Pulled the trans from the 64 and did the disassembly last night.

This:



Turned into this:

 

Uh-oh. You've done this before, I can tell.

 

It's been a while but yes.

 

I see you've got the Assemblee Goo at the ready...good stuff.


.

 

A couple words of advice for when it comes time to re-assemble...

Pay close attention to the detent and interlock plugs. There are subtle differences and sometimes hard to tell on used parts. Getting the pieces mixed up can be a cause of hard or difficult shifting.

As I remember the interlock plugs have "tent" shape ends and the shifter detents have rounded ends.

Good luck.

 

Was once able to do that with NP 435's. Many moons ago. Ford put them in F-700's with a large input shaft and big drum E-brake ***'y hanging on the back. Always wiping out the rear bearing. After a few we learned to change the bearing with out removing the trans and to a better bearing.

 

Thanks for the advice. The detents and interlock looked identical when they came out covered in 50 years of goo. I will take a goog look at them during reassembly. I saw on the web where someone had taken a couple teeth of the input shaft syncro to allow it to clear the counter shaft. Not to sure about that.

 

Larry how about a little more backstory. Does the engine have to come out to pull the gearbox? I'm thinking no, but without a lift it's gotta be kind of a PITA. I've never had a bit of trouble from the transmission, just try to to keep it topped off with gear oil. They must be tough.

 

Back story. This truck had really really sloppy shifting and sometimes would not go into second gear. We did all the preliminary thing like changing the engine and trans mounts, the bushings on the shift arms. It was better but still not right. Removing the trans does not require taking the engine our. Being that there are only 3 mounts ( 1 on the front of the engine and 2 on trans the rear of the engine needs to be supported. We did this by putting a heavy duty 1" cargo strap from one frame rail to the other at the back end of the oil pan. After dropping the drive shafts and removing the bolts holding the bell housing to the block my son and I were able to pull the trans back far enough for the input shaft to clear the bushing in the rear of the crank. They are really not all that heavy. I have done this by myself before but it is much nicer with 2 people. We did have a floor jack under, but not touching, the trans. As soon as it was clear we rested it on the floor jack, lowered it and rolled it out from under the truck. Once out we found the front bearing to be really sloppy and the significant wear on the syncro rings. I will take more pictures of the old parts. Taking a trans out is not hard at all. Putting it back in sometimes is another story. Stay tuned.

 

Thanks. Much appreciated.

 

Removing a couple teeth from the input shaft synchro (high gear) allows the input shaft to be removed / reinstalled with the cluster gear in place. Makes for a much easier job by not having to mess with a dummy shaft in the cluster, but nothing I would recommend.
If it were a good idea and saved assembly time, I'm sure Ford would have done it from the get go.

You say the main bearing is sloppy. Be sure to check the pocket bearing in the trans end of the input shaft and the corresponding pilot on the end of the mainshaft. There is a good chance they are worn a much as the input bearing. Their surfaces should be shiny and near chrome like. Any dullness or pitting isn't good.

A Ford shop manual, or a Motor's, are great sources when you go to reassemble the transmission. Lost of little pieces that need to get installed in a specific order.

The 3.03 is a very tough transmission. They are the 3 speed version of the top loader 4 speed and Ford used them in everything from V8 Falcons to F series trucks. There are different versions, so be sure to use the id tag numbers when ordering parts.

Good luck.

 

Speaking of, is there a kit with commonly needed parts available as a set?

Any truth to the notion that GL-5 gear oil causes failure of yellow (brass) metal transmission parts like synchros? Read this everywhere, but it seems like everyone is just repeating what they've heard. Had I known I'd have never installed 90 wt, have been using it for 20 years so it can't be an overnight deal anyway. Thanks.

 

Roger - I have the shop manual on cd so hopefully that will be good.

When you say pocket bearings are you referring to the needle bearings? If so I have new ones. I bought a rebuild kit from Tom's broncos and it seems pretty complete.

 

Yes, but...

I was mainly referring to the "races" where the needles (rollers) you refer to ride, the "pocket" in the input shaft and the "snout" on the mainshaft.

These "race" areas are prone to wear, especially when there is wear on the input and / or output bearings. This is where you want to see the chrome like surface I referred to in the earlier post. Any dullness is a sign of beginning wear. Any roughness or pitting tells you it might be time to look for replacements, depending on intended use.

Lots of little things to look for. The Ford shop manual usually has a section on teardown and inspection, and has good pictures to refer to. As today's instructions all say, "read and understand all the instructions before proceeding." That is good advice, even for a 50 year old transmission. Clean everything and then inspect prior to re-assembly.

Hope this helps.

 

, just a little bit...

Several online advertised offer kits for the transmissions in our trucks. These range from gasket and seal kits to ones that include everything except the case and gears.

Lots of opinions regarding the use of GL-5 rated gear oils in older rigs. Seems the chemical make up of GL-5 can be harsh on yellow metal, like transmission synchronizer rings, but is OK in differentials, etc. where no yellow metal is present.
Pretty sure 90 wt oil / grease is what is recommended for our trucks manual transmissions. Just make sure it isn't GL-5 rated.