Packard Forum Index » Project Blogs

Sunday 19th December 2010

Not Wade's Workshop today but the pic's below are the fruits of half an hour spent in Ed's garage. Ed, the owner of a '37 120 Touring Sedan, had a bug screen he'd made for the '37 he wanted to dispose of. I'd previously suggested he advertise it as a giveaway in our club magazine "The Packardian" but for whatever reason it missed making the latest edition. I'd also previously said I'd take it if no one wanted it rather than it getting acrapped, so there I was to pick it up. Any Aussies reading this needing a bug screen for a '30's/early '40's Packard, just yell and it's yours!

So that was why I was there. And while there I saw Ed's other passion his collection of motorcycles. He has 5 but one is in pieces so really only saw four, one of which featured in a 70's cult TV series here in Oz, The Aunty Jack Show. And Wade, Ed has a lathe and knows how to use it, he's made parts for his bikes and the '37 on it! Dropped the word that the workshop from time to time requires some Packard parts machining and he seemed receptive, so?

Quote:
On Friday I did make it to ABC Bearings where the outlook for '37 Pontiac front wheel bearings looks reasonably promising. I'll know more tomorrow when I go back to Dennis at ABC with further info from Terry.

Attach file:

---

  (24.78 KB)


  (19.77 KB)


  (33.54 KB)


  (37.61 KB)


  (30.89 KB)


  (44.52 KB)


  (44.73 KB)


  (24.61 KB)


  (43.48 KB)

Monday 20th December 2010

Instead of going directly to the workshop went instead to ABC Bearings taking with me more info from traumjaegercat, Terry, regarding the '37 Pontiac front wheel bearings he's after. Should know later this week whether the search is successful or not. At the workshop found out that on Friday Wade had again been into Big Red and she's now running well. And it had been another tidy up day for Wade during which he found my scraping knife, not that there's much of it left after repeated sharpenings have taken it literally to within an inch of it's life! I'm glad it's back, I really missed it.

But the main task for the day was putting the diff centre back in Old Blue. Wade cleaned up the oil, which had dripped onto the floor under Old Blue, while I cleaned up the gasket surface on the pumpkin. Then on my back on the creeper I cleaned the surface on the diff housing, been a while since I'd done that sort of thing under a Packard. Not something you want to do but it must be done, with the consequent fallout being an occupational hazard. During that Wade was scratching around trying to turn up new copper washers for the diff stud nuts but to no avail. This meant a road trip to Lee Bros and the thought was we could kill two birds with one stone as Wade needed a 7/8" holesaw for the holes to be cut in the cowl sides of The Fossil and would pick that up at the same time. Copper washers were easy, the hard part was the hole saw. Wade had bought a holesaw auger and one blade at some time in the past to do a particular one off job but couldn't recall where he'd bought it from, and struck out at Lee Bros because they carry a different brand. Then tried Hare and Forbes, just down the road from Lee Bros, but they too couldn't help, instead they suggested try Bunnings, Australia's largest general hardware chain, who have a store just across the road. No luck at Bunnings either, and coming back over the road tried Supercheap Auto and Repco, both automotive parts stores side by side, but again no cigar. Left it at that for the time being, will try again another day.

Back at the workshop put the pumpkin on a floor jack, rolled it under Old Blue, and with Wade undercar directing proceedings, the pumpkin was jacked up and manoeuvered into the diff housing studs. Required a bit of shuffling to and fro as well as a re-positioning of the jack to one side near the end of proceedings but all-in-all a smooth operation. While Wade was underneath tightening up the diff stud nuts I slipped the axles in at each side and cleaned up the inner surfaces of the backing plates as well as all the hardware going back on. Backing plates back on, hydraulic lines reconnected, keys, belleville wave(Edit) washers, brake drums, and axle washer and nuts tightened but not yet split-pinned and then rear brakes bled and master cylinder topped up.

