Inside names! He's referring to @Silvair , Iron Lord club member and all around swell guy! He's building a '29 AV8 roadster.... Lifted from @oldnorthstateinvitational IG post
The Thrust washers are key to a good shifting and driving early top loader. I will look through my stuff, I think I still have a 37 to 40 mount, makes it much easier to mount. What ever case you are going to use, i would start by disassembling and it and have the case hot tanked. Get it real clean to check the thrust surfaces, Like del said, a case ca look mint, but the thrust surfaces can be wasted. In some cases you need custom made thrust washers. the 39 Trans Doug built for me a few years ago had some custom thinkness ones to get it just right. Call me anytime if i can help man!!
Kerosene bath in the partswasher to remove the lube, sandblast in my cabinet to remove rust, blow clear, then another clean Kerosene bath to remove dusty grit.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^ That works if you want to do it yourself. Any motor rebuilder has a Hot Tank, I kind of like that method myself however Hot Tank won't touch the rust.
All the old car parts I start with have rust. It's a fact of life for me. My blasting cabinet is absolutely the best tool purchase I have ever made.
I totally agree. The thing about Blast Cabinets is any moving parts that go through one must have every single ounce of Blast Cabinet Dust removed almost to a sterile level or it becomes a lapping compound.
All set up for an AV8, rebuilt original universal joint wit the Van Pelt cross shaft, Early V8 garage parking brake bracket. Personally the Van Pelt book is a must. Also it is very handy and simple to build a simple stand to hold the gearbox upright for both handling and storage, it takes up much less space and looks nicer standing up...
Read through it cover to cover just to get the general scope of things. Then go back and focus in on the unit you actually have. Then you'll begin to understand most of what's already been handed to you as for information and how to's.
A lot of good advice here. A few things to be mindful of as well. -You'll want to use at least a 28 tooth cluster/gear set. More than likely, that open drive truck trans. is a 29 tooth. 29 tooth is not a good gear set to use. If you have access to a 26 tooth LZ set, this is a happy medium between 28 tooth and 25 tooth LZ's. Not crucial, just a nice thing to be able to wind out 1st & 2nd gear a little longer. 3rd is 1 to 1 no matter what gear set you use. -Follow Mac VP's book to the letter. Clearances are crucial. Unfortunately, you need to bolt up the rear bearing retainer to check the clearances. This means you may need to take the trans apart a few times to get it right. Whatever you do, get them right. Don't settle or say close enough if near the top end of loose. Taking a trans out of torque tube car is not an easy chore. I like to go on the tighter side of the clearance vs. the looser. Loose clearances cause the dreaded popping out of second gear because the clusters want to push upward upon deceleration. -If you can't get the clearances, Mac VP sells thrust shims in various thicknesses in order to get the clearance in spec. -If possible, try to find US made bearings (especially caged rollers for the shafts) and find NOS main shafts. Current replacement shafts are too soft and the the Chinese made rollers are junk. You are better off using good used ones than the new Chinese ones. If they fail (which they do), the trans will completely lock up. Fred @ Southside Obsolete should have these. The shafts and cage roller bearings are the same for '32-'51. -Get your synchros from a reputable source. Mac VP "fixes" the repop ones he sells. Junk synchros will cause you to pull your hair out because they lock up the snychro hub and don't let it engage the gears correctly. I like to use NOS ones and they can be found reasonably still. They used the same synchro for many years. -Of the cases you showed, I'd use the 78 case. They are a little deeper (very slightly) than a 48 case, but when you've got your paws inside one, every fraction of an inch counts. Check the wear on the thrust surfaces on which ever case you use. If they are ridged or wavy, find another case. -You don't need those gimicky super strong detents in the top. Just get a double detent rebuild kit from Mac VP. He has a helper spring that you can add to the 2nd gear side. Use Mac VP's throw out bearing return spring. It's a little more heavy duty. Don't use used. That's another PITA item to change if it breaks. -I use 85W-90 GL-4 Sta-Lube and not 90W GL-1. Either is fine, but I like the pressure additives that are in GL-4. DO NOT use GL-5. -Decide what crossmember you are going to use since this will determine what rear bearing retainer/mount you need to use. -Use the best gear set you have. Don't settle for chipped teeth or ones with wear. Pay attention to 2nd gear since this is bushed from the factory. -Lastly, use some RTV in the holes for the shafts. This will help with leaks. A tip Mac VP gave me was to insert the shaft retaining pin with the flange facing the ground. Smear it with RTV and especially around the button head/flange. Oil will seep out of this area if not sealed up. It is often overlooked. Take your time and come back and ask questions. We're here to help. Good luck.
