A radical thing for my fluid drive

[Tom Skinner]

Congratulations Adam. 

Johnny will really be singing I will make you Hurt. (Hurt - Nine Inch Nails)

And you can really have - my Entire Empire of Dirt. Try selling that Mopar to who?

What an ingenious way to repair a Car. You are really smarter than me obviously.

I wish I was as smart as you. Hell have at it.

Viel Gluck und Gute Reise. Buena suerte, que tengas un buen viaje!

Tom

 

 

Edited February 24, 2023 by Tom Skinner
adding

[Bryan G]

Mine has been leaking, worse and worse, to the point that a couple weeks ago I topped it off and it was all running out on the ground. Yes, I remembered reading of the bolt trick, and was tempted...only to be able to drive it to the mechanic. I couldn't bring myself to do it, and the rollback came this afternoon. I am curious how the Prest-O-Matic would behave with direct-drive. 

 

Lacking the tools to reseal it myself, I located a shop that says they can handle it. I'll be reporting my results here on the forum. Another temptation was to buy a used unit; my digging turned up a couple available for sale. But for the effort involved, I might as well go with new seals.

[oldodge41]

I wonder how many fluid drive cars were parked over the years, and left to rot, because of leaking fluid drive units that owners couldn't afford to repair? How many clutch jobs ballooned into major jobs when the FD seal was damaged during  removing and replacing a transmission? How many of those cars could have continued on with something as simple and cheap as a bolt in the fluid drive to keep them on the road? Maybe not too many, I don't know, but I wonder. I have seen cars parked for much lesser reasons, and then father time took over and destroyed the vehicle before anyone got around to fixing it right. Just how often was this band aid applied back in the day? We will never know, but it is the kind of thing I seem to enjoy thinking about. Just another intriguing aspect, to me, of old cars.

[Tired iron]

Yikes! I didn't aim to kick a hornet's nest here, but thought it would be useful for folks if I updated this thread.  My reasons for doing this are sound (see the beginning of this thread if you're wanting to know them) and are the best solution for me. Lots of ways to skin the cat.

 

Thanks all for your opinions and help...you've been very helpful and kind over the couple of years I've hung out here.

 

~martin

[LeRoy]

23 hours ago, Tom Skinner said:

OK,

Call me an old fart. Why in gods name would anyone Bastardize a Fluid Drive that can be repaired properly unless they are just scared of doing something right?

Buy the Tools. In all my years. Can anyone tell me why everything has to go to the lowest common denominator. I don't care kick me off this site if necessary. In gods name fix it properly. Or we are all doomed to melt down to the lowest levels of intelligence, until Kingdoms Come. 

Putting Bolts in a Fluid Drive to Lock it up? Oh Boy Lets just drink a case of Beer and Jump off a Bridge.

Where do you people live in the Appalachians?

Man Do your thing - Ignorantly as it may be. 

Tom Skinner 

Huntersville NC

Hey, you old fart! What's wrong with living in the Smokey's?

Edited February 25, 2023 by LeRoy

[Tom Skinner]

LeRoy,

Yeah, I guess I overdid it. I have lived in the Smokies, and TN as well. Nothing really wrong with the Smokies other than sometimes hearing those dueling banjos, I was so poor at one time I drove around in my first 1948 Chrysler in the 1970's with no car insurance - for years. Thank God a quart of Oil was only 79 cents then, and Gas was about 35cents a Gallon.

So I do realize some people may need to stick a bolt in their Fluid Drive out of necessity. My apologies to anyone I may have offended. As a side note I still have friends and neighbors from the TN Mountains today, So what ever gets it fixed or done on our old Mopars is fine with me. I am just lucky enough to have never had any leaks from my Fluid Drives over the years. I did manage to buy The Compleat Fluid Drive Tool Set on ebay about 17 years ago. I don't know if I could repair one now without a younger set of hands helping me. I still need a Long 5/8" Fluid Drive wrench for the Flywheel removal though should that time ever come.

Tom

[LeRoy]

29 minutes ago, Tom Skinner said:

LeRoy,

Yeah, I guess I overdid it. I have lived in the Smokies, and TN as well. Nothing really wrong with the Smokies other than sometimes hearing those dueling banjos, I was so poor at one time I drove around in my first 1948 Chrysler in the 1970's with no car insurance - for years. Thank God a quart of Oil was only 79 cents then, and Gas was about 35cents a Gallon.

