The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Needle bearings 3+1 manual gearbox

Hey guys,

I changed the flywheel on my chevy.. something i've never done before, so unfortunately i removed the shaft from the driveline into the transmission, and the needle bearings fell out, so now i got 13 thick and 21 small needles, but i dont know if thats all of them? Does anyone know how many its supposed to be?

Got the manual 3 gear gearbox..

I hope i gave