Still not yet finished with Old Blue because on Friday Wade had also removed the tailshaft in order to clean and repack the universal joints. Seeing the diff was receiving a lot of TLC Wade felt it was only fair the tailshaft and it's accoutrements received some too. Wade had cleaned up a couple of the uni cup and roller sets on Friday but that left another 6 to clean, courtesy of yours truely, while Wade repacked the cleaned ones. Then ended up making 8 new MBM felt seals for the uni cups, the one thing overlooked on our little excursion earlier, in the holesaw confusion and disappointment, were the new seals required! Fortunately Wade had a sheet of felt and with the appropriate sized punches from the hole punch set we soon had that requirement covered. Had to leave Wade to it at that stage and we'll see the tailshaft back in Old Blue tomorrow.

Attach file:

---

  (28.72 KB)


  (33.76 KB)


  (39.20 KB)


  (40.61 KB)


  (44.67 KB)


  (36.41 KB)


  (40.30 KB)


  (37.76 KB)


  (44.21 KB)


  (41.23 KB)

Tuesday 21st December 2010

Got to the workshop early afternoon but no Wade. He was off, with Barry Smith from Tamworth, chasing bailey channel. Four full lengths for Barry for his '38 Twelve and about 1/2 length for Wade to finish off The Fossil. But when Wade arrived he had a full length in his hand although one end had a nasty kink in it. Turns out the guy at Spectrum Rubber was demonstrating how easy it was to bend to shape when he overdid it! Now Wade has a full, but bent at one end, length for the price of a half length.

Yesterday, after my departure, Wade had partly re-installed the tailshaft on Old Blue, but the front uni joint still needs to be bolted in to complete the undecar part of the driveline. He also re-installed the rear wheels but the lug bolts and axle nuts still need to be properly tightened.

But what got done today? Answer, in the region of nothing. After Wade and Barry returned they were in deep discussion about body alignment for The Fossil because Barry has done a few in his restoration efforts and was able to pass on some good advice and tips. During this Snapey,Matt, arrived bearing a bottle of red for Wade. So while Barry and Wade were looking over The Fossil then Big Red, Mat was telling me some of his thoughts on how he's going to build his Packard speedster. The chassis will be Wade's spare '34 chassis and the engine a supercharged 120 282. Won't say any more as I'm sure Matt will enlighten us all when the time comes. After Barry left more discussion, this time between Matt and Wade, with a number of queries directed to Matt concerning the drawings required for laser cutting of parts. Not much more than that, so no hands on Packard work for the day. Hopefully tomorrow will be more fruitful.

Attach file:

---

  (38.96 KB)


  (35.57 KB)


  (21.57 KB)


  (19.99 KB)

Wednesday 22nd December 2010

Alas and alack! Oh woe is Wade! What started out as a pretty straightforward Packard day turned into something else as will be seen.

Wade had already put the drain plug into the pumpkin this morning and when I arrived he dived under Old Blue to bolt the front uni joint back in. That done, borrowed John's oil pump and filled the diff with oil and put the fill plug back in. Dropped Old Blue back to the shop floor, tensioned up the axle nuts, put in the split pins, tightened the lug bolts and replaced the hub caps. Time to start her up for the first time since early November. Battery needed a boost to get going after sitting for that time then she was off but, strangely, Wade turned her off! Why? There was no oil pressure registering on the gauge! A quick look under the car and a small pool of oil was forming. Opened the bonnet(hood) and it was found the tube from the block to the oil gauge had broken. Why it decided to do it now, after only 73 years of operation, who knows?

After Wade did his usual upside down under the dash and under Old Blue to remove the broken tube we walked round to see Col at Brookers Brakes to source some new tubing. But Col didn't have any 1/8", had 3/16" and 1/4" and a suggestion to replace the steel tube with high quality fuel injection rubber hose using the 3/16" and 1/4" to step up the diameter to fit the FI hose. So picking up the 3/16" and 1/4", which Col donated to the cause, continued walking to Repco around the corner and bought the hose. Back at the workshop Wade double flared one end of two pieces of the 1/4" tubing, cut two small pieces off the 3/16" tubing and cut the ends off the now two pieces of the original oil pressure gauge tube. Well cleaned up then soldered together the new oil pressure gauge and block fittings together with the rubber hose were then re-installed in Old Blue with Wade as usual on his back and me passing spanners(wrenches), holding lights and acting as gofer. All back together, started her up, no need for the booster this time and Houston.....we have oil pressure!

