Transmission reinstall, T96 on 1950 Champion

[chrysleritis]

I'm reinstalling the rebuilt transmission on my 1950 Champion.
It seems to be a bit hung up as I try to stuff it forward through the clutch housing. It's the last inch and a half that I can't mate up.
Do I need a helper to depress the clutch pedal to kind of buy enough wiggle room to get the input shaft in there lined up right? Or am I hung up on something more serious? What is the smack yourself in the forehead thing I'm missing?

[gordr]

Sounds like the clutch disc may not be centered on the flywheel, preventing the nose of the transmission input shaft from entering the pilot bushing.

First thing I'd try is putting the transmission in gear, and trying turn the rear yoke by hand (overdrive locked out). If you can turn it at all, then the splines of the input shaft have not yet meshed with the clutch disc. If it feels "locked solid", then the splines are engaged, and it is just the pilot bushing holding you up. At that point, having a helper work the clutch may help.

Be sure to have some support (or a strong arm) under the min body of the transmission when that clutch pedal is depressed, as the full weight of the tranny will come off the clutch disc, and land on the throwout bearing.

It never hurts to pull the tranny out again, and have a good look in there, and make absolutely certain that everything is lined up OK.

Gord Richmond, within Weasel range of the Alberta Badlands

[skyway]

Do not depress the clutch pedal! You do not want to risk having the driven disk move (drop) out of postion (because there will be no input shaft to keep it lined up.)

If you unbolted and removed the trans without removing any clutch parts, then the driven disk should still be held in place. If so, its just a matter of getting the splines on the trans input shaft to go thru the "slots" on the driven disk, so that the smooth nose of the input shaft can fit into the hole in the center of the flywheel.
Note that this can take a bunch of wiggling and cussing.

If you did replace clutch parts, then you should have used a spare input shaft to orient the driven disk, as you tightened the bolt that hold the pressure plate in place(those bolts get tightened a bit at a time alternating all around sort of like now you do with lug nuts.)

Also, any chance that the throwout bearing is out of position, or that the input shaft or disk have been changed so that the splines and slots do not match?

[chrysleritis]

Great, thank you Gord. The rear yoke will no longer twirl. Must be crammed into the clutch disk then.
I'll put the wife under the car, and I'll depress the clutch while she wiggles the transmission.

[chrysleritis]

Oo. Wait. No, I didn't remove any clutch parts. But suppose the driven disk has dropped out of position in the
intervening weeks since I removed the transmission with its shaft? That would obviously hold things up.
How can I reposition it? I think the manual recommends (short of a second input shaft) a piece of dowel the same diameter as the input shaft, which you put through the driven disk and into the flywheel. Would that do?
Well, crud. Don't make me back the whole thing back out, guys. The wife's arms are getting tired. I think that would
be the prudent thing to do, however.

[buddymander]

Could someone have pushed the clutch in after you removed the trans? As long as the input shaft is in the clutch plate, it wont drop down; but by pushing in the clutch pedal, you WILL release the trans, allowing it to possibly fall. My first car was a 60 Lark, and the first thing I did on a car was replace that clutch.

[52-fan]

I always like to get two long bolts the same size as the Trans bolts, cut the heads off and put them in the bottom holes in the bellhousing. You can slide the transmission in on these 'studs' and won't be in a strain holding the transmission in place while you wiggle things around. I fought this fight with a Plymouth 4-speed once until my wife pushed on the clutch pedal and the transmission slid the rest of the way.
If you don't have an old pilot shaft for a clutch alignment tool you can get a wooden dummy from an auto parts store. They don't cost much, but I had to sand a little of the paint off of my last one becuse it was too tight.


1952 Champion Starlight, 1962 Daytona, both w/overdrive.Searcy,Arkansas
"I may be lazy, but I'm not shiftless."