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The thread on the sprag clutch brought to mind my error assembling my transmission.
While dropping in the gear sets of the main shaft I was (I thought) carefully pressing the syncro-ring onto the main shaft. This is the collar that the gear shift slides between 2nd and 3rd. It is a unit that has an array of brass or bronze plates that meet with the same plates on the head of the two shafts locking them in harmonic speed so the collar can slide over the gear ring and lock into 2nd or 3rd with no gear clash. This unit has a collar around the outside that the gear fork rides in and the two are held together by an array of 6 ball bearings and load springs so that the two gears snap into place when the balls seat in the rows of detents for either gear.
There is not any provision to stop overtravel of the collar, hence my care in sliding it into place. But, horror of horrors, the collar slid and the syncro unit did not!
This sprayed 6 balls and 6 springs all around my shop! Fortunately the doors where closed so they were all in my 400 square foot space with me...somewhere! After hands and knees inspection with a flashlight close to the floor to cause the escapees to throw long shadows they were all corralled back on my workbench.
Now, how to put it back together? Putting the springs in their holes and using grease to hold the balls worked to keep them in, but pushing the collar over them proved too much for me. The balls simply sat too high to wedge them under the collar.
Lightbulb moment! Using the ring compressor from installing the pistons in the engine, I slid it over the balls and tighten the compressor, this bedded the balls into their bores and the collar was slid down over them displacing the compressor at the same time.
Phew!! Disaster avoided. Hope this helps someone else.
Merry Christmas!
Bob J.