And there we now were, ready to go for a test drive in Old Blue, something we expected to be doing half a day earlier. Out the workshop, up the driveway, turn left into the street, what's that noise I ask Wade? "It's OK, it's coming from the factory next door" he says.....pheeeew! But.....further up the street there's another noise, a whine, not loud, but certainly easily discernable could be heard. And Wade was taking it easy too, because of the oil pressure tubing fix, just gently driving Old Blue. Instead of a big circuit that constitutes the test run loop, Wade went only a short distance before returning to the Workshop and parked Old Blue outside. While Wade was despondent about this latest turn of events he wanted John to go with him for a short drive to gain his opinion on it's likely cause, although we all know the main suspect don't we? With nothing further to be done I left Wade to probably drown his sorrows in the bottle of red that Matt had dropped in yesterday.

And that's what constitutes "Alas and alack! Oh woe is Wade!"

Attach file:

---

  (39.35 KB)


  (32.90 KB)


  (30.54 KB)


  (26.62 KB)


  (37.30 KB)


  (25.80 KB)


  (35.79 KB)


  (42.96 KB)


  (21.29 KB)


  (29.33 KB)


  (35.29 KB)


  (39.14 KB)


  (42.62 KB)

Thursday 23rd December 2010

After a morning spent with the granddaughters dropped in at the workshop and found Old Blue back in her spot. Also learned that she'd been up on Rick's hoist with the motor running and in gear while audio diagnostics were conducted for the source of the whine. It is the diff but exactly what or why isn't yet known. Wade had called Award Diffs who advised him to bring the pumpkin back for examination but Wade wants them to hear it in action. Accordingly Award are going to arrange for a tilt tray truck to pick up Old Blue for transportation to their shop. But.....this will take place after their Christmas break when they resume on 10th January.

And Terry, speaking of resuming on the 10th, today I received a call from Dennis at ABC Bearings about the bearing search. I'll be sending you a message with details about the call but, because ABC has also shut down and re-opens on the 10th, nothing is now going to happen until then.

Later this afternoon Wade will be travelling south to Helensburg to pick up the rest of the sheet metal and the remaining painted parts for The Fossil. He's taking the workshop car trailer because he needs to transport the front mudguards(fenders) amongst other things and '34 'guards just don't fit in the back of a Ute.

Wade had also contacted John about returning his '39, he'd tried a couple of times over the last few days but couldn't reach him. So after the trailer is unloaded tomorrow, we'll return the '39 in time for it to spend Christmas at home.

Attach file:

---

  (36.72 KB)

Thursday 24th December 2010

Quote:
Didn't quite work out as expected because not everything was picked up yesterday. Although the bonnet(hood) side panels had been painted for some time they didn't come home. Joel the painter had been looking at them and had only just realised that the rib at the bottom of each bonnet(hood) side panel should have the lighter gray colour on it rather than the panel being the darker gray all over. Or maybe that was the darker gray on the rib rather than the lighter gray all over? As well there were the "buttons" or "plugs", which fill the holes in the valance panels at the spring hangers. Because Wade had posted these to Joel only about a week ago they were in primer and need to be finished. So another trip south will be required in the New Year but this time sans the need for car trailer transport of parts home.