So I do realize some people may need to stick a bolt in their Fluid Drive out of necessity. My apologies to anyone I may have offended. As a side note I still have friends and neighbors from the TN Mountains today, So what ever gets it fixed or done on our old Mopars is fine with me. I am just lucky enough to have never had any leaks from my Fluid Drives over the years. I did manage to buy The Compleat Fluid Drive Tool Set on ebay about 17 years ago. I don't know if I could repair one now without a younger set of hands helping me. I still need a Long 5/8" Fluid Drive wrench for the Flywheel removal though should that time ever come.

Tom

Everything I have leaks and drips, cars too!

 

I'm on the TN side in the hills. My folks are in your side.

Edited February 26, 2023 by LeRoy

[MarcDeSoto]

Which one of you is a Hatfield and which one is a McCoy?  I also have the FD kit that I bought from an out of business Chrysler dealership in WI by mail.  I have a old FD that I took out of a part cars 48 Dodge I had in the 80s.  wish I had kept it in the garage instead of out my the yard where it got sprinkled everyday.  Maybe I will use it as a tear down learning experience to see how my tools work.  

[LeRoy]

14 hours ago, Tom Skinner said:

LeRoy,

Yeah, I guess I overdid it. I have lived in the Smokies, and TN as well. Nothing really wrong with the Smokies other than sometimes hearing those dueling banjos, I was so poor at one time I drove around in my first 1948 Chrysler in the 1970's with no car insurance - for years. Thank God a quart of Oil was only 79 cents then, and Gas was about 35cents a Gallon.

So I do realize some people may need to stick a bolt in their Fluid Drive out of necessity. My apologies to anyone I may have offended. As a side note I still have friends and neighbors from the TN Mountains today, So what ever gets it fixed or done on our old Mopars is fine with me. I am just lucky enough to have never had any leaks from my Fluid Drives over the years. I did manage to buy The Compleat Fluid Drive Tool Set on ebay about 17 years ago. I don't know if I could repair one now without a younger set of hands helping me. I still need a Long 5/8" Fluid Drive wrench for the Flywheel removal though should that time ever come.

Tom

I'ma keep that offer in mind, I have a fd in my car and truck and may need it at some point. Every oil holding cavity on my car leaks so it's just a matter of time.

[Adam H P15 D30]

On 2/25/2023 at 8:15 AM, Tired iron said:

Yikes! I didn't aim to kick a hornet's nest here, but thought it would be useful for folks if I updated this thread.  My reasons for doing this are sound (see the beginning of this thread if you're wanting to know them) and are the best solution for me. Lots of ways to skin the cat.

 

Thanks all for your opinions and help...you've been very helpful and kind over the couple of years I've hung out here.

 

~martin

Don't worry about it Martin.  Sometimes any modification gets the purists' panties in a bunch.  It seems they would rather see a car parked in a field instead of modified and on the road.

I'll admit I do enjoy ruffling their feathers from time to time...  I modify every old car I own.

Remember, there only needs to be ONE perfect original example, the rest can be modified.

[Tired iron]

Thanks, Adam.  Actually, I can support both sides of this issue and all its different flavors: gettr done/make it perfect, creative/historically correct, etc. And when the dust settles, it's all two sides of the same coin...a coin called people having fun with cars!

[James_Douglas]

What a tempest I started by my suggestion.

 

The bolt trick was given to me by a man that was originally and Aircraft A&P Mechanic who opened his own auto repair shop in about 1960. He is now about 87 Years old and still running his shop.

 

The bolt trick is a good trick for a failure. I have in fact seen a couple of fluid Coupling Failures over the years. Most are seal failures but I have seen two bearing failures which causes the units to make the most god offal noise.

 

Having a bolt in the glove box is a good thing if on the road and something goes wrong. It can get you to where you need to be.

 

That said, unless one is living someplace real flat, I would not use the bolt for a long periods of time as the small clutch will not take it for too long. ***That said there was a taxi clutch that was available back in the day that was a little bigger and more robust for the fluid drive. But try finding one!

 

I have 4 or 5 units. I also have the tools to change the seals and have found a couple of seals over the years. 

 

There are enough of them out there that if one goes bad, one can be had for next to nothing. Once can always send one to NW Trans for the conversion to a modern seal as well...for about $1500...

 

One of these years I plan on rebuilding two of them and giving away the rest. 

 

James