keithb7

Backfire and it died? Fun times! Do you have some ideas and a plan?

Merry Christmas @Worden18. Been a great year for old Mopars. Thanks for sharing.

When I went to look at my ‘38 when it was for sale, the owner was hooking up a spare 12V battery directly up to the 6V battery. Post to post, using booster cables. I cringed, looked away expecting an explosion at any second. The old engine slowly cranked and started. It should have been almost spinning itself over in the motor mounts! Later when I bought the car I found 12V small battery cables installed. When I pulled the starter apart the armature was tore up with some windings melted. Later I tore out lots of wiring and replaced it. We’re back to good ol’ 6V throughout and she’s happy as a lark. I have boosted my 1953 6V Chrysler with a 12V booster battery pack. I turned off all electrical. Even disconnected the 6V battery. Key on. Put the 12V right on the starter lug. Spun at double speed and fired right up. I quickly re installed the 6V battery cable and all was good.

The heat shield's purpose is to prevent vapor lock that can happen within the fuel pump. On a flathead 6 I am doubtful as to whether or not they were trying to keep the fuel colder for optimum fuel atomization.

Time for a little progress update. I am still waiting for my transmission rebuild parts to arrive. I was out of town this week on business. When I came home I was very happy to see my wife moving along with the upholstery. Heather would rather I waited until she was done, before taking any photos. However it is fun to watch the progress and share a few details. She's pretty picky and not 100% happy with her results. This is her first time at this, so I keep telling her to not be so hard on herself. You have to learn and can't expect professional results on try #1. Look at the rest of the car, it's not perfect either! I am very proud of her skills. Having her interest in adding to the car's restoration is fantastic. All the more fun and feelings of accomplishment when we take friends and family out for a rides in the future. Seen here, she has started adding trim buttons. There are pin heads seen. They'll come out when the lower buttons are installed. We were amazed how light and bleached the fabric was compared to the original colour. We found original dark colours down in areas not exposed to the sun. By complete chance we had picked out new fabric that closely matched the original darker colour. The additional batting she added has the seat feeling nice and comfortable when I sit on it.

Today was my last opportunity to get out hunting for the season. I met up with a good buddy. The weather was absolutely stellar. A crisp cold clear day. I left home at 5am in my other Mopar, my truck. We unloaded in the dark in a remote area and headed for the hills. Some fresh snow allowed for easier tracking. Plenty of deer were passing thru the area all night it seemed. We spotted 4 mule deer about 1,000 yards away in a massive clear cut. Too far to be able to count points even. We needed a spotting scope but did not have one with us. Only legal deer to shoot are 4x4 mule deer currently. We needed to close the gap and get closer. We were able to get within 400 yards. Holy smokes what a hog! Biggest mule deer I’ve ever seen. What a rack he had! They get that big because they’re smart. He kept his 3 girlfriends close to the edge of the dark thick timber. We were as silent as possible but needed to get closer. A 270WIN in my hands, 400 yards does not work. 300 yards max, I’d have pulled the trigger. Then the buck got a whiff of us and got outta town. Immediately. Into the dark thick timber. Up a steep wooded knoll. No shorts fired. We tried to outflank him, and headed into the timber. It was thick! So much blowdown. It was a real mess in there. We split up. Hand and fist we fought our way through a plethora of obstacles. There was no way to be silent. Everything had 6” of snow on it too. Imagine the game “Pick-Up Stix”, life size. Blown down trees everywhere. We found fresh tracks again, however we were unable to outflank him. He and his harem were long gone. We tracked them again for a while. They were now in their backyard. Dark, steep, thick woods for miles as far as we could see. There was no way we were going to get another opportunity. We relented and talked about how big he’ll be next year. We’ll be back. Our gear ran flawlessly. The weather perfect. The whiskey was good. Got home at 7 pm. A great day had by all. Fall 2020 we’re going to try and find that big buck again. A few pics I thought you may enjoy:

Congrats on a great find. This car is very well preserved! My Malibu memories date back to High School in the mid-late 80’s. The cars were only 20 years old and teenagers could afford them. This one particular ‘67 or so Malibu was a menace. A big block with a hurst floor shifter if I recall. He was the one to beat at the illegal street races. They took place 2am on Friday nights. Out in the industrial part of town. I was wow’d many times by it’s thunderous roar as it flew by. When I heard the owner blew up his clutch I envisioned shrapnel flying everywhere.

Sad news. Don’s legacy will remain here. When we perform searches Don’s expert replies will appear. We are fortunate to have benefited from his contributions to this site.

@westaus29 Reading though your instructions, there are a few things I can't quite wrap my head around. When pushing the countershaft out, it was pretty tight. When putting it back in, if the slot for the lock plate is not lined up exactly as needed, how does one twist the countershaft to align? Also, what is the proper technique to push the reverse idler gear out the back of the case? I can't access it from both sides of the outside of the transmission case, as I did with the countershaft. Thanks, Keith

Hardwood, Oak ¾” dowel acquired. Another good ol’ made in the USA part, I’m pretty sure. We don’t seem to grow or harvest any oak up here in Canada. I’m not planning to disassemble the clutch gear! Hopefully I don’t have to. I ordered up USA SKF roller ball bearings. Numbers are: Front main pinion (input) shaft 207ZNR. Output shaft bearing which is pressed into park brake housing 207S

Zombie thread. Sorry replied to post #1....Deleted.

