Engine Removal

[aero3113]

Not a good idea to draw it in with bolts! It should go all the way in with no mechanical assistance. I suggest you pull it out (as painful as it might be) and find out why it would not go home. First place to look is the pilot bushing. If it binds your transmission shaft will be stuck and not spin freely. This will cause a lot of problems. You have come a long way with this build. Dont take any shortcuts now! Do it right.

What I think the issue was is the collar for the input shaft bearing was snug. I'm sure if I kept wiggling the trans it would have went in,but I got lazy. I tested the clutch a bunch of times and put the car in gear and pushed in the clutch to let the car roll,all seems to be good with no binding. I was amazed at how out of adjustment my pedal free play was and the over center spring adjustment.

[Don Coatney]

I cut my teeth installing transmissions in International trucks (I worked for the factory at the Truck Sales Processing Center) back in the 60's. I would lay on the ground, place both feet on the tail shaft, and wiggle the transmissions until they went home, with a helper installing the bolts once the transmission was home. Later when I owned an International 1600 series truck I did the same in my driveway without a helper. Laying on the ground under the truck, lifting the transmission into place the armstrong way, then doing the foot wiggle thing. I never had to use the bolts to drive the transmissions home. In those days when my eyesight was good I never used a clutch alignment tool. I would eyeball the clutch disc aligmment to pilot bushing and never had a problem. O to be young again:cool:

[aero3113]

LoL, I am young and it still tired me out! I pulled the trans 2 times each time trying to figure out why it wouldn't go home and when installing it for the 3rd time I was shot. I wiggled it a lot and when I saw it was getting closer I gave up and used the bolts. When I was pulling it out I was afraid I was gonna drop it on my head and knock my teeth out. Last night I was bolting the exhaust up and a wrench fell straight on to my forehead and left a nice bump .

[Alshere59]

What I think the issue was is the collar for the input shaft bearing was snug. I'm sure if I kept wiggling the trans it would have went in,but I got lazy. I tested the clutch a bunch of times and put the car in gear and pushed in the clutch to let the car roll,all seems to be good with no binding. I was amazed at how out of adjustment my pedal free play was and the over center spring adjustment.

Hate to jump on the band wagon but alot of cautions on pulling up the tranny with the bolts. Your build and attention to detail has been outstanding to date. You sure you want to accept less now?

Anyway one last caution. Your over center spring was out of adjustment? Thats not normal as you probably know. Could it be related to your alignment by chance? Or did you change out flywheel or style of pressure plate, Mine needed the clutch adjustment rod lengthened after changing to a 230 flywheel and matching pressure plate. Is it a matter of not enough adjustment? Just trying to help.

Also a floor jack can be converted to a transmission jack fairly easy a lot of times. Mine just took a 8 inch piece of plate with a hole in each corner to mount some stacked 1x2s snugged to the tranny profile and one in the center for the lifting cup. Drilled a hole in the plate to bolt it to the jack as mine had a hole already. YMMV. I'm not young anymore and not sure what you used but I will take anything I can. I have pulled my tranny on this car a number of times. Never had to resort to anything other than some jiggling of the tail shaft and some up and down on the jack. Actually on any of the cars i have owned.

Al

Again excellent build and thread.

Edited March 8, 2011 by Alshere59

[aero3113]

Alshere59 not sure if you saw my above post but I am sure everything is ok, I was just tired and worn out. The over center adjustment was off by about 1/8 inch it should be 3/8ths and the pedal free play needed to be adjusted to specs(about 1 inch). I had my flywheel turned and there was heavy hot spots and cracks that needed to be ground down, I'm sure that had a lot to do with the adjustments. I am also sure this car has not been adjusted since new.

Edited March 8, 2011 by aero3113

[Merle Coggins]

I've installed transmissions that got snug as the pilot shaft was going into the bushing. When that happens I'll depress the clutch pedal to allow the clutch disc to readjust slightly and allow things to align up better and the trans will then slide right in. It's possible that even if you used a clutch allignment tool it may have been off by a fuzz. You forced it in, but when you released the clutch for the first time it found it's proper allignment and all is well now. At least that's one theory that you can use to feel better about it.

Merle

[Alshere59]

No problem I just hope everything goes well. Love your build I am sure you are up to any challenge. Trannys will tire you out. Although with enough practice you can drop them in 20 minutes and install them in 40 on a 50 Plymouth. Granted car was on stands and clutch etc was adjusted for the most part already but access plate was on. Ask me how I know? LOL. Oh no drive shaft on drop.

Take care and will be looking for the start pics/video.

Al

Edited March 8, 2011 by Alshere59
Accuracy

[aero3113]

Thanks for your concern guys but I really don't think there are any issues, if there is I'm sure you will hear about it .

