db's 66 Belvedere ***FOR SALE***

[db]

Just to make life REALLY difficult for myself...




Ohbloodyhell. Thats habit from having auto's where it ain't an option!

ah well, I'll know for next time, cheers Mick

[Mick70RR]

When you put it back together, put the bell housing on first then the gearbox. Find a couple of long bolts and cut the heads off, thread them into the bell housing and they will guide the gearbox home. Just make sure that the thrust bearing is on the fork and in position first.

[db]

Thanks for the tip mate

[Dave999]

I found that i had problems getting the box back in on mine

due to the pilot bush and input shaft not being totally aligned, tool, wooden dowel and screw driver handle all pressed into service

i found that no matter how well I aligned the clutch plate the box was still at the wrong angle due to the shifter housing hitting the tunnel in all positions apart from fully home. i ended up having to droop the engine down at the back to get it in as far as possible, this has its own problems becasue the engine is no longer parrallel to the floor and of course your jack is running across the floor with the box on it. you must also watch for impact on clutch z bar. yes they work at odd angles but go too far and it will come of

once on, twist box back and forth (they are top heavy...this was not easy covered in oil) to align bolt holes

put long bolts in to hold it steady on the jack.

adjust engine height at bell housing to match as much as possible the angle the box was now at when sitting on a jack, this involves 2 jack twiddling in harmony

then I used my crook lock to press the clutch down and leave it pressed
a lot of swearing and shaking the box and i could guide it in and do up the bolts the last 1/2 inch.

but that makes it sound easy

i had to chock the box front face at the bellhouseing with ring spanners to get the open gap the same all round then adjust the jacks and the bolts , this was the easiest way to make incremental changes to the alignment in order to get it onto the shanked well fitting sections of the bolts

clutch plate must have been slightly out even after the 3rd attempt

pressing the clutch allowed movement of plate and input shaft but due to the bolts all in a good few turns and the heads nipped up ( following removeal of spanners) did not allow it to swing way out of a alignment.

your problems get worse if the input shaft has any play, it shouldn't have much or any in a rebuilt box but tiny movement there translates to waggling the tail shaft housing about quite a bit before you actually move the tip of the input shaft in relation to the pilot bearing

1/2 hour job took about 3

next time i'm sure it will be fine......ha...
next time i won't do it alone, in a hurry, the night before the NATS

mines a single rail box your's has shift rods, not only is it top heavy it will have minimal clearnce on the drivers side.

i'm not what you would term weak but i'll admit i aint the strongest fella in the world either
try to avoid the situation where you are bench pressing the box into position, even my little one is a heavy cast iron bugger,
the day you put the box in is always a day when gravity is much stronger

notice how easy it came out...

i also found that after all the pushing and shoving i appeard to have moved the engine and box closer to the radiator

so i ened up loosening everything off at the mounts

levering the box and motor back to the middle of the slots in the mounts

so i didn't put may radiator into fan danger zone..

if i was doing this more than once every couple of years i'd invest in a pit/lift and a transjack...

or just take the lot out as a complete motor and box unit

not the most fun...in fact sticking a red hot needle into a black thumb nail would be more fun, by quite a margin

Dave

[db]

Thanks Dave for that tale of woe
A couple of things that should make my refit easier- I've not touched the clutch so that should stay in alignment.
I've removed the shifter links and mech and I should be able to refit them AFTER putting the box back in, therefore giving meself a bit more space.
Of course, reality may have other ideas...

[db]

I've now replaced all the bits I didn't need to take off so we can just pretend it never happened

I've fully stripped the trans and checked everything for wear and damage.

The brass selector forks look a bit worn but I think they'll be fine.
The countershaft thrust washers need replacing.
The synchros all have a bit of wear but the 2nd looks quite bad, the teeth are pretty rounded and 2nd was hard to shift into. At the very least the stop ring needs replacing. Ideally I'd renew the whole assembly but they're a bit pricey!
And finally- the input bearing is loose in the casing.

[db]

Actually the previous pic might have been 3rd...
Anyway, on with the show, here's the 2nd synchro hub and stop ring and the whole lot spread out.

[db]

Before I go on...
I want to make it VERY clear that Dunc did me a GREAT deal on this gearbox (as he's always done)
This rebuild is down to me- Had I adjusted the linkages & stop screws correctly it would have carried on working perfectly for a long time, I'm only doing this rebuild because I'd pulled it apart anyway and because I'm enjoying learning what makes it tick!

So-

Gaskets ordered from Brewers...
Synchros ordered from Hans @ Six-Pack
Bearings & seals already arrived from MickRR

I've checked my input shaft bearing against the new one Mick sent me and the play is exactly the same so no need to replace that. I've measured the rollers with a micrometer and mine are .005mm smaller. I'll test-fit them but I doubt the new ones will make any difference.
I've drifted out the old tailshaft bush with a big socket on the end of 2 extension bars- that was well-worn & scored but I've already renewed the seal so that's fine.
The new thrust washers for the countershaft will make a difference too, they were pretty worn & scored.

[db]

I've put the main and input shafts together on my old rollers and the new ones from Mick and there's no difference in play so I'll stick my old ones back in.
I'll take the casing up to my engineer mate Terry and see what it would take to make the bearing a tighter fit.
Strong loctite hopefully will do the trick, machining out and sleeving the case would be ideal but will probably be costly.

Anyhoo... here's the countershaft bits all cleaned and ready to assemble. Note the dummy shaft, I couldn't find anything quite right so carefully wrapped tape around a tube to the right thickness.
The rollers stick really well to grease so assembling that lot is no bother, it's all ready to drop in now

[db]

Gearbox is back together!

Details and pix to follow...

[sidewaysjas]

Hi db

Thanks for putting some clear pic's up of the rebuild, nice to see whats inside when I take mine apart.

Jas

[db]

No prob Jas, sorry I've not put more up!

[Ivor]

Great stuff Paul, there are some heavy duty roller bearings in that countershaft and I love the trick with the snap ring!

[VGVIP]

I couldn't find anything quite right so carefully wrapped tape around a tube to the right thickness.:

Exactly what I did to load the bearings in my Aussie 4 speed, worked a treat and came out the other end of the box perfectly when installing the countershaft.

Did you accurately measure the length of your tube or test it inside the box with the thrust washers in place? Would be a pain if it's too long and wont fit.
If you find it is too long when try to install you can slide your counter shaft in place pushing out your tube to hold your loaded bearings and modify your tube then slide it back in again before installing.

Good writeup, glad you are enjoying the journey.

[db]

Thanks Steve, I think I measured the dummy shaft length by slotting it inside the gear cluster.
The Mopar mag guide says to stick the thrust washers to the gears but I found it easier to stick 'em inside the case.
There's a lot of juggling and straining and balancing and swearing and taking it out and starting again cos something dropped out or won't line up or just doesn't want to go in....
Perseverance and knowing when to walk away and have a cuppa or a beer is essential