Thank-you @westaus29 for taking the time to write down your experience. The info is excellent and very helpful. Are your wood dowels 3/4” diameter?

Another developing issue, which I suspect is present in 99% of these old trannies is gear clashing at 1st gear. It is a sliding gear with no synchros. Previous owners were likely attempting to downshift into first gear while still rolling. Not good. You can see 1st gear teeth that have rounded nubs on the leading edges, where it makes initial contact with its mating gear. See pics below. I see some small chunks are missing from some teeth. I found the little pieces in the bottom of the case. Two mating gear areas, sliding 1st gear on main and mating gear on countershaft, are seen below here. Having limited experience with the longevity of these gears... Are you guys reusing gears like this? Or replacing them? Keep in mind I am reviving the car. Not restoring it. I'm Building a local summer cruiser to enjoy. However I do prefer reliability. The engine makes what, maybe 120 HP when fresh? With no more future student drivers , I might be able to nurse these 2 gears along? Thx. Keith.

Sure glad I dug in further. I removed the shift rails and slid the main output shaft out the rear. Then I had full access in the tranny housing to the countershaft. I checked it for thrust clearance. Spec is .002” to .008”. I felt plenty more so I set up my dial indicator and measured .052”. Yikes. I proceeded to punch out the countershaft and was happy to find the front thrust washer was tearing itself apart. It was pretty thin and becoming cupped. It had already set an appointment for a self scheduled failure. Below are some pics. I’m all-in now. Glad too because I’ve learned a lot. I feel that fixing your own stuff, going this deep is very rewarding. Below you can see how much of the steel thrust washer is gone. It’s not supposed to have a raised center. Last pic is rear thrust washer compared to the front.

Lol. Not! I need to place an order for the small parts kit. I’m in Canada. That’ll take 2 weeks to arrive. Gotta source USA made bearings. More delays. Darn job takes up most of my days. I’m warming up the idea of going all in. Could use some tips on countershaft pin and shaft removal if anyone has any. That’ll be next after I get my parts orders placed.

Welcome to this forum. You found the right spot to surround yourself with support for the old car. You’re on the track. Fuel system. Ignition system. Brakes. Is it a manual with clutch, or fluid drive?

@Dodgeb4ya You method makes sense. I gave it a try. My initial technique did move the bearing up the shaft a fair aways. Just over ¼”. I did not use excessive force. I don’t think I did any damage. After reading your post I blocked the tranny vertical and shimmed under the snap ring on the outer bearing housing. I started tapping on the input shaft with a deadblow soft hammer. I saw a little more movement of the bearing then it didn’t want to move any farther. A couple more taps, and the input shaft was loose in the tranny. housing. It then easily was removed out the front, with the bearing still attached. Not great. Upon inspection I can’t see any sign of any damage, marring or the like. Gears and sliding clutching ring and related parts all look good. I’ll take the shaft and bearing to a friend with a hydraulic press to complete the re & re on the shaft. Now I’m wondering if I’ll be able to get the input shaft back in through the front? Or wondering if I’ll have to take everything apart to go in from the rear?

This method worked to get the bearing free of the tranny housing. Used the large outer snap ring groove to anchor to, and a dead blow hammer. Now gotta get it off the shaft further. Getting close.

I’m very grateful for your comments here @Dodgeb4ya. I will try the two screwdriver trick and report back. Thank you.

Ranger, I had noise in 1and 2 only as well. Did not hear it when in 3rd.

Studying further and re-reading, I am grasping the inner workings. I wanted to understand this tranny. I think I got it. I will try to explain it to those interested, like I am. Gear set numbers are labeled in red. 1st/Rev sliding gear is on the main shaft. You literally slide that gear by moving the shifter. There is no synchro mesh. It’ll grind if you try to downshift into first while still rolling. Unless you speed match the set perfectly to the matching countershaft gear. I won’t attempt to down shift to first. It’s just not built to take that shift. Look at the lovely twisted splines on the mainshaft that 1st/rev gear slides fore-aft on. That is a thing of beauty right there. Fine Chrysler engineering! Gears 3 & 4 are in constant mesh with the countershaft. However they are not splined (locked) to the main shaft. You slide the clutch gear when shifting to lock and unlock 2nd or 3rd gear to the main shaft. Direction of moving clutch gear indicated by green arrows that I drew on it. Notice all gears are spur cut and matched for quiet driving and increased strength. Good stuff. I’m enlightened.

@Dodgeb4ya we’re aligned. Only a quality bearing will be re-installed. If I can get it out! Lol. A breakdown view is seen below here. Yellow line represents front bearing retainer housing that I removed. Green arrows (x2) point to bearing lock rings, both removed. Red arrow points to front bearing assembly to be replaced.

Some pics up close of the bearing that is my current challenge. As mentioned, limited experience with how to pull this out. Toward the shaft. Any tool advice appreciated. Maybe I can get my slide hammer to grab on the inner race edge and I can heave it out. May try that....No that won’t work. Tranny Input shaft is too long. In the way of a slide hammer.

There was considerable drive train noise. I did find a very worn throw out bearing. This input bearing could also have been contributing. I can’t 100% say. Turning it by hand, it does not feel smooth. I have no idea on the bearing age. Could be original. While I’m in there for the TO bearing it seemed to make sense to address these two main-shaft roller ball bearings.

Here is what I found with a dial indicator: