project 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

[hairnet]

41 minutes ago, Skizzer said:

Cracking quality bench that.  

Looking forward to the gearbox fettling. Autoboxes are made from voodoo as far as I’m concerned. #LearningOpportunity.

Huh?  This is pretty cryptic even for hairnet.

i put that pic in here by mistake and keith pointed out they did the mehari in usa

i wasnt making that point

'but hey odd shite that USA doesn't get ' - not meaning the mehari particularly

keef

[PhilA]

That's the edition I got, the copy is a little more tatty. Should be here early next week.

 

Phil

[somewhatfoolish]

3 hours ago, PhilA said:

 

That's as far as I'm going right now without the manual...

 

Phil

The  doodad is attached to the thingamajig with frendle pins; the spring-loaded whatsit is only actuated after the thingamajig is fully extended beyond the giggle stop. If the whatsit is actuating prematurely the giggle stop must be readjusted using Special Tool No 9500219B. If after readjustment actuation is still premature it is likely that the frendle pins are worn; these are only serviceable by exchange; order service assembly B0H1CA.

[PhilA]

The springs in the bottom of the other pan, from what I've seen, are huge and would probably be good coil spring replacements for a Mini.

[tooSavvy]

So ^^... With all that 'pre tension' I hope you won't have to suffer chronic mood-swings as well ?

looking forward to a 'breakdown', though

[hairnet]

that pic with the cover off

WHERETHEFUKDOYAEVENSTART

[LightBulbFun]

heres a good video that explains* how everything works dont worry about it will be a piece of cake

[PhilA]

Pretty evening tonight, so a bit of work needed to occur.

Recall back at the beginning, the really scary wiring? Well, this is all that was left of the insulator that holds the driver's side headlight connector block together.

So, start measuring up a piece of random plastic.

Drill out the piece and cut it carefully.

Trim to length.

File the slots in that stop the connectors rotating.

Clean up the connectors and attach.

Finally, bolt it into the car. Next up tomorrow, the same again on the other side!

 

Phil

[purplebargeken]

^^ Cor, cool.

[hairnet]

thats gotta hurt - phil filing his slot

is there a lot of that in the car or just for the lights?

 

 

[PhilA]

No, there's just these two connector blocks up on the front wings for the headlights, sidelights and indicators.

The rest of the car is bullet connectors, and one multi-plug deal for the turn signal stalk.

 

--Phil

[PhilA]

T'other side.

 

Phil

[busmansholiday]

19 hours ago, PhilA said:

T'other side.

 

Phil

Looks like the latest* car from an unknown car maker in errrrrm (fill your own country/ car maker in)

[PhilA]

Bent back the tab washer and undid the bolt holding the torus half on.

Never seen inside one of these, but it's fairly straightforward to see how it works.

Pulled the huge circlip off that holds the rest of it on. Surprisingly, the outer section is shock mounted with springs, the same as a regular clutch.

Looks like it's been leaking for a while. With the torus off, it's a much more manageable weight.

Phil

[Noel Tidybeard]

On 7/25/2019 at 12:26 AM, LightBulbFun said:

heres a good video that explains* how everything works dont worry about it will be a piece of cake

too savy's dad?

[PhilA]

 

[PhilA]

Cleaned up and took off the bellhousing for the front of the gearbox this morning. Makes it a little less heavy and earlier to remove dirt. Also that end plate may have to come off yet, unsure.

Cleaned up the distributor clamp. It has a gauge at the top which will need to be set against the dynamic timing once the engine is running again.

Then there was color.

 

Spent the rest of the morning cutting down bloody tree branches between rain showers.

 

Phil

[hairnet]

ooh

[PhilA]

Buzzed the side pan of the gearbox clean, to see if the color I had in mind for my gearbox would work.

 

Yeah, that'll work. Solstice Blue.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

Manual last checked in at Memphis on Sunday morning. So far no progress report. USPS Media Mail sucks baws.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

I didn't sleep well last night, worrying about this nonsense. The main shaft doesn't have much in the way of endfloat (still need to check it) but it does have a lot of lateral slop and I'm not sure if that's for self centering or if it is all just worn out. It does support itself in the center of the flywheel and it doesn't feel to be sloppy inside the gearbox, the end just flops around.

Again, the manual should shed light on it. Hopefully I am not going to be on the look for bearings also.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

Ooh, manual just checked in at our local post office. Hopefully it'll be delivered today.

Not that I can do much today- day off to take dog to the doctor and the children to the vet. Or something like that. 

Phil

[PhilA]

 

Woo.

[hairnet]

lol that book is older than my dad (dont mention religious )

least phils book is non fiction

[PhilA]

Okay, I have a much better understanding of how this works now.

 

Power goes through the gearbox in a funny fashion. 

 

Engine > reduction gear > fluid coupling > reduction gear > reverse set > wheels

So, unlike a manual gearbox where the engine (through the clutch) drives the single main shaft, to which multiple ratio gears are selectable, this changes the speed of the fluid clutch... And a such has 3 main shafts and a driven shaft through a reduction.

If it weren't locked out you could have 4 reverse gears also... Funny. What's more interesting is it reduces the speed at which the fluid coupling rotates as a method of speed reduction. So, in essence, the fluid coupling is not actually the thing driving the gearbox- half of the gearbox is driven by the engine at all times and that then drives the fluid coupling, whose output speed can be reduced also. 3.8:1 maximum reduction up to 1:1 direct drive.

Main shaft is juuuuust about in spec. Almost.

 

That's going to need addressing with a new shim, but that can wait for now. 

Phil

[LightBulbFun]

interesting stuff  

what locks out the gears in reverse and is it possible to remove the lock out?  

[PhilA]

Sensibly, the lever arm for the engagement clutch and the position of the selector arm in the valve block. They made damn sure it could only be in first gear.

 

Phil

[hairnet]

7 hours ago, PhilA said:

Okay, I have a much better understanding of how this works now.

 

Power goes through the gearbox in a funny fashion. 

 

Engine > reduction gear > fluid coupling > reduction gear > reverse set > wheels

So, unlike a manual gearbox where the engine (through the clutch) drives the single main shaft, to which multiple ratio gears are selectable, this changes the speed of the fluid clutch... And a such has 3 main shafts and a driven shaft through a reduction.

If it weren't locked out you could have 4 reverse gears also... Funny. What's more interesting is it reduces the speed at which the fluid coupling rotates as a method of speed reduction. So, in essence, the fluid coupling is not actually the thing driving the gearbox- half of the gearbox is driven by the engine at all times and that then drives the fluid coupling, whose output speed can be reduced also. 3.8:1 maximum reduction up to 1:1 direct drive.

 

Phil

All nope

Enjoy fettling

[PhilA]

Well, radiator is of an unconventional design and is completely borked. 

 

New core $460, plus 6h labor about $900

I think I'll be getting a cheap aluminum radiator for now.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

...or not. There's a few listed that are about the right size but the pipe fitment is wrong. 

I'm going to try clean this one up and see where it's leaking and solder it.

 

Phil