harmony

Is there any reason why I shouldn't add a transmission stop leak to my transmission? Namely Blue Devil. It seems to have the best reviews. I have a very small leak. One of the heads of one of the "many" bolt heads on the back of my transmission is always wet (until I wipe it off), at the point of almost forming a drop. Yes there is a stain on my garage floor right under it, so occasionally a drip will form but I've never seen it happen. There are so many places on the back of the trans that it could be coming from. I'm just not into pulling it all apart and replacing all the gaskets and or seals. At least not at this time of year when the good driving weather is approaching. But can the additive cause any harm? I think it calls for just over an oz. to be added for my trans (fluid drive style) Yes I know, it's just leaving its mark. But I've spent the winter stopping all the other leaks, so why stop at this one.

I'd go that route too. Try to get the clearance as tight as possible without the drum dragging as you slip it on and give it a spin.

Many times I have been puzzled with a particular task at hand and pulled out the service manual, and after reading what is there in print, I'm still not informed. I believe the manual is made for the Chrysler Mechanics as an assistant or reference to go to after the schooling that they have already had that makes them a certified mechanic. There has been countless times that I couldn't even find anything in the manual at all, that was in reference to what repairs I was making on the car. The tech tips videos and literature supplied by imperial are a lot more informative. I personally think that if someone has a question about anything, no matter how simple or complicated the solution might seem to me, I have no problem offering my suggestions or any past experience I might have with the same issue. If weeks later someone else has the same issue, I have absolutely no problem repeating myself. Sometimes the more an issue or problem is discussed, often a solution is found by coming at it in a different way or sometimes a particular persons explanation just hits home. As a well known person named Confucius once said. The only stupid question is the one not asked

If my shop was right next door to a major tool supplier, I would still spend an hour or two building a custom tool for a particular job, even if I only used it once. It's who I am, it's what I love to do. My father was a very successful inventor and made many of the thing that people still use every day. It's in my blood. If I finish the day without grease under my fingernails, or my coveralls aren't dirty, I feel that something went wrong, I feel like I have let myself down. As for the snap on tool you suggested. I have the same bit in my hand held impact tool. The blade isn't nearly wide enough. Plus the one point I was making was the tool needs to be very compact. even by using 1/4" drive for one pivot pin it was too long ( distance out past the end of the slot I made) which is why I made the more compact version. Yes, I know in the picture, the torque wrench is not at 90 degrees to the crowsfoot. This picture was taken just to document the procedure and then after the picture, I ratcheted it up to 90 degrees before I applied the torque. At this point I think I was using my knee to hold the torque wrench. While I shot the picture.

Yes, I know in the picture, the torque wrench is not at 90 degrees to the crowsfoot. This picture was taken just to document the procedure and then after the picture, I ratcheted it up to 90 degrees before I applied the torque. At this point I think I was using my knee to hold the torque wrench. While I shot the picture.

I found a picture of what I've been talking about with my castle nut only having 3 turrets. You can see just how much movement the nut could have before the cotter pin stopped it.

The other thing I'm noticing ( besides the superior pin design) is the number of turrets as opposed to my '48 castle nut. As I mentioned there are only 3 turrets on my nuts, So once you get the cotter pin in, in theory the nut can loosen almost an eighth of a turn. I'll see if I can find a good picture of the nut.

There was one pivot bolt where there wasn't enough room for the head of my torque wrench and the head of the 1/4" drive ratchet. Since they are so close together. So I had to build another tool that took up less room. But this tool doesn't have the option of adjusting the handle to line up with the box end wrench later on for adjusting both nut and pivot pin at the same time. In this case since the tool was a little flimsy and lacked weight. I had to wedge a block of wood from the back side of it to the king pin I think, I can't remember right now. I used one of those adapters to go from a 1/4" hex - 1/4" socket recess. Then I JB welded on a 1/4" box end wrench. Then I cut off the excess. Then I got a thin piece of oak and made a wedge out of it to apply pressure ( between back side of tool and king pin)on the tool to keep it from jumping out of the slot.

