

When you were replacing pilot bearing did you look at surface of flywheel & pressure plate ? Springs in that "new" clutch might be week also .

 

Check the flywheel and clutch plate surfaces; if either is warped, that'll do it.

 

Thanks for the quick reply's we did check the flywheel and pressure plate they both looked in good shape. I did order a new clutch and will surface the flywheel just to try to eliminate one more thing but the clutch we received is much larger then the one in the vehicle now could they have put the wrong clutch in? Will the fly wheel house two diff size clutches?

 

Does it shake at speed, or just a shudder when starting in REV/First?

If it shudders just when starting, I'd look at clutch balance (the flywheel and pressure plate may have balance marks that may be misaligned).

I'd also look at motor mounts and trans mounts.

Driveshaft could be bent or out of balance.

 

thanks mike51merc I will look into the clutch balance......it does only happen in rev and first when taking off when you get above 5 mph it smooths right out.

 

Remove the inspection cover from the bottom of the bellhousing. Rotate clutch and look for any marks or drill holes on the flywheel and on the pressure plate.

If you find marks and they're not aligned, you can probably unbolt pressure plate and spin it to the right place without removing the transmission.

Also, you should verify that your motor mounts are good. The rubber sometimes turns to mush and the engine can wobble under torque.

Sometimes the shaking is a symptom of an engine problem that just seems worse when starting from a dead stop and gets smoother when cruising.

 

thanks again mike51merc I will remove the bottom of the bellhousing and let you know.....Do you happen to know any where I can purchase new motor mounts and trans mounts?

 

Back in the 70's-80's clutch discs could cause chatter depending on the composition, I haven't heard of it being a problem in recent years, but then again a lot more cars are automatic. Depending on when the disc was made it could be your problem.

 

Did you look in the trans when you had it out? Gear, bearing problem?
Universals out of phase, pinion angle?

 

put it in low, rap the engine to about 4 grand , and slip the clutch until yyou smell it. it will either smooth it out or get worsed. If that doesn't do it

 

When I bought my 64 3speed, it would shake horribly. Turns out the trans tail shaft was missing the sleeve? It only had the seal. The tail shaft was so wallowed out the sleeve had fallen inside the tail shaft housing.

Not sure if those are the official terms for those items.

 

Now that I think about it I think it's called a bushing, even though it's metal?

Good luck

 

Thanks again guys...I actually just got a new seal and bushing for the tail shaft I will try that and let you guys know

 

while you have the driveshaft out,rotate the pinion gear checking for any roughness or up and down play.a bad pinion bearing can act the way you describe