Hi:
I recently purchased a 1959 Chev 3100 Apache with a 283 engine. It also has the GM overdrive accessory which appealed to me. The truck interior and exterior were in excellent condition, but the engine was very tired, so I had an expert mechanic with small block experience rebuild it. This included a four-inch bore (because 0.40 over wasn’t enough), a new stock cam and new Offenhauser heads. As a result, the engine is now a 302 and the truck is a screaming sleeper.
In addition to rebuilding the engine, I had a new clutch, pressure plate, throw out and pilot bearings installed. And the flywheel was resurfaced. I also had the driveline rebuilt and balanced.
After all this engine work was done, I fired up the truck and took it for a test drive. As I said, the engine was exceptionally strong, but something was wrong with the clutch, pressure plate, etc. At least I thought that was the problem. In first gear, as I let out the clutch, the truck shuttered (chattered) violently. It was virtually un-drivable. I could, however, start off in second gear with no problem, including the transmission automatically shifting into OD after reaching 30 mph and letting off the accelerator pedal. It also shifted well from second OD to third and third OD. There was some chatter in reverse, but not nearly as bad as in first. I drove it around this way for awhile, thinking it needed to be broken in. No such luck. Every time I tried to start off in first gear, severe shutter/chatter.
So, we initially thought it was a clutch, pressure plate, flywheel problem. However, after disassembling everything, there were no visible issues that would cause a “chatter/shutter” problem. No grease/oil on the surface of any parts. Everything was aligned properly, no “hot spots” on the disk, etc. Rather that put the new parts back in, I had the mechanic install a second new set of clutch/pressure plate/throw out/pilot bearings. After everything was installed again, we fired up the truck and tried to start off in first gear and the same thing happened – severe shutter/chatter. But starting in second, etc. was fine.
At this point, we started to seriously think about what else could be the problem. About the only other things we could think about were the rear engine mounts which we didn’t replace because they looked o.k. (the front mounts were replaced with the rebuild), and maybe the lack of a cross member to support the transmission area (which looked a little weak and susceptible to shaking).
So, while we haven’t installed the new rear engine mounts yet (or another cross member to shore up the transmission area), I’m doubtful we’ve diagnosed the problem. We will install the rear mounts this week. Does anyone have any experience or suggestions with this severe “shaking/chattering” problem on “second series” trucks?
