I am in the process of disassembling my TOD T-170 manual transmission. The instructions that I have call for a dummy shaft being used to push the counter shaft out and then remaining inside the countershaft gear until I get the rest of the thing apart. My question is; where do I get this dummy shaft? Can I make one out of a piece of pipe or something? How long would it have to be? Does this dummy shaft come with the rebuild kit?

Also when I go to reassembe the tranny I am to put the new needle bearings in each end of the countershaft gear and then put the dummy shaft in place and the set this in the bottom of the case. After the main shafts and gears are install I am then supposed to put the countershaft gear in place and push the dummy shaft out with the countershaft. I can barely see the countershaft gears past the main gear train...how am I supposed to manouver the countershaft assemble into place?

If any of you guys have gone through these process I would appeciate any advise you can offer.

Thanks

 

You can use a piece of wood doweling about the same diameter.
A broom handle works good. Don't let your wife know.

 

Another question: I have all the snap rings off of the input and output shafts...should the shaft bearings slide out or do I need a puller. The instructions I have make it sound like they should come right off by hand but it is not working for me so far.

Thanks

 

fordxxx, it's been a year since I've done this so bear with me. Firstly, the input and output bearings didn't fall off for me either and I ended up using having to pound them off/on using a block and hammer, going evenly around. Probably not the best method, but worked for me.

For the dowel, go to home depot and get a dowel the same size as the dummy shaft (not at home to measure remaining dowel I used, but can post Monday evening if you wish), I think like 3/4 diameter. Upon removing the countershaft, you can cut it down to size--the same size as the countershaft.

The first thing you put back in is the countershaft gear (with the dummy shaft). When in place (before putting anything else back in the tranny (ie, the main gear shafts), you use the countershaft to push out the dummy (dowel) shaft. The shaft goes from one end of the tranny to the other, so it will push it out completely. After that's in, do the same for the reverse idler gear (not sure what it's called exactly, the other small gear at the bottom of the tranny). THEN put in the other main gear shafts that ride above. Essentially, your'e putting things back in the opposite order of taking them out.

Any other questions, be sure to post up and I'll try to help. I'm on the night-shift, so probably won't reply 'til evening at the earliest. You can also PM if you like. What are you using for instructions, the article on the t-18 rebuild here on the site?

 

OK I finally got the bearings off with the help of a 20lb sledge hammer.

One end of the counter shaft gear where the needle bearing go is rough. Sort of a galled texture for part of the width of the surface. What would cause this? What can be done to fix this? A new counter shaft gear...where would you buy one? Is there some way of machining the bore out and putting some kind of bearing race insert in? That is probably a harded surface so maybe it can't be machined.

Any thought on this would be appreciated.

 

If you wanted to buy one, I suppose you could the transmission shop where you got your kit. Maybe you could also try to get another used tranny just like it at a junkyard to use as a donor for parts. Looking around a bit, I bet you could find something used pretty cheap.

If the surface of the inside of the countershaft was rough, how did the bearings look? I would imagine it could be caused by particles getting in there, bits of metal.

 

The counter shaft itself looks nice and smooth and the needles are look normal. There is another identical tranny at the junk yard that I would go and get if I weren't working so much (it's 6:30 am and I am typing this from work).

Thanks for the advise Rhodie.

 

I have my T-170 rebuilt with a kit from Driveline Specialties and I have the tranny back in the truck. Now the question of what kind of oil to put in. I called a couple of Ford dealers today and both of them said to use Mercon automatic tranny fluid. Is this right? Both of the trannies I got from the pick-a-part had gear oil in them (I know because it was dripping on me).

What would you guys suggest? I would hate to put the wrong oil in an wreck my rebuilt tranny.

Thanks

 

If it were me, I would just put gear lube back in. If they ran well for the 20 plus years your trannies were used, why take the chance, especially after putting in all new bearings, etc...??

 

Thanks for the response Rhodie. I was kind of thinking the same thing. The trouble is I have already put the ATF in and driven around the block a few times. The thing is, how would I get that ATF out now. There is no drain plug to drain it is there?

Thanks

 

Well, first off....how's it driving with the ATF? I've read posts here and there with people putting in atf in their manual trannies, but don't really remember what the consensus was, what possibilities there were for damage or improved performance. Try doing a search and reading up as much as you can, and who knows....maybe you'll come to the decision to try it out for a while--as it's already in there.

If you're on the more squeamish side about such things--like myself--get a hand pump and pump the atf out. You probably won't be able to get it all out at once, but I wouldn't worry too much about that.

 

Maybe I could syphon it out with some clear tubing. The ATF is pretty thin.

 

OK I have the truck fully operational with the 4 speed OD. After reading a bunch of post on the subject I decided to stick with the ATF and it seem to work OK. Also I managed to find a very nice transmission tunnel cover from a 66 floor shift truck that fits perfectly. With the cover on an some insulation over the tranny it is pretty quiet even with no floor covering. The next step is to install carpet which should quiet it down even more.

I have a steering column from a floor shift truck which I had planned to swap in place of the automatic column but decided to just swap the collar at the top instead. Swapping the column would have destroyed the inside firewall cover which is pristine on this truck.

I am running 3.25 gears in the rear and these are pretty tall for a 302 and the OD. I am thinking of swapping in 3.5's or even 3.70's. What do you guys think? I have 225 75/R15 tires which are about 28" in diameter.

Thanks