[aero3113]

I forgot about how bad my original front mount was off, this probably had a lot to do with the adjustment on the clutch pedal also.

[Alshere59]

So whens the Big Day gonna be?

[aero3113]

So whens the Big Day gonna be?

I would like to shoot for this weekend, I still have to cut and install my plug wires and I would like to get my heater core back also(I just dropped it off this morning).

[aero3113]

Looks like I will be getting my heater core re-cored, during the pressure test they found multiple holes. They are going to try and have it done by friday.

[aero3113]

They finished my heater core today, so I picked it up after work. Looks like they did a great job. During the week I also painted my heater box again to match the rest of the new paint .

So it looks like tomorrow will be the big day!

[Joe Flanagan]

Looks like you'll get there before I do. I'll be rooting for you, though. Let us know how it goes.

[Alshere59]

I did my first start back in November and was grinning ear to ear.

Good luck to both of you even if it you don't need it.

AND Post videos.

A lot of work being done this winter. Wonder how many engine rebuilds etc.?

[aero3113]

No luck yet, I've been trying all morning. I have fuel and spark, every once in a while I would get a back fire through the carb. Timing seems like it is correct, at TDC the rotor is at 7 o'clock. After a while the engine got flooded so I pulled the carb and dried it out. I now have the fuel line off to the pump and just using starter fluid to try and start it so it doesn't flood again. It was also cranking very slow,I even tried to use a jump from my truck (12 volt) and still seemed slow. Do you think I need a better ground?

Edited March 12, 2011 by aero3113

[Alshere59]

I think it is tight from the rebuild. Mine cranked slow as well.

Do you show oil pressure? Take it back to the basics. Firing order, points, how bad did it flood? Plugs wet? No gas in the oil?

You may want to move the distributer a tad while cranking it. Backfiring through carb sounds like the timing is a tad off. To far advanced.

You can hook up your timing light while cranking it will show your timing. You will still need to set it but batter than static..

Oh yea make sure the camera is running. Have to have a video ya know.

Edited March 12, 2011 by Alshere59

[aero3113]

I just went back to try and start, I have a button on my solenoid that I can push to crank and start.Earlier I had on latex gloves but now I didn't, when I pushed it I got a shock,something must be grounding out. No fuel in the oil and good oil pressure.

[Joe Flanagan]

Keith,

I'm going through the same thing right now. I have fuel, I have spark, but all I get is a backfire through the carb. Trying to figure it out right now. Got the carb gasket in the mail, by the way. Thank you very much.

[aero3113]

This is the first time I have ever been shocked from pushing the button. It seems like I will only get shocked when the #1 plug fires??? I took the distributor out and didn't see anything obvious. Can my timing be way off because of the new gears and chain? When I installed the distributor I put the lower adjustment in the middle, is that a good starting point?

[Joe Flanagan]

I'm thinking my problem might lie along these lines, too. Though I didn't change anything since I took the distributor off last summer.

[Merle Coggins]

It's quite possible that your distributor is installed 180 degrees off. It has happened to me several times. If I'm trying to start a fresh engine and it won't fire right away I pop out the distributor, turn it 180 and drop it back in. Try again and "room-a-zoom zoom" we're running. Even if you check it with a timing light you could be 180 off. Remember that TDC comes up twice for every turn of the distributor rotor.

Merle

[aero3113]

I figured out why I was getting shocked. I removed my new wire on the #1 plug and installed my old wire, cranked and no more shock:). I inspected the new wire and there was a pin hole, it must have been arching out in the loom. A little electrical tape fixed that issue.

[Jim Saraceno]

You mention several time that your timing must be correct because the rotor is pointing to 7 o'clock. That is not necessarily true. It should mean that either #1 or #6 cylinder is at TDC. You would then use that point to set the static timing.

When I rebuilt my engine (an old engine that I had never run before) I couldn't get it started. After many tries and suggestions, I started from ground zero. The first step was to pull the plug over #6 cylinder, insert a rod and watched where TDC was. To my surprise, it was about 20 degrees off from what the indicator said.

Come to find out, the timing chain cover timing indicator did not match the marks on the crank pulley. Evidently they have moved things around over the years and mine don't match.

If your engine ran before and you had timed it this is not the case but the point it you may want to start at ground zero.

Do a static timing, set it at TDC. Check that you have all the plug wires in the correct order. Make sure you have spark at all the plugs. Do a volume test from the fuel pump.

I'm betting your going to find it is something very simple that you have overlooked.

Keep plugging away, I know how frustrating it is at this point. You'll figure it out.

[aero3113]

If I am 180 out, what should I do to make it normal. Should I crank and get the rotor to the 1 o-clock position then pull the distributor and put the rotor at the 7 o-clock position?