As I mentioned in another post, I took a month off work, mostly to finish up two projects; my F-1 and a '69 Triumph Bonneville that has been apart and untouched for an incredible 8 years. Other things have come up that got in the way of working on those, but I did get into the clutch on my F-1, and got the Bonneville engine completely apart. Both turned into major work, and my wallet is getting sucked dry!!!

I won't go into the Bonneville much, except to say if you think classic truck prices are high, how does $53 for a single cam follower (lifter) sound??? Or $120 for a single USED rod??? Not for the faint of heart...

So on the F-1, the clutch actually was straightforward. I got my existing one rebuilt by a local brake & clutch shop, who actually work on clutches of this era daily. They did an excellent job! But while it was out I wanted to clean and re-seal the tranny, and most of that involved replacing the shift lever seals. So after no less than 4 hours of cleaning, I popped the side cover. Here's what I found (below); one of the cluster gear rollers was laying in the bottom of the case. It is chewed up from going between two gears, 1st/Rev and the reverse idler as it turns out. Understand that my tranny has worked flawlessly and quietly, and I never expected to have to do a thing to it. Instead I've had another $300 sucked out of my wallet....

 

Ross,

.....OUCH!!!!!!

Thats a major bummer, especially since you were just about to start driving the thing everyday.

Good luck with a replacement
Bobby

 

Major boo-boo.

Was it the roaring Flathead that covered the sound, or the incredably worn tranny that quietly chewed itself apart?

 

Dem Blues? I thought this was going to be a political post. Tough luck on the tranny. Now might be good time to put an automatic behind that flattie!

 

LOL... Real trucks have three pedals...

I swear, the tranny was the smoothest-shifting, quietest manual I've owned. Oh, I forgot to mention, the cluster gear has 1/16" end play... I think the loose needle spent some time between the case and the thrust washer. Yet it never ever jumped out of 2nd. Go figure.

New 1st/Rev sliding gear = $65; new Rev idler = $45. Could be worse, but I still need to buy all new bearings.

BTW, anyone with an early manual trans, the release bearing generic part number (industry standard #) is 2065. Any "real" parts store will have them for several applications. Ford 8N tractors used the same setup, too.

 

I can attest to how quiet Ross's tranny was as I was lucky enough to have taken a ride around the block in the blue beauty.........

 

Ross took me for a e-ride. He sent me a video, it sounded great. I was jealous 'cause my truck only moves if you push it.

Ross, it could have been $worst$, have you priced out a cluster gear??$$
...Terry

 

So my '50 four speed must be PERFECT with all the noise it makes!

 

YES!!

What I hated about this was that I had to decide if I should put any money into it, or go to a T-5. I can't bring myself to hack the crossmember... I also have a 3-sp w/OD, it just will not fit without lots of hacking, either. I envy '53-'56 guys in this respect.

 

Does the whole tranny have to be dropped to replace the shift lever seals?
I had my clutch redone least year, and I bought a tranny seal kit from DC. THe kit did not have shift lever seals, and my mechanic I think failed to at least question it. Now my tranny is leeking form this area, and I'd like to get er fixed.

 

That's interesting, because I did a Search on here, and a bunch of people said the DC gasket kit had the seals. I've been waiting for the set to arrive.

No, you don't have to pull the trans to do the seals. (Assuming this is a side-shift/column shift trans?) You just drain it, and take off the side cover assembly. Drive out the pins that hold the levers to the shafts, take off the levers, and replace the seals.

I had NumberDummy check on the seals; the Ford number is obsoleted, but they are:
Shifter lever seals 01A-7288 Seal, shifter fork cam and shaft shift lever - 1/4" x 1 1/8"
Chicago Rawhide (CR) sells them but I don't have a number. In fact, if they aren't in the gasket set, I'm going out right now to get some!

 

I'm trusting that my mechanic told the truth when said they weren't in the kit. There were a bunch of seals in the kit, and I don't remenber seeing any. He had the truck assembled without the shifter seals when I picked it up. I was a bit frustrated that he didn't warn me they were missing before he put the tranny seals on.

 

I got my DC gasket set and some other stuff just after I posted. I'm pissed! Not only aren't the shifter seals in the gasket set (DC didn't say they were, others on here did), but the "NOS" rear mount has a Made in India sticker on it. Getting an NOS mount was the ONLY reason I went to DC, theirs is $5 more, and their shipping is higher. Fool me once....

C&G has the shifter seals and all the trans bearings, they have the widest selection of internal parts of anyone I've found.

I need to pull my shifter levers off to verify that the seals are the metal-and-rubber lip truck-style seals; the car 3-sp's apparently used just an O-ring.

 

Sorry to hear that Ross, I guess my mechanic wasn't fibbing. Keep me posted what kind of seals you get, I'll need them too.
Please take a few quick pics of your install if you put them in, it would be great help!!

 

I am afraid of what I will find when I ever open mine........