norville Posted February 13, 2012 Report Posted February 13, 2012 Hello all, I'm new here and I recently picked up an engine and tranny for a future project. I could use a little help on both. The engine is a 50's flathead plymouth and the tranny is a R-7 OD unit. I was given some cables for the tranny but no cab lever or actuator lever on the tranny. I have searched around but I cannot find a good image of how the OD lever works?? Or how these cables work or if they are even for the tranny. Also if someone could help me understand which way the levers on the tranny move to shift gears that would be helpful also. The tranny almost feels locked . I cannot move the clutch by hand but that be normal. But I cannot move the tranny levers. the engine is a pI5804536 any idea on the year of manufacture? thanks bob Quote
Young Ed Posted February 13, 2012 Report Posted February 13, 2012 thats a p15 engine 46-48 should be a 218 unless someone did some monkey business along the way Quote
randroid Posted February 13, 2012 Report Posted February 13, 2012 Bob, Welcome to the forum. That said, get a service manual because you'll wear it out finding the nuances of our fine engines and the more interesting facets of their construction and operation. For example, these beasts could have run unleaded gas back in the '30s (and they don't need anything else today). WPC (stands for Walter P. Chrysler and is standard shorthand for any of his vehicles) based his building on engineering rather than only flash and it might surprise you to find the specs and his patents surpassing the OHV rivals of his day. They're interesting and dependable cars that will get you where you want to go, and when you go wear a gray felt fedora and a pin-striped suit because they'll "put you in that place". I got my OD tranny from Neil Riddle in Seattle ((206) 285-6534) and at the time he had small booklets for sale about the installation and operation of the tranny. The same info is available in the service manual and he might have those around, too. Figure on spending about $30 on one but you'll absorb so much info reading it the price will soon be forgotten. There's a "Search" button at the top of the page where you can enter any topic, such as R-7 trans, and get access to everything ever written here about them. Good place to snoop while you're waiting for your manual to arrive. Again, welcome. -Randy Quote
BobT-47P15 Posted February 13, 2012 Report Posted February 13, 2012 Here's a link to a prior discussion on this trans..........http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/archive/index.php/t-19897.html Might be some help there. Quote
norville Posted February 13, 2012 Author Report Posted February 13, 2012 Thank you all for the warm welcome. I'm working on a manual right now. BobT thanks for the link, That's a good starting point. At least I know what the lever looks like. From my searches (overdrive gives about 1000 pages) I'm consuming a lot of info. I think my tranny is out of sync shifter wise. At least that's what used to happen with my ford. I'll need to play some more with it. I'm not planning to use the solenoid kickdown, I just want to use the OD gear on highway drives. thanks again for the input, future posts I'm sure will be coming... Quote
norville Posted February 13, 2012 Author Report Posted February 13, 2012 thats a p15 engine 46-48 should be a 218 unless someone did some monkey business along the way Thanks Ed, that's what I was told. Quote
suntennis Posted February 13, 2012 Report Posted February 13, 2012 Welcome aboard Bob. You should enjoy the OD after it is up and working well. There is only one manual cable to use or not use the OD. This cable usually has a T type handle mounted on the bottom edge of the dash. If you check out the site fifthaveinternetgarage.com and look at page 3 under the "parts counter" found on the main page, you will find the OD cable and the OD manual. The attachment of the cable to the OD requires a metal support and a special bolt. If needed, I can provide photos of both. If these parts are needed, George Osche at 814-354-2621 should be able to have them as well as answer all OD questions. Quote
norville Posted February 13, 2012 Author Report Posted February 13, 2012 here's a pic of my tranny. Looks like I'm missing both arm and bracket. And some brake parts... Quote
