Frankentruck

[350TacoZilla]

Man I'd be tempted to take the good one to machine shop for a copy or two and then try welding the broken one back up and sanding it smooth. It looks like just the small tab snapped off and its all there correct?

[1restorick]

Christian, I would seriously make an offer on the new E-bay listed part. $200 seems a little high, but it puts your overdrive back in action. I spent $600 buying new gears and $139 for the rebuild kit. The synchro drum was another $200 as well. Parts for these transmissions are becoming harder to fine, especially NOS.

Best of luck. I am a strong fan of these transmissions, they had a good overall design and were used in so many applications. I really like using 2nd gear overdrive for round town cruising.

Years ago, when my overdrive was inoperable, my truck sucked gas badly and screamed on the highway as well. Parts were actually hard to find in the 1980's as well. I advertised in Hemming Motor News at the time just to find a new solenoid. Now, they are reproduced and a mouse click away.

Rick

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by 350TacoZilla

Man I'd be tempted to take the good one to machine shop for a copy or two and then try welding the broken one back up and sanding it smooth. It looks like just the small tab snapped off and its all there correct?

I don't trust my welding abilities for a critical part inside the transmission like that This is one of those things I don't want to have to pull back apart for awhile.

Originally Posted by 1restorick

Christian, I would seriously make an offer on the new E-bay listed part. $200 seems a little high, but it puts your overdrive back in action. I spent $600 buying new gears and $139 for the rebuild kit. The synchro drum was another $200 as well. Parts for these transmissions are becoming harder to fine, especially NOS.

Best of luck. I am a strong fan of these transmissions, they had a good overall design and were used in so many applications. I really like using 2nd gear overdrive for round town cruising.

Years ago, when my overdrive was inoperable, my truck sucked gas badly and screamed on the highway as well. Parts were actually hard to find in the 1980's as well. I advertised in Hemming Motor News at the time just to find a new solenoid. Now, they are reproduced and a mouse click away.

Rick

I'll probably throw an offer out there on that one, just to see what might happen. I saw that about the solenoids as well. Currently, mine works still, but it is old, so who knows when it might fail. I love having the overdrive though. Makes cruising down the interstate much quieter.

[cwcarpenter98]

Well, I made an offer on that part and got instantly denied, so either it doesn't exist or the seller isn't accepting offers.

So what's a feller supposed to do? Finally tear into that other transmission he purchased well over two years ago. Yup, making that trip a smidge west of the GA / AL line was well worth it.

Check out the missing chunks from the main shaft. No idea how that broke, but sure does make me feel better about robbing parts from this unit.

Even though the bearings seem to be in good shape on the transmission I'm rebuilding, since I have it apart I'll go ahead and replace them. Just have to order the kit, clean up everything, and slap it back together. Any suggestions on what I should use to keep the needle bearings in place while reassembling?

[Getter-Done]

About holding those needle bearings.

I use assembly lube, petroleum jelly, or Vaseline to keep them in place.
Whichever one I have around at the time.
I would not use white, chassis, or bearing grease when installing bearings or washers in a transmission or transfer case.

Because it does not mix well with the Oil.

Just my 2 Cents

[cwcarpenter98]

Thanks, Dwayne, I ended up going with some assembly lube.

My parts showed up yesterday, but after cracking my phone screen pretty bad a couple months ago, it was finally having enough issues and was 5 years old, so I decided to upgrade yesterday. I expect this phone to work for the next 5 years, but we shall see

Didn’t get a chance to work on Frankentruck today because I helped my friend finally install the trailer hitch on his F150. I pulled that hitch off a junkyard truck several years ago and we just got around to installing it

Did get a nice picture of the truck though

[cwcarpenter98]

If you've been following along for the past year, you know that I've been spending a large chunk of my time studying for the CPA exam. Well, I'm quite happy to report that I no longer have to study for the CPA exam. Yup, it's time to get back to work on the trucks

[Braunschweiger]

Congratulations, enjoy the time first or do you already have a job in mind?

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by Braunschweiger

Congratulations, enjoy the time first or do you already have a job in mind?

Thanks, Harald. I've been working full time for a public accounting firm since August of 22.
One of the requirements to actually get my license is to have a minimum of 1 year work experience under a practicing CPA

[joesscamaro]

Very cool and congratulations. I have a few acquaintances that have taken the CPA exam and they say that it is quite the task!

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by joesscamaro

Very cool and congratulations. I have a few acquaintances that have taken the CPA exam and they say that it is quite the task!

Thanks! It's definitely one of the more challenging things I've done. The hard part is staying focused and preparing well in advance to actually pass. Whether it's a 75 or 100, passing is passing!

[cwcarpenter98]

Made some progress this evening. Finally got all the parts out.
Had to dig through some greasy dirt to find the pin that keeps the countershaft in place. Also ended up punching a hole in the plug over the tail shaft snap ring, so I’ll have to weld that back together. But at least it’s all apart and I can clean all the parts this weekend. Tomorrow after work I’ll take some time to hang up some lights over the work bench. Had to rely on some flash lights this evening

[Paul Y]

Christian,

Well done on the new qualification, I trust that you will reward yourself appropriately by wisely investing in another truck….

P.