Wade had unloaded the smaller parts before I arrived, toe board, front floor panel and sidemount covers. The front mudguards(fenders) were still on the trailer but had been untied ready for removal. First they were taken off the trailer and temporarily stored on the workshop floor with suitable protection. The trailer was then pushed out of the workshop with Wade steering by means of the jockey wheel while I lent some motive power. Then up to the mezzanine level, aka the office roof, where the pool table being stored there was cleared of an accumulation of stuff and a protective layer of padding laid on one of Lochie's old oval racetracks, a board about 8' x 4'. Very carefully the right front mudguard(fender) was carried up the stairs, they too having been cleared of obstructions beforehand, manouvered around the cage and gently positioned on the pool table. Similarly for the left front, and although it was the intention to have them side by side pointing in the one direction, this one was reversed because there just wasn't enough room that way. Took a bit of shuffling, changing places and body bending before it was in place and could be covered up until required for re-installation on The Fossil.

The other task for the day was returning John's '39 TJ Richards bodied Six to him. Wade drove the '39 while I followed in the Ute. John was pleased to have the car home for Christmas and will now be able to take it out for some runs with his son and his son's family.

A very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year to all.

Attach file:

---

  (34.25 KB)


  (30.11 KB)


  (12.20 KB)


  (32.61 KB)


  (23.78 KB)


  (26.98 KB)


  (37.85 KB)


  (31.99 KB)


  (31.43 KB)


  (30.71 KB)


  (27.46 KB)


  (26.88 KB)


  (36.44 KB)


  (25.26 KB)


  (51.24 KB)


  (46.82 KB)


  (49.64 KB)


  (23.13 KB)

Friday 31st December 2010

Quote:

Following from my visit when I viewed Chris's '48 Club Coupe cum Woodie, today Chris send me some some progress pic's and a note on it's progress(edited version below).

A few recent shots of the 48 at TJs - 50mm(2") has been taken out of the front pillars to make front lines parallel to the rear. I rebuilt and refitted the carb, fired it up on the last visit and she ran well - no funny noises etc which is very good news. Meanwhile TJ reckons I'd be wise to forget the idea of Jag front and rear ends and consequent right hand drive conversion. I think he's probably right, if the car drives, rides and handles as well as the 54 clipper I'd be very happy.

Happy New Year to all on PackardInfo

Attach file:

---

  (44.19 KB)


  (41.67 KB)


  (51.26 KB)


  (51.54 KB)


  (45.76 KB)

Tuesday 4th January 2011

Arrived at the workshop to find another '39 filling the space vacated by John's '39 before Christmas. But it wasn't Noel's '39 120 Touring Sedan, instead it's Richard's '39 Six Convertible Coupe! The Convertible Coupe had come in yesterday for attention to: 1) the throttle linkage and, 2) the gear linkages. Plan is to turn it over in a day or two so that it then can go back to Les to finish off the left door repairs he started prior to last years National Rally.

The throttle linkage was the first thing tackled. And this entailed removing the gear change linkages to the arms on the steering column to gain what little access could be afforded in that area, it's tight! It proved quite a difficult task to remove the throttle linkage because with an arm at each end it needed to be manouvered out from the accelerator pedal, once that was disconnected, then turned, squeezed, shuffled and sworn at before it even looked like it was possible to get it out. And eventually out it came! Once out it was quite apparent that the pins locking the arms at each end of the cross shaft were worn and needed replacement. Wade thought he had some lock pins(term?) roll pins(correction) on hand but of course now couldn't put a hand on them. So a walk round to Repco was required where two packets of assorted sized pins were bought. And, funny thing, on the way back to the workshop Wade remembered where he'd put the pins! Also on the way back to the workshop Wade received a call from Noel and was able to tell him to bring his '39 in. Back at the workshop drilled out the cross shaft and the arms, inserted new larger pins, and there you had it, a throttle linkage cross shaft without slop! The rod from the accelerator pedal to the cross shaft arm was also very floppy but with judicious matching of washer thicknesses most of that was also eliminated. Next another fun time, putting it back from whence it came. With me, inside the '39, pulling a wire tied to the ball of the accelerator pedal shaft and Wade manouvering the cross shaft assembly, from the engine side, it was then another fight to get it back in. And in it went. Then all the other linkage parts, accelerator pedal and carpet back in place dry testing showed everything working without slop and full travel. Only part now proving cantankerous is the hand throttle, appears there's a kink in the cable preventing it from being pulled out more than 1/2"!

From the throttle linkage it was now onto the gear linkages. During the course of removing the accelerator pedal Wade had removed two pieces of MDF from the base of the clutch pedal. Why were these there? That only became apparent later. To help access the gear linkages undercar, the front of the '39 was jacked up and jackstands put in place. A lunch break was also taken, Rick had BBQ'd some rissoles, eggs, tomatoes and onions - delicious. During lunch who should arrive but Noel, complete with clashing or grinding of gears his main source of concern this time round although he also had a laundry list of other matters to be attended to on the '39. Then onto the gear linkages, set up with an 11/64" drill through the linkage arms on the bottom of the steering column(the manual says 3/16" but it doesn't fit). The rods to the bell cranks were reconnected, also with judicious use of washers to take up any sloppiness. All appeared to fit and align well but testing of the setup proved otherwise. And this is where the MDF came in! Now that the MDF wasn't in place, in selecting reverse and holding the clutch pedal to the floor I could feel the pedal move back up during this process. Apparently the MDF was there to prevent the clutch pedal from being completely depressed to the floor! The clutch pedal was coming into contact with the rod from the steering column linkage arm to the bellcrank transferring the motion to the 1st/reverse linkage rod to the transmission arm. After a number of observations, both from the topside and by Wade under the '39, it was decided, seeing we had another '39 available for comparison purposes, to put Noel's up on Rick's hoist and see if it could tell us anything. Noel's '39, when up on the hoist, was very similar but the 1st/reverse rod from the bellcrank to the transmission had a slightly different shape. And in operating Noel's '39, when shifting into reverse, it was observed that although the clutch pedal came very, very close to the clutch pedal it didn't touch. So out came the 1st/reverse linkage rod from the '39 CC and, being a thick rod, the hot spanner was applied to enable it to be bent it into a more acceptable shape. Took about 6 heat applications, followed by cooling and check fitting cycles before the required shape was achieved. And with the 1st/reverse linkage rod now back in it necessitated adjustment to the linkage rod from the lower bell crank to the steering column arm, so again Mr 11/64" was again back in play. Adjustment done, now to fire it up and test everything for real instead of the previous dry runs. Only trouble was it wouldn't start, appears the battery is low, so was put on overnight charge for action tomorrow.

Attach file:

---

  (43.71 KB)


  (34.19 KB)


  (26.44 KB)


  (28.67 KB)


  (32.17 KB)


  (35.42 KB)


  (30.35 KB)


  (30.95 KB)


  (11.47 KB)


  (38.12 KB)

Wednesday 5th January 2011

Wade had had the '39 CC running by the time I arrived this morning but it was running like a hairy goat. In investigating this behaviour Wade found there was a good spark at the coil but not much of one by the time it got to the spark plugs. Because of that, Wade had taken the distributor cap off and the plug leads were now on the bench for testing. This revealed that whoever made the leads didn't do it properly as there wasn't a path from one end to the other, and these are copper wire leads. The leads have crimp on ends, both for the cap and the plugs, so Wade decided to ensure the spark had a path to travel by soldering all the connections. Only trouble was there weren't any crimp ends on two of the leads at the cap end. Couldn't find any on the shelf so around to Repco but they didn't have any and neither did a nearby auto-electrician. But the trip to Repco wasn't entirely wasted, while there Wade bought a new brake light switch for Noel's '39, it's a Fuelmiser brand CSL23, 2 prong and fits VW's. Back at the workshop John came up with some old leads which provided a couple of crimp ends, only trouble with these was, after soldering them to the ends of the leads, they didn't fit the cap! This prompted another search of Wade's shelves which resulted in finding an old coil to cap lead with crimped ends! These crimp ends were appropriated and soldered to the '39's leads and fitted to the distributor cap. Well, five did, and one didn't! But after fiddling, filing and judicious grinding it fitted. Then it was time to fire up the '39 CC. Didn't spring to life on the first turn but did come to life. Still running like a hairy goat, it obviously wasn't right. Pulled the plugs for inspection, only one looked like it was burning properly, and Wade also decided to do a compression test. Not good - see pic. Unfortunately the owner, Richard, is away at present so Wade isn't able to pass on this latest news. Not being able to do more at this time I cleaned the plugs, regapped and re-installed them. Started up again,seemed to run a little better, but still raggedly. The opportunity was also taken to "test" the gear linkages, that's if you can test that in the space of about 6' because the '39 CC was parked in. "Test" proved OK, well as much as 6' would allow.

