Chuzie's '77 Project

[chuzie]

Looks like I am going to be on hold for a couple of days.

My cheap-ass torque wrench killed one of my 1-way clutch outer hub bolts when trying to torque 20ft-lbs. I will try ford and hit the yards. More to come...

[chuzie]

I tried the cheap way out and went to harbor freight to get a bearing/bushing tool kit and it only covered a couple of the bushing I need to replace (mostly greater than 1.25" which is the max the Kit will allow) so I am just going to get on the horn tomorrow to either find an automotive machine shop or tranny shop to replace my bushings. I can't justify paying so much money for a proper set when I am only going to use it once (unless I start doing trannies for a living).

I also have to find a seal protector for my pistons. I can't get them on there and if I use much more force I am afraid I will cut a seal so that is on my list too.

I snapped a bolt in the back of the one way clutch outer hub because my cheap torque wrench is, well, cheap. So I am going to have to find a replacement for it and likely the entire set of 6 since I now have to assume the others are over torqued and just didn't snap. Any suggestion sources please speak up.

Let's see what else do I need at this point to finish the build.....

-New neutral safety switch
-Helical for the pan bolt hole that is stripped
-Bushing replacement
-Seal protector
-Torque wrench that is worth a damn

Haven't taken many pics yet but I will before I go back up with the unit. Here is one of the few I have taken so far.

FWIW- I have yet to find any mechanical defect inside the transmission that would suggest why I could not sift into 3rd gear. Looks like it must have been the vacuum line. Whoops!!!

[chuzie]

Here is the scoop to date.

Paid $45.00 to have all my bushing removed and pressed back into place and to replace the One-Way clutch outer hub mounting bolt that I snapped with my cheap torque wrench. I actually went ahead and bought a full set of six since I should assume that I over torqued the rest and just got lucky they did not snap.

Anyway, I started the real build today by installing the two servos and the one way clutch outer hub. Here are some tips I got from the tranny guy today. Make sure you scotch pad the movement surfaces for the o-rings that go to the servos or they may heat up during the break in period. He also caught a mistake I made with the pistons. I installed the wrong o-rings. One piston is supposed to have the square cut ring and the other receives the round o-ring. Don't miss that step. Also, it is easy to get all the o-rings mixed up since a handful of them are similar in size. I would say the best thing to do is to match up and identify the proper new o-rings to the old ones as they come off during tear down to prevent any confusion later down the road.


Here you can see everything is pretty much out of the case except the outer hub in the back and the shift lever on the right side.



Reverse servo installed along with shift lever


Intermediate servo installed. Don't forget to scotch brite the walls and lube the o-rings.

Here are the six one way clutch outer hub bolts I was talking about.

This is the rev-high piston installed in the drum. Careful with that spring!!! I did not really need seal protectors since I lube the seals with petro and was gentle on the install. Remember to make sure you use the CORRECT seals.

[blazinchuck]

looking good Chuzie!! great progress

[johnpaulgolf]

Nice...keep it up...good tech!!!

[chuzie]

So for today I did some backtracking. Why? Well because I completely forgot to accomplish some of the upgrade mods that are typical on a C4 rebuild. Last night I assembled the High/Rev pack and forgot 2 important things. 1.) Install a 5th friction plate instead of the stock 4 and 2.) drill some holes in the drum for faster oil evacuation.


Here is the stock 4 pack with the thick plate at the top and measures about .850


Here is a set of 5 plates with a steel at the top replacing the thick one and it measures .843. No since I planned poorly I do not have an extra pressure plate and 2 new steels for this mod so I used old ones for the measurement and went ahead and ordered the new ones from Transtar today and they should be here in 2 days. I probably would not have a issue using a couple of the old steels but the old pressure plates were obviously deteriorating and that is unsat for an overhaul. I think I can wait a couple more days for new parts.

Here is the return cooler line in the rear of the case. The typical mod is to clean it out with 5/32 bit and then ream it out with a 3/16 for a larger passage.

So once again I removed the one way outer hub to accomplosh the other 1/2 of that rear mod is to create a 1/16" oiling hole in the case to feed the #9 thrust washer which is notorious for getting spun. The oil is supplied from the same return line in the case that was reamed. I also completed the mod by drilling a 1/8" hole in the thrust washer so it lines up with the hole in the case. You can't tell in the pic but it is chamfered.

This is the #9 thrust washer with the 1/8" hole drilled to match the 1/16" hole in the case in the pic above.

This is the REV/High drum that I had all nice and assembled yesterday. Today I took it back apart because I forgot to drill my 4ea. 5/16" holes. Oh, joy! Now I get to clean it again. looks like I get to make another trip to buy some solvent. The holes were drilled on four sides and directly in the middle of where the clutches would rest.

Also ordered my stock TC today and should be here tomorrow. $45.00 ain't too shabby!!!

When I get done I will post all my references for the build as well as the mods because God knows I ain't doing this stuff on my own!

More to come...

[bucketobolts]

Great job! Couldn't have done it any better myself:bdent:

[chuzie]

bucketobolts, what is your opinion on my using a steel to cap off the pack rather than machining down the pressure plate? I know your article referenced machining the pressure plate to make room for the 5th disc.

If anyone is interested bucket wrote a pretty good c4 upgrade article here

[johnpaulgolf]

Chuzie are you seriouly running a C4 ewwwww!!!

[bucketobolts]

I have used the beveled inner pressure plate from the forward clutch pack before. They are only $3-4 from a parts house. If you just use a steel it will deflect under pressure and cause the pack to fail.

Here is the pick of the mine that I turned down form my transmission. Looks very similar to the inner forward pressure plate. I can't remember the exact thickness of the outer edge.