[TJ's Chevy]

Congrats man!
And nice messy bench ya got there!
Reading back a bit I can say a tremec 5 speed would be a great trans to get at some point. I have a tko600 in my 66 and have yet to actually test it out but from what I've seen they are smooth tight shifting 5 speeds.
Of course now the tko is outdated and replaced.....and more exspensive haha

[Arne]

A Tremec would be great in any of our trucks, and yet be total overkill for this truck's 283, or even my truck's small block 305. I'm pulling for the successful rebuild of the original overdrive, myself. It's just too cool for a truck like this.

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by Paul Y

Christian,

Well done on the new qualification, I trust that you will reward yourself appropriately by wisely investing in another truck….

P.

Thanks, Paul. It'll be around August/September before I actually get the qualification because I still have to satisfy the work requirements of at least one year working under a licensed CPA. I didn't start working full time until middle of August 2022, but at least I don't have to study for the exams anymore! I'm actually starting to save up to buy a house in the next 2 years or so. If I attempt to bring another truck home, or any vehicle for that matter, I'll be getting kicked to the curb

Originally Posted by TJ's Chevy

Congrats man!
And nice messy bench ya got there!
Reading back a bit I can say a tremec 5 speed would be a great trans to get at some point. I have a tko600 in my 66 and have yet to actually test it out but from what I've seen they are smooth tight shifting 5 speeds.
Of course now the tko is outdated and replaced.....and more exspensive haha

Thanks, TJ. That's about the cleanest it's been in awhile! We cleaned off the bench to be able to have a spot for the rebuild. The parts transmission is currently half way apart on my welding table.
I definitely want a Tremec 5 speed one day, but it won't be in Frankentruck. I'm committed to the 3 speed overdrive and want to keep it that way for the rest of my ownership.

Originally Posted by Arne

A Tremec would be great in any of our trucks, and yet be total overkill for this truck's 283, or even my truck's small block 305. I'm pulling for the successful rebuild of the original overdrive, myself. It's just too cool for a truck like this.

Definitely would be great behind either a 283 or 305, both of which I have. I should put A tremec behind one of those two in the future. Penny will probably get one, one day.



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I got home from work to a nice sunset, so I had to snap a few pictures.

After dinner, I worked some more on the transmission by attempting to take the bearings off. The rear came off easy, the middle one was a challenge, and I don't know how to get the front one off. Time to research!

I did get some lights hung up above the work bench instead of using a cardboard freight flash light. Much better light now, and I still need to replace the bulb on the overhead fixture

[cwcarpenter98]

I don’t have a parts washer, so the garden hose, a scrub brush, and some degreaser has dug up some blue paint! This transmission is from a 65 truck. I don’t see any other colors, so maybe that’s original? Probably not.

At least it’s clean enough for me to start putting parts back inside to stay. I’ll be finishing reassembly before I paint. I don’t care about it being perfect, just to look a little nicer than it is now.

[cwcarpenter98]

Spent most of yesterday afternoon doing some spring cleaning on Frankentruck and Half-Wit to get ready for the C10 Club Georgia swap meet today.

I didn’t find anything to buy, but sold some stuff and throughly enjoyed the drive there and back. The weather was fantastic this afternoon even though it rained earlier this morning.

[TJ's Chevy]

Here in southern Oregon the weather can't figure out what it wants to do. We have snow, rain, and sunshine all in one day haha I'm looking forward to swap meets starting here finally. We are just stuck waiting on actual spring weather.

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by TJ's Chevy

Here in southern Oregon the weather can't figure out what it wants to do. We have snow, rain, and sunshine all in one day haha I'm looking forward to swap meets starting here finally. We are just stuck waiting on actual spring weather.

We had to move the meet to Sunday because of the rain that was projected on Saturday during show time. Looks like it's going to rain this Saturday some as well. Makes working on the trucks a bit challenging when it's raining

[cwcarpenter98]

Started getting a lot of the internal bits cleaned up yesterday just to make less of a mess while reassembling. At the rate I’m going, maybe I’ll get this back together by next year


Edited on 3/31/23 to add:

Started a smidge of reassembly after dinner. A 1.25” pvc pipe works great to gently persuade the new input shaft bearing on with a little help from the Tonya Harding 3000.

Also got the tail shaft bushing installed with a little bit of help from the slip yoke. Didn’t damage the bushing and the yoke spins freely

[cwcarpenter98]

Got to do some “heavy hauling” this afternoon. Also got the tires rotated and balanced this morning. Kinda digging the no caps look. I would need to clean up and paint the lug nuts and hubs before I go to a car show without the caps. I’ll probably just pop the caps back on and not worry about cleaning and painting

[cwcarpenter98]

Made some more progress on the transmission rebuild tonight. Maybe I’ll finish the rebuild this weekend? Nope, probably not

[Braunschweiger]

But it goes on.

[cwcarpenter98]

Well, the transmission is just about back together. I’ve got the overdrive related bits to put back on, but all the internals are back in place.

Last night I got to the point of getting the overdrive unit and main shaft into the main case. Finished up at about 1:30 AM and decided I had enough. This morning, I wrapped up the insides by reinstalling the input shaft and mostly sealing up the transmission. While that was happening, I’ve also been helping a friend with the rebuild of his 68 Triumph Spitfire transmission. Apartments don’t like people working on their cars in the parking lot, so we’re doing the swap here.

Yes, that log I picked up off the side of the road has turned out to be a great outdoor workbench