I’ve got a couple of questions about my R10 trans: first, how far should the yoke slide along the output shaft? Mine only goes about 1.25” before it hits something. I can push it further but then it doesn’t turn. Second, I want to replace the seal. Any ideas on how best to remove the old seal? I tried a seal remover. No luck. Heat? Thanks!
There is a bushing in the tail shaft that the yoke goes into. Sounds like your yoke is too big around to go into the bushing.
^^^^^ Those R10’s came behind a lot of different transmissions and different makes. That info would help, if you know what it was originally. Mac at Van Pelt Sales is go to for parts. Here’s a link to the originals factory manual if it’s any help. http://www.oldwillysforum.com/forum/TechData/BWOverdriveManual.pdf
Those old rear seals that Ford used were full shell steel housed seals. They’re about 1/2” wide and yours is fully sealed in its home at the end of the tail housing. I’ve never removed one from a fully assembled transmission and certainly not when the tranny is still in the vehicle. From my personal experience, I’ve had to collapse the shell of the seal inwards before I could get the seal puller to get it out. My job is easier since we’ve already disassembled the tail housing from the rest of the transmission. I can block it on the floor of the shop and work around the perimeter of the seal with a chisel and hammer to collapse it enough to pull it. I’m going to suggest that you consider doing a bit more than just replace that rear seal. I know that this becomes another project creep you probably didn’t want to do, but there’s so many things that could be wrong with this transmission that you’d never really know what it needs without a basic rebuild. If one seal leaks, the others won’t be far off too. The rear bushing should be replaced and that one is a real bear to replace with the transmission still together. All the paper gaskets should be replaced. A good look and feel of all the bearings. Checking out the bronze synchro rings. The list goes on…. Unless you know that this exact transmission was working perfectly before you got it, it’s a big gamble to install it as is only to find out that it fails to operate correctly and/or leaks fluid everywhere. It certainly won’t be any easier to remove and reinstall it later than it is right now with everything open and accessible. One more thing to contemplate in your build. It’s hard to get the full concept from the photo you show, but I would want to figure out now that I had the ability to remove the transmission after the body is sitting on the chassis. Even something as simple as being able to get the transmission back enough to replace the clutch will most likely require removing the unit from below. Will the cross members and braces be removeable? Can the transmission slide back far enough to clear the clutch and then drop out of the chassis?
First, a bit more information about this. The engine and trans are from a '51 Mercury. 8BA, BW R10 OD. It was pulled from the car when they decided to go with some LS swap or some such thing. Who knows. Could be. It came with no yoke. I got one from another HAMB'r last year and it slid in real nice, just not very far. I may have assumed that the OD of the yoke was the same for all of them. See above for what it came from... Funny, I called Mac VP Friday, forgetting that he was closed on Friday's, so I put this post up hoping for some insight. Lo and behold, MVP himself posts on my thread!!! Mac, thanks for the informative response. Based on your feedback, once I'm done setting up the chassis, I'll go through the engine and transmission. To answer a couple of your questions. I haven't run the engine for an extended period, but did start it briefly to see if there was anything REALLY wrong. No red flags there. I made the crossmember under the transmission removable, but since I have a wishbone, it would be nearly impossible to remove the transmission from underneath without removing the whole front end. Being that this is a pretty simple roadster, it's actually easier to pull the engine with the transmission from the front after removing the radiator and hood (if I run a hood). All great suggestions from you, Mac, so instead of trying to remove the seal in-situ, I think I'll order the R10 book from you and dig into that when I get the chassis work done. Might be the right time to dig into the engine at the same time. Sigh, looks like my build might take just a tad bit longer... Thanks all. This place ROCKS!
All you need to pull the seal & determine if the yoke will slide into the bushing is one of these ...
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