Frankentruck

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by TJ's Chevy

Those igloos are neat. Glad frankentruck has been running good for ya! I'll update soon but I've been working on installing air horns in Crustine. We'll see how many friends I can scare. haha Hope all is well.

I really like them! It's a great way to add cup holders and have a cooler for some water bottles while at a show or swap meet.

The train horns sound like a fun way to make your friends mad at you

All is well over here. Been tied up with work and studying for the last CPA exam. That's coming up soon, so won't be much work on Frankentruck or Penny until after that point.

[Racer2172]

Great work keep making progress, on the truck and doing great in life.

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by Racer2172

Great work keep making progress, on the truck and doing great in life.

Thanks! That's the plan for sure.

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If y'all have read through the past couple pages, you've seen that I've been working on passing the CPA exam. Well, I took the 4th one today, so hopefully I won't have to study any more for that. I'll find out in about two weeks though, so I can't celebrate just yet.

I'm still driving Frankentruck at least 3 days a week. Mostly just short trips around town to do things after work or hang out with friends. I don't really have anything major planned for the near future as I am about to dive deep into getting Penny back on the road. That started this evening by taking the carb apart. So if you notice that I haven't updated this thread in awhile, check the thread on Penny because I'm most likely doing something over there.

Thanks for reading!
-Christian

[cwcarpenter98]

Merry Christmas!!

[cwcarpenter98]

Happy New Year! I drove Frankentruck to spend time with some friends, so I got to end 2022 and start 2023 doing one of my favorite things, driving old trucks.

[cwcarpenter98]

Over the past couple months, I've been having a no start issue that would go away when I smacked the positive battery terminal just right with the lug wrench. It wasn't every time, and hadn't happened in awhile, but it came back with a vengeance last night while trying to head home.

While waiting on paint to dry for Penny's new gas tank, I cut the old terminals off and slapped on some new ones. I think that has fixed the problem, but time will tell apparently

[TJ's Chevy]

Gotta love them pesky electrical issues. New battery cables, lugs, and terminals are a for sure help though. Had it happen on ol Crustine and I went crazy and got a new battery, cables, and ends lol No issues now!

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by TJ's Chevy

Gotta love them pesky electrical issues. New battery cables, lugs, and terminals are a for sure help though. Had it happen on ol Crustine and I went crazy and got a new battery, cables, and ends lol No issues now!

Whoops, sorry, forgot to reply to ya.
The new terminals worked out great so far. I just don't want to replace the cables until I re-do the wiring harness under the hood. That will be after all the rust repair is fixed.

[cwcarpenter98]

Lately I've been feeling a vibration on Frankentruck that has seemed to get a little worse over the past couple months, so I finally decided to order up some u joints and hope that would fix it. After working on Penny most of the afternoon, I switched gears to Frankentruck, yanked the drive shaft and hammered the rear u joint out. Well, that's part of the problem, I guess. I can't believe it, but I'm lookin' right at it.... A feller forgot to grease the rear u joint for the past 7 years of ownership. Oops.

Dad and I were able to get both joints swapped out and the driveshaft almost back in the truck before dinner, then finished up after. Wow, what a difference. The short test drive showed no signs of bad vibes, and there was even a little less noise. I'm glad I swapped them, but I wish I had done it sooner.

Enjoy a couple pictures of the fleet

[pdxhall]

That looked pretty bad. I'm happy to see you got it fixed before you lost it somewhere down the highway.

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by pdxhall

That looked pretty bad. I'm happy to see you got it fixed before you lost it somewhere down the highway.

I'm surprised it lasted this long! It went 7 years of driving... without grease... Oops

[cwcarpenter98]

Dad and I got the back work bench cleaned off this afternoon. I'll be tearing apart the overdrive transmission that broke last summer later this week. It's easier to work on something in the garage instead of outside since it's almost dark when I get home from work.

I miss having my overdrive transmission

[Arne]

Originally Posted by cwcarpenter98

I miss having my overdrive transmission

Yeah, I get that. Really makes a difference on the highway. I'm enjoying the A833 3+OD manual in my truck. Not much easier to come by than your gearbox, unfortunately.

And I actually enjoy working on gearboxes. Rebuilt an MG 4 speed with OD years back. I hope you can find whatever parts you need for yours.

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by Arne

Yeah, I get that. Really makes a difference on the highway. I'm enjoying the A833 3+OD manual in my truck. Not much easier to come by than your gearbox, unfortunately.

And I actually enjoy working on gearboxes. Rebuilt an MG 4 speed with OD years back. I hope you can find whatever parts you need for yours.

I missed out on one of those A833s a couple weeks ago. The seller sold it to someone else after we had set a meeting time, but didn't tell me until I drove the hour out to meet him. Wasted my time and gas, but at least I didn't lose a significant amount of money. Frustrating for sure.
Regarding the 3 speed overdrive for Frankentruck, I have a second overdrive transmission that has been sitting in the garage as a backup/parts transmission in case the one that was in the truck broke. Well, now I'm hoping that whatever broke in the one sitting on the bench is still good in the one sitting on the shelf

[350TacoZilla]

Not to derail your truck thread on OD transmission's but years ago there was a gearset available for muncie 4spd's that would effectively make 3rd OD and then you flipped the shift lever so 4th became your new 3rd, so on the shifter you would still do the normal 1-2-3-4 but it would actually be like 1-2-4-OD. I think you used it with a close ratio trans so the jump between 2nd and 4th wasn't too big of a gap, can't remember though.

