Transmission alignment story........

[Runs With Scissors]

I did not want to de-rail @BastropMetal thread, but here is a "RWS True Story"......

There I was in the middle of Ohio (circa 1994ish) and smoke starts pouring into the cab as I travel SB on I-75.

My faithful F-150 with 225K has given up the ghost for some strange reason. Freshly out of the Marines, my job was as a beginning A@P mechanic working for some "puddle jumper" company making basically "jack squat".

I walked to someones house and called my dad. (cell phones were for rich people then).....We eventually got it back in the driveway of our "new starter home", a nice 200 mile journey, that is worthy of a story "in and of itself."

I am already over-extended credit wise, and have no money due to buying our first "Rent-a-Wreck" of a house.

Long story short, I buy a motor from Jasper. (a well known rebuilder at the time).

So there I am, on my back in the drive way with jacks, 2x4's, prybars, tools and such strewn about in a well intentioned..... "Disaster area".

The only thing left to do is bolt it up to the tranny and BAM, I would be basically done.....easy enough, or so I thought.....

I get the trans back under the truck and everything aligned.....but one side won't align quite right......Hmmmm.....

jiggle, jiggle......jiggle jiggle.......JIGGLE JIGGLE..........JIGGLE F"ING JIGGLEE!!!!!!!

10 hours later, I am covered in grease, oil, and I am beside my self with anger, cussing and swearing like you can't believe. Finally my wife comes out and begs me to stop for the night.

The next day, I am out there at "Zero'Dark Thirty", with a trouble light, at it again......I tried every thing....I called every person I knew. (mind you now, there is no YouTube, hell there was no internet really)....Another 15 hour day passes...and my frustration level is insanely high.

I say to myself, " OK, Calm down asshole, your a G'damn aircraft mechanic for Gods sake, this is nothing"

jiggle, jiggle......wiggle, wiggle.......JIGGLE JIGGLE..........JIGGLE F"ING JIGGLEE!!!!! I SAID MFING, JIGGLE JIGGEL AND WIGGLE WIGGLE!!!!!!!!

I tried using bolts to align it, I must have removed and quadruple checked the torque converter 10 times, I had jacks, and jack stands, and so many 2x4's laying around that it looked like I was building a house.

This goes on for 3 full days from sun up to sundown.....I am totally dejected. I have never been this frustrated in my life.

I did all I could....I made sure they sent me the right motor, I must have called them 50 times to double check.....I am almost "suicidal" at this point.........

I pull the tranny out yet again, just laying underneath the truck in utter disbelief, and this "calming warmth' comes over me.......I have to take it in and have a 'real mechanic" do it...........

As I finally come to terms with being "beaten", I am "cool and calm". As I start crawling out from under the truck for the 200th and final time, out of the corner of my eye, BAM, I see it.......

F'ing Eureka, F'ing Eureka, !!!!!!!!!!!

Jasper had installed a pilot bearing for a manual trans in the crank! Thats why I could never get it to line up. The nose of the torque converter could not seat itself into the crank properly!!!!!!

I popped that pilot bearing, out, and that trans just "popped in".....It was that easy.

There I was a few hours later, covered in grease, oil, blood and tears, on a "test drive", smiling from ear to ear.....

The End.....

 

[mikester]

Nothing beats the satisfaction of finally figuring out the trick to making it work!

 

[Yooper]

I know that story! Worked for a trucking company as a mechanic and the guy next to me did a brake job. Couldn’t get the wheels to go back on. Made umteen trips to the parts room thinking the brake shoes were wrong and finally, out of frustration, started sanding the pads down. Then in comes the night shift guy and has the bright idea to release the parking brake.

 

[D2Cat]

RWS, I had a '66 GTO with a 4 speed, and I went through similar procedure to get that thing back in. I had been working for hours and was exhausted with the 4 speed laying on my chest wondering what to do next. About that time a friend come by to see how I was doing, and I explained how it wouldn't fit.

So we got into a discussion. He was telling me how he could do it, and I declared how there was no way he could get that transmission into that engine and the bolts in place. We went back and forth long enough he said get out of the way and I'll show you.

I have to admit I was egging him on! Took him about 5 minutes and he had it bolted in. To this day I never told him I was irritating him on purpose.

 

[bbxlr8]

After years of messing around with old cars & trucks, I have found that it is usually the little things that get me after breezing through what should be the big job!

 

[lugbolt]

did exactly the same thing on a 2.3L powered fox body Mustang once....

a frustrating lesson that I didn't forget either.

 

[GrassLakeRon]

Reminds me of trying to shoe horn a 351 Windsor into a 78' cobra mustang.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

I remember oh too well swapping trannies in my friends F100 ( yes 100....)
EASY to get the 3speed 'granada tranny' out... almost one guy ,hand..
Now, installing the 4 speed 'truck tranny' was a grunt, groan and a 'challenge'.
That 'bo low 1st ' was Super impressive !

 

[BBFarmer]

Long story short, I buy a motor from Jasper. (a well known rebuilder at the time).

Still are to. We've been a "preferred" installer for them for almost 15 years now. Probably keep atleast 2 units a week on the ground from them.

Got a few of their things in a couple of my piles as well.

Their QC has started slipping over the years though.

And its known around here that I always get the "special item" they put in whenever the customer opts for the "install kit". Sometimes its seasoning, sometimes its awesome spicy mustard. Either way, its all I get to look forward to these days lol.

 

[lugbolt]

I did a real short (about 6 years) stint in the automotive engine repair/reman business with a friend who was also the coowner of that business.

We did install a few Jasper engines and a few transmissions as well. They weren't very consistent in quality of their work that's for sure. Had a couple stuck in the corner (pullouts that had failed and they didn't want back) that we took apart for inspection after a period of time, and the crank main bearings were oddball sized, IOW, #1 was .010, #2 was .010, #3 was .030 (and had a .020 bearing shell installed) #4 was .010, and #5 was STD. I don't know why they did it that way but that's what they did. The other one was just all wrong, was supposed to be a 350 but it turned out to be a 305 block punched out to 4.000" bore, no wonder the cylinder walls were cracked/leaking. There were quite a few Jasper pullouts that were "worn out", they liked to use 305 cranks in the 350 blocks (same stroke)--but the big difference is that a 305 crank used in a 350 doesn't balance out very well. It can be done but it's not the right way to do it when a 350 crank kit is (or was at the time) dirt cheap. Maybe they were running low on them, I don't know. Don't care. They made us some money either way.