Trust me you need a huge amount of effort to hold that tool in place while trying to get 55 ft lbs applied. The issue is you are not applying pressure straight on. So the tool keeps trying to jump out. I'm not sure if I took a picture of the tool the first time I built it, but the force of 55 ft lbs on the piece of steel on that custom tool I made actually tore the end 50 % right off. So I had to mig weld it back on. You can see the extra mig welding done on the tool. At first I thought I'd try one of those right angle slot screw drivers. No way I could keep it in the slot. At least with the ratchet, I could sort of get my fingers close to the end and push hard, while working the torque wrench with the other hand. The other problem is that the slot needs to be quite wide or any tool will just twist. I used bed frame material. You know those "budget" bed frame that hold a box frame mattress. Basically 4 pieces of angle steel bolted together. I think it's about 1/8" thick. That stuff comes in handy for all kinds of tools and jigs. Most people throw them out so they are constantly on the side of the road with a free sign on them. If I was ever to build the tool again for another car, I'd go with even a wider slot. For more strength As Keith mentioned, his earlier pivot pins are far superior.

You're quite right Marc. I got them as close as possible before sliding on the drum. But to be sure I didn't torque them. Then I discovered that I could still make the heel of the shoe a little tighter. I was trying for around 9 th. In the end I got them almost to the torque setting, Then once the drum was on I went ever so slightly more. Then torqued them to 55 ft. lbs once the drum was on using the method I mentioned earlier. A lot of screwing around. I really dislike this style of brake shoe adjustment of these years.

Well said. Members of our car club meet every Monday night at the Dairy Queen. I'm fine with that, for about maybe 30 minutes, and then all I think about is how much more fun it would be to be just out cruising in my car. One issue with a car show is everyone who looks at the car is almost compelled to try and find fault. They should be so lucky to be in that kind of shape when they are at that age.

On my car the pivot bolt doesn't protrude past the nut except for one which has a castle nut on it for a cotter pin for some strange reason. Even that one was too short to grab with vise grips. More about that one at the end of my spiel. So I put a wide slot in the end of the pivot bolt. Then I made up a special tool from a small metric socket and welded a piece of angle steel on the end of it. I used a quarter inch drive socket/ratchet because there just isn't enough room for a 3/8" socket/ratchet. Then I set the torque with my crowsfoot wrench while holding the pivot bolt from turning with the special tool. So now, if the pivot bolt needs adjusting I slip on a offset 7/8" box end wrench on the nut first, then my special tool in the slot, then move the ratchet so it lines up with the wrench, then I move both at the same time in either direction. Here's a strange footnote that you might encounter Marc. For the pivot bolts on the front brakes ( lower) There is a castle nut. ( at least on my Chrysler) As you know the torque setting is 55-75 ft lb. There are only 3 turrets on these nuts. So on my car that full range of torque setting ends up with the hole for the cotter pin right in line with one of the turrets. So I dug through my stash of washers and I was fortunate enough to find a pair of washers the right size that were very thin. They were just right to get the torque at 55 and have the hole accessible for the cotter pin.

Interesting, So is there some kind of a catchment attachment at the MC, to catch the overflow of fluid? Do you start with a full MC? Or would one drain it to make sure as much old fluid was extracted? Would this method work for the 6 bleeders on our cars? I'm guessing there is no way ok knowing if all the air is out, other than standing on the brake pedal?

Thank you, that would be appreciated. I spent 4 hours of wearing down my foot leather yesterday checking out the ditches but no sign of my escapee. But I'll keep at it until the blackberry bushes start turning green, and the weeds start pushing up.

The old girl was up on jack stands for 5 months while I checked off a large list of things to do. I do have a 6 volt 15 amp, charger that I connected periodically over the 5 months. Then I broke down and bought this trickle charger. I know I know, I should have bought it 5 months ago. I bought it a few days ago, so I'm just a kid with a new toy basically. I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon and become a pain in the ass since spring has arrived here and I'll probably out driving her about 6 days a week, or more. ( looking for my hub cap) I was curious to see how long it would take to bring the charger back to a state of full charge after an hour or so outing. Which is about maybe 2 minutes or less.