suntennis Posted February 13, 2012 Report Posted February 13, 2012 The transmission looks nice and clean. The bracket hanging down is mounted below the trans shifting levers and has the emergency brake cable going thru it. Looks like you are missing a bracket for the OD cable, the arm that the OD cable goes to and the attaching bolt for the OD cable. Use the "Search" area and look under "overdrive". Then go to page 3 and check out the thread " OD Lockout Switch" submitted by Joe Flanagan dated 10-17-1011. This deals with the R10 OD but connections are about the same. There are some photos that should answer some of your questions. Quote
norville Posted February 13, 2012 Author Report Posted February 13, 2012 thanks that's a great thread: http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?t=29421&highlight=Lockout+Switch Know this If I cannot find it I think I can fab up most of that stuff. I think a throttle cable bracket might work, I may have an old shifter I can break up for the "arm" and I can drill a hole in a bolt... excellent. bob Quote
norville Posted February 13, 2012 Author Report Posted February 13, 2012 I've been searching for a while now and I'm just not finding what I need. My tranny is not shifting correctly. It's out of the car so it's not a linkage issue. It's in neutral now I think. The forward lever is really tight and the back/second lever is real loos and moves with no resistance? Will pulling off the cover reveal anything? I have a bad feeling something is wrong in there. I'd really like to know how it works before I tear into it. Quote
Jim Yergin Posted February 13, 2012 Report Posted February 13, 2012 It might be worth it to remove the side cover. Easy to do and nothing will "pop out" on you. There is really only one shift lever, it operates either between reverse and first or between second an third. The other lever just determines which one of those pairs the shift lever will operate. I think the "at rest" position is the second/third position. The "loose" lever on yours is probably the gear position selecter and the other is the gear shifter. It is possible to get the gears out of postion and locked up. There is a lock out pin that prevents the shift rail from moving if the other shift rail set of gears are engaged. A shop manual will be a big help. Jim Yergin Quote
suntennis Posted February 13, 2012 Report Posted February 13, 2012 One lever should have little resistance. The other lever moves either a low-reverse gear or the synromesh which selects second or third gear. If you take the cover off with the shift arms, you can see how it works. Be carefull when romoving the cover because there are two springs that may come out. Quote
norville Posted February 13, 2012 Author Report Posted February 13, 2012 It might be worth it to remove the side cover. Easy to do and nothing will "pop out" on you. There is really only one shift lever, it operates either between reverse and first or between second an third. The other lever just determines which one of those pairs the shift lever will operate. I think the "at rest" position is the second/third position. The "loose" lever on yours is probably the gear position selecter and the other is the gear shifter. It is possible to get the gears out of postion and locked up. There is a lock out pin that prevents the shift rail from moving if the other shift rail set of gears are engaged. A shop manual will be a big help. Jim Yergin Is it only 4 bolts to remove the cover? What about the 2 large bolts? good news is the oil looks clean to medium dirty Quote
Niel Hoback Posted February 13, 2012 Report Posted February 13, 2012 The two large bolts are really plugs that hold down two fairly strong springs that press two balls into the shift rail for detents. Remove the plugs and springs before you remove the four cover bolts. With the cover off, you can dump the two balls out. Once the cover is off, you can see how the two shift levers work. Its pretty simple when you can see it. Quote
norville Posted February 14, 2012 Author Report Posted February 14, 2012 Thank you all for the help. Everything is fine in side, just very, very stiff. Possibly the cold. I drained the oil and I put everything back together. So I'll start searching now but whats the lube of choice, I have 80/90 and 135 on the shelf? bob Quote
Niel Hoback Posted February 14, 2012 Report Posted February 14, 2012 Funny you should mention that. Talk here is that 80/90 gear lube as specified by Mopar has additives detrimental to the bronze synchronizers in it if you buy the stuff thats out there now. It says on it "Meets GL-5 standards." I was looking today at TSC for a gear lube that says GL-4 on it, which is supposed to be safe. Couldn't find any, so now I'm thinking 50w non-detergent motor oil mixed with enough STP to make it like 80 or 90 weight gear lube. What say you, collective minds? Quote
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