With all the new technology I wonder how hard it would be to get a set machined or rough cast then machined correctly.

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by 350TacoZilla

Not to derail your truck thread on OD transmission's but years ago there was a gearset available for muncie 4spd's that would effectively make 3rd OD and then you flipped the shift lever so 4th became your new 3rd, so on the shifter you would still do the normal 1-2-3-4 but it would actually be like 1-2-4-OD. I think you used it with a close ratio trans so the jump between 2nd and 4th wasn't too big of a gap, can't remember though.

With all the new technology I wonder how hard it would be to get a set machined or rough cast then machined correctly.

That would be pretty neat to have in a truck. For Frankentruck though, I'm sticking with the sm319 3 speed with overdrive.
Now for Penny, I've tossed around the idea of picking up a Saginaw 4 speed, and the Saginaw 3 speed overdrive trans to add the overdrive unit to the 4 speed. People have done it before, and it would be pretty neat, but paying for those two transmissions to make one would start pushing me into used Tremec 5 speed price range

[Paul Y]

Originally Posted by cwcarpenter98

That would be pretty neat to have in a truck. For Frankentruck though, I'm sticking with the sm319 3 speed with overdrive.
Now for Penny, I've tossed around the idea of picking up a Saginaw 4 speed, and the Saginaw 3 speed overdrive trans to add the overdrive unit to the 4 speed. People have done it before, and it would be pretty neat, but paying for those two transmissions to make one would start pushing me into used Tremec 5 speed price range

Sounds to me like you have just talked yourself into a T5...

P.

[Arne]

Originally Posted by 350TacoZilla

Not to derail your truck thread on OD transmission's but years ago there was a gearset available for muncie 4spd's that would effectively make 3rd OD and then you flipped the shift lever so 4th became your new 3rd, so on the shifter you would still do the normal 1-2-3-4 but it would actually be like 1-2-4-OD. I think you used it with a close ratio trans so the jump between 2nd and 4th wasn't too big of a gap, can't remember though.

With all the new technology I wonder how hard it would be to get a set machined or rough cast then machined correctly.

Interesting, that's essentially what my NP A833 is. Even down to the flipped linkage. Didn't know you could do that in a Muncie as well.

[1restorick]

Auto Gear Corporation manufactured an overdrive gearset for a Muncie 4 speed. They are no longer available. It did replace 3rd gear with an overdriven gear along with a taller 2nd gear as well. I once wanted to pursue this, so I could speed shift my truck effectively. However, I have stuck with my Muncie 319 (3speed OD) transmission and recently rebuilt a spare unit as well. I was able to find all of the needed parts and every gear is new. I do like the charm of the column shift and the BW overdrive unit is excellent in operation. Christian, if you have questions regarding the repair of your transmission, please reach out, Thanks, Rick

[cwcarpenter98]

Welp, I have some bad news to report. All the gears and bearings look to be in fantastic shape. But the part that broke I'm sure is made of Unobtanium. I don't even know what to call it at the moment, but part of the assembly that helps engage the overdrive is what broke.

I would love to find a NOS piece, if one even exists, but I'm not too hopeful on that one.
The good in all of this is that I can still drive Frankentruck whenever I want to because the old sm318 still has some life left in it. It is a bit whiny, but I don't want to pull it and rebuild when I can just pull and replace with the rebuilt sm319.

Rick, did you have to replace this part when you rebuilt yours? Have you had any trouble keeping the solenoid sealed up properly?



Paul, although tempting, I want to keep the sm319 in Frankentruck. I'm not opposed to going t5 on Penny though. A Tremec 5 speed would be better able to handle the horsepower and torque that I would like to end up with, maybe in a couple years or so.

[cwcarpenter98]

A little searching on the web found a good pic of what broke, and the name. The blocker ring is what broke. It fits on the sun gear control plate. The sun gear control plate is still in great shape on mine, so hopefully I can find a good blocker ring and be able to put the transmission back together

[Braunschweiger]

Oh that's a shame.
I hope you find a replacement.

[1restorick]

Christian, unfortunately the blocker ring is a difficult part to find. I sometimes see these transmissions selling for cheap on Facebook Marketplace, I have not had problems with sealing the solenoid. I just install the new seal as part of the rebuild. You may want to contact the Vintage Auto Garage. They sell parts, mainly the control stuff, but they also have some spare parts as well. I was fortunate that my transmission damage was limited to the synchro drum and every transmission gear had damage. I found the gears on Ebay over a six month period. The overdrive was in great shape and was just cleaned and inspected.

https://vintageautogarage.com/borg-w...saAqj_EALw_wcB


Best of luck.

Rick

[1restorick]

Christian, you may be able to have a machine shop make a new blocker ring for your transmission?? Since it could be machined from a flat plate, it may not be too costly?? Just a thought.

Rick

[cwcarpenter98]

Thanks Rick and Harald.

I had the same idea about a machine shop. Back in 2020, I picked up a second overdrive transmission for a pretty good deal. I've already robbed the solenoid from it, so I guess I'll be taking it apart tomorrow in hopes that it has the parts I need. I've owned it for over two years and haven't even opened it up yet.

If the "parts" transmission still looks good inside, I might try the machine shop route so I can have two functioning overdrives

Edit to add:
I have found the part numbers for what broke.
AR10B-13
GM 3712704
Ford 56H-7662
AMC 3123652
Studebaker 522172
Jeep/Willys 644432

There's currently an active listing on Ebay that's been live since 2021. Been there that long probably because the seller is asking $200 for it