A friend of mine who is a pilot, told me that in the aviation world they use a vacuum system to bleed the brakes, that does the whole process in reverse from the MC. So it's sounding a bit like what Sniper is describing. I tried to ask Google, very nicely I might add, to show me some pictures and suppliers of the tool, but Google must be still upset with me because I came up with nothing except hoover vacuum cleaners and whatnot.

I can't think the number of times as I was crawling up and down from under the car that I said. "This is ridiculous! " between the moans and groans of my aging body. ?

What I used was very simple and very cheap. A 2 foot length of clear tubing and a water bottle. That's it. It's pretty much flawless, but it's constant back and forth from the brake pedal to the bleeder, and filling up the MC a lot, and draining the water bottle a lot. I drilled a hole in the cap of the water bottle the same size as the clear tube. Then another small hole (1/16) in the cap for venting. I put about an inch or 2 of brake fluid in the water bottle. Then pushed the tube in until it was just above the bottom of the water bottle. Then I put the box end wrench on the bleed nipple, push on the other end of the clear tube, crack it open a quarter turn. Then go pump the brake pedal. Then go back under the car and close off the bleeder. It's that simple. As for the wrench, I ground down the thickness so it was really thin, which allowed more of the nipple for the clear tube Welllllll not quite that simple. I get about 5 slow pumps of the brake pedal, before the MC needs refilling. I usually did it twice for each cylinder ( 10 pumps of the brake pedal). I also set up my camera in video mode and pointed it at the clear tube and zoomed in. That way I could play back and watch the air bubbles work their way out. A couple cylinders took more that the other ones. I just kept going until the video showed solid fluid the whole time for each cylinder. The other thing you have to do is keep emptying the water bottle. I also got a tin can and put a few stones in the bottom of it, then I put the water bottle in the can. That way it kept the water bottle upright. I was using both hands to not only crack open the bleeder, but also to push on the tube against the bleeder so there wouldn't be any chance of air getting in. As an added precaution after each nipple, I cut off a half inch of tubing so I had a nice tight fit for the next bleeder. But if I repurpose the end cap of my bad MC, I can hang a large container with a quart or more of brake fluid from the steering wheel. Same thing goes for if I get a larger water bottle to catch the old fluid. But that still doesn't cut down on the running back and forth. As I'm sure you've all figured out by now, that by putting an inch or 2 of brake fluid in the catch bottle, with the tube submerged in it, no air comes back into the system.

That's good to know that the end cap and the filler cap are the same size. I have an old MC that is pitted inside so I think I'll try to get the end cap off and do what you did. I'm to thrifty to pay for a fancy unit like this one so I'll make my own.

Yes, you're right Mine are 7 1/4" inside opening dia, and 11" outside dia.

I'm happy with the 6 Volt, 2 amp trickle charger I got the other day. I plug it in every time I come back from a cruise. I just did that today, then drove back home and then remembered that I hadn't taken the caps off the battery. So I knew I'd never get to sleep thinking about all the bad scenarios. My question is, was it a waisted trip to drive back to my shop and pull the caps off? The caps have built in vents so with only 2 amps going in, would those vents be enough?

A friend of mine taught me that trick. This is a true story. He was cruising the USA somewhere arounds Pittsburg I think for an annual Oldsmobile meeting. He has a 63 Starfire. With pretty unique hubcaps that are made up of 3 different pieces. Somewhere along the way, he realized he was missing a hubcap. He lives near me on Vancouver Island about as far west in Canada as you can get. When he got home a few weeks later there was a message on his answering machine ( pre cell phone times) Someone had found it and called him. He arranged to have it shipped to him and it arrived with very little damage to it when it came off. Crazy story, right. I use that ink marker stuff. So it looks a bit like a felt marker, but it has paint in it. It goes on super thick and heavy. They use it for making wood in lumber yards or Auto wreckers also use them. If auto parts stores down there don't carry them, I think building supply stores would have them or Harbor Freight

Cool, how about that. They sort of push in and turn maybe a total of 90 degrees before they seat, if I remember correctly.

I'll check tomorrow on the inside measurement of one of my other caps. Thanks for the offer.

That's really nice of you. Thank You. Sure thing, a spare is always a good thing. The 10 inch ones look identical.