Now what? Parked in, couldn't take the '39 CC for a test drive, so attention was turned to Noel's '39. It was still up on Rick's hoist, and yesterday after I left Wade had taken the bottom of the bellhousing off so he could visually inspect the clutch. Today though, first task was to take a closer look at the Clutch. With the '39 up on the hoist, I operated the clutch pedal a number of times, and Wade under the car observing. Then roles were reversed, I'd never seen a clutch in operation, so this opportunity wasn't to be missed. Not enlightening, although understanding the theory, it was neverless instructive to see pedal, rod, clutch fork, throw out bearing, pressure plate in operation and finally the clutch plate released from it's hold. But from depressing the clutch pedal during this it was obvious there was about 2" of travel or freeplay before the pedal started to act. Accordingly the freeplay on the pedal was adjusted to provide only about 1/2" - 3/4" of travel. Hoist back down, the '39 was started up and it too was put through a "test" within the confines of the hoist. Seemed better but still not great. However in firing it up, it too was running raggedly, with I think No 2 sparkplug obviously suffering from blowby although a set of NOS plugs had been installed not that long ago. So out with the plugs and replaced them with a new set of Champions, I'd bought for the '41 but hadn't used. You can thank me later Noel. Next the brake light switch was replaced and also the electrical fittings to the switch because the VW switch uses spade types in lieu of the prong types. With the old switch removed, new switch installed, wiring reconnected and tested, it works! So Noel, Wade was able to tick one item off your list. That done it was time for a real test drive. Not so good, no power, with tests deliberately slipping the clutch tending to confirm that's where the power is going.

Right, now came the fun part, shuffling Packards and other cars so Noel's '39 could occupy the space presently taken by the '39 CC. The CC was parked in by a Toyota Soarer that was a write-off, it was sitting on the ground after a 150kmh prang which did in the suspension. But first John's Commodore needed to be moved. easy just drive it out. Then the little Mazda Ute needed to go outside, also relatively easy but needed to be pushed because it wasn't running. Then John took the shop forklift to the business next door, with a sixpack of beer in hand, to borrow the long fork extensions for the Soarer move. While John was chasing fork extensions Wade drove Big Red onto Rick's hoist, it's going up in the air tomorrow. John, back with the fork and the extensions then tried lifting the Soarer from the front, didn't work. But side on it did, with a lot of shuffling of the fork 2' this or 2' that way. After all with a Soarer hanging off the end of it it can't exactly spin in it's own length now. Even with me hanging off the back of the fork to provide some weight for the rear steering wheels. But between the fork and the space vacated by the Mazda Ute was a Toyota Camry which also needed to be pushed to a temporary park for this exercise. The way now clear the Soarer was moved the 15' across the shop and deposited at it's new temporary domicile. The '39 CC was then driven outside and parked. The Toyota Camry returned from whence it came. Noel's '39 was then backed into the space vacated by the '39 CC. Wade's Ute was driven outside from the spot at the workshop entrance usually occupied by Big Red. And finally the '39 CC took up residence in the space usually occupied by Big Red. Before the test drive of Noel's '39 it had been Wade's intention to drive it home tonight, but a short drive in it convinced him he should make other transportation arrangements for his trip home.

