Clutch Anti-Chatter Rod Bushings

Posted by JWL On 2011/6/28 11:33:47

My '47 Custom Clipper's clutch chattered when trying to move slowly in 1st gear and more so in reverse. I removed the anti-chatter rod and found the rubber bushings to be in bad shape. I replaced the anti-chatter rod bushings with some new shock absorber bushings. The shock absorber bushings are thicker than the old ones I removed. I set the length of the rod to where there was just a small compression of the bushings. It is a relatively easy job to do once the car is jacked up and on stands.

The clutch chatter all but disappeared. More impressive, was the way the shift into high gear improved. The shift from 2nd to high most always resulted in a gear cruch. It was better with the overdrive engaged, but would still happen. Earlier, I went to a 140W mineral oil for the transmission and overdrive, but no improvement was noted. I was bracing myself for a 2nd-3rd synchro repair job. However, after fixing the anti-chatter rod, the shift into high gear is now almost without any cruching. It now only happens when the transmission oil is cold. The 140W oil is probably too stiff at this temperature. I will probably change to 85W-140 GL-5 gear oil. It is also more smooth and positive shifting in all gears.

Just thought I would share this fortunate benefit of two fixes with one repair job. How often does that happen?

(o{I}o)