I received my F1 crossmember yesterday from @chaddilac so that's one more piece to the puzzle! Cant remember where I stole these from, but I'll be looking closely and duplicating much of what can be seen...
Looking at the photos above raises a question... How hard is it to run a stock un-split wishbone with this setup? Or is it a foregone conclusion that I MUST split them?
Just depends on length of the wishbone, and how far forward/back you place the crossmember. I've seen guys make little lips to stick out the front of the crossmember to hold the wishbone ball cups.
Probably not just going to fall in place. When I did my chassis using the 37 X member my wishbone was 3" to short to get to the socket so I just lengthened the unit the 3" I needed. You don't have to split the bones and if you can do that as needed you can just as easily lengthen them or build a socket and place it where it does the job. Make sure you have your Caster in mind while doing this modification.
@Pist-n-Broke Point taken under advisement on caster. I have to get my rear spring built and installed on my '40 rear, then under a frame. At that point I'll address the caster/wishbone issue. Does that progression sound logical?
Before everything is finalized, set the motor in the frame with the oil pan you plan to use on it to make sure it clears the wishbones. Generally early 21 stud pans (interchangeable on early motors up to 59AB flatheads) gives you even clearance to not make contact with the wishbone. It's more of an issue on the starter side.
I seldom build with a full spring on either end. I use just the main leaf and block the frame rails at desired final ride angle. Then set the front axle at caster and build the mount as needed. Once the project is 99% done add leaf's to build a spring pack to do the job at hand.
Depending on your final Ground Profile you should also have the Front Crossmember in the program to tilt it as needed, not just flat to the top of frame rails unless you setting the car pretty flat.
Splitting the wishbone will make it a lot easier but you have to make sure you have the good caster because once its all set its hard to add more. You could graft 2 wishbones together with a model A ball end then build a mount off the f1 crossmember to hold the ball. There are lots of ways to keep the solid wishbone. 32 wishbone seems to be the best if you dont want to mess with one. There are several threads on all this. F1 crossmember is handy but all you need are the f1 pedals and you can easily make a simple crossmember to hold everything.
Thanks all for the input! Another thing I need to figure out (and quick) is.... My titled frame is rusty/pitted and the front crossmember is bolted in (and not well, I might add)! My desire is to replace the frame with a good spare that I have, but I need to sort out the title impact with the State before I willy-nilly swap frames. Ideally, I would build the good frame with all the intended parts, then set my body onto this frame, using the suggestions above. Just hope they don't require a bonded title or issue a "street rod" title! UPDATE: The "good" frame turned out to be not-so-good, but it had a nice front crossmember. So, I removed my malignant crossmember and transplanted the donor in! Good to go!
you need to place the radiator then drop in the motor with the fan about 1/2" from the radiator... everything else falls into place. You can move the body a little to adjust the spacing to the firewall. Spacing from the fan to radiator will dictate the trans mount. Because it's all connected fan to trans mount. Then you shorten the driveshaft to fit.
Had just a few minutes yesterday, so I opened up my donor sideshift '40 transmission. I was amazed at the condition of the 80-year-old gears inside!! Other than greasy, they look nearly new!!
Not sure what's going on with the Main Shaft pulled back like it is but if you're trying to take things apart, you're going at it the wrong way. To go any further, you must drop the Cluster gear into the bottom of the case. That means removing the shaft holding it in place.
@Pist-n-Broke This is the condition it was in when I purchased it. I think the bearing "fell out" when the rear bearing retainer/mount was removed. I have "the book" and was reading it again yesterday before I start actual disassembly. I'll be sure to follow every instruction, mark my work...and VPS's!!
Got the '40 trans disassembled and all the internals in a pan to be cleaned up. Its no lie that the VPS book is the go-to for disassembly! Now, on to Chapter 3 - Parts Inspection! Without a thorough cleaning, my eye still sees minimally worn gear teeth. Currently feeling optimistic!
Glad to see that you’re using my book for the transmission. You’ll know LOTS more about the gears after you get them cleaned up. Sometimes you find galling on the sides of the gear teeth after the cleaning. Keeping my fingers crossed for you. I can see that the second gear bronze synchronizer ring is worn out, so plan on replacing the two rings. Figure on replacing the ball bearings, thrust washers, synchro rings, and all snap rings on the refresh. You might be able to reuse the caged roller bearings if they are the original parts and still in good shape. Have fun with the job!
The Jalopy Journal