Attach file:

---

  (37.77 KB)


  (35.11 KB)


  (10.18 KB)


  (29.16 KB)


  (70.93 KB)


  (19.97 KB)


  (23.55 KB)


  (36.15 KB)


  (33.16 KB)


  (38.70 KB)


  (40.74 KB)


  (59.03 KB)


  (30.18 KB)

Thursday 6th January 2011

After a morning with the granddaughters, arrived at the workshop to find yesterday afternoon's car shuffling had continued. Big Red was parked up on the roof while Noel's '39 and Old Blue had changed places in the workshop. The change took place because Old Blue should be going out next week to Award Diffs and Noel's '39 will be laid up for a some time while the clutch, trans and the other items on Noel's list are attended to. And speaking of the '39 being laid up, it was already up on jackstands, with the tailshaft, transmission and clutch and pressure plate out. Wade, together with John and Graham's assistance, had removed the trans/OD unit. Only thing left to come out, at this stage, was the flywheel, and this task was completed shortly after my arrival.

With everything out it was time to try and diagnose the problem. One thing that had been found earlier in the week were a number of very small rollers in the bottom of the bellhousing. And when Wade removed the pressure plate more rollers rolled out. A cursory examination didn't reveal anything so John was called in and his eagle vision soon spotted the cause. Each of the three levers, which operate the pressure plate, pivot on a pin and one of the pins was spitting out rollers. Cause of the slipping, shuddering, grinding and crashing was now explained. Wade rang Burt Bros to ascertain whether they were open with a view to taking the flywheel, pressure and clutch plates over for re-surfacing/re-building. They are open but before taking the parts over Wade rang Noel, and it was just as well, because Noel's going to contact Peter Packard to determine if he might have a replacement pressure plate.

Next item was the transmission. Noel had been told by Peter Packard, when the trans was last apart, that it wouldn't be long before it needed new syncro rings. So what did Noel have in his hot little hand on Tuesday when he brought the '39 over, a pair of brand new syncro rings. All that was needed now was to take out the old ones and put in the new ones, sounds easy. It is, relatively speaking, but to do so first the OD needs to be separated from the trans then the trans needs to be disassembled. In the OD there are a number of snap rings or circlips which need to be removed in order to dissemble it and detach it from the trans. Two of these in particular are real P.I.T.A.'s to remove, a large snap ring and the final circlip which permits the OD to trans housing to be removed from the trans. Took the entire mechanical resources of workshop, Rick, John and Wade to do it. John played the major role in this with his vast experience in trans rebuilds used to good advantage, but mainly it was perseverance, pure stubbornness and not willing to say die attitude that won through in the end. That done John immediately retired for a cold beer 1) to toast his victory and 2) to drown his sorrows as Australia was being walloped by England in the current cricket test match being shown live on TV. The shame, the shame. Then it was down to new for old, synchros that is. Had to drop the cluster in the box, a task Wade didn't want to do if it could be helped, but there just isn't quite enough room to take out the spigot shaft and swing out the main shaft without doing so. With the main shaft out it was then down to sliding out the synchro housing and removing the synchros. Wade hadn't done this before but was aware that in sliding the outer collar off the springs and balls inside would attempt to make a break for freedom. Wade thought he had this aspect covered with various fingers of his and mine pressed against the obvious ball and spring exit points. Only trouble was we had mis-identified the ball and spring points so there was a minor explosion of flying balls and springs when the collar came off. Although it was being slid very slowly and as gently as possible the release took but a millisecond. Of the 3 springs and 3 balls, 2 springs and a ball were on the bench, 1 ball hit my stomach then my foot and was resting on the floor, 1 spring was still in the synchro while 1 ball couldn't be found. Isn't that just typical? Not to fear though, no doubt ABC Bearings can provide a ball, or closer to home, Wade has a spare used main shaft complete with spigot and synchros on the shelf. The good news is the new synchros fit like a glove.

Attach file:

---

  (36.82 KB)


  (40.88 KB)


  (29.75 KB)


  (48.22 KB)


  (49.53 KB)


  (26.01 KB)


  (42.38 KB)


  (29.57 KB)


  (43.55 KB)


  (45.82 KB)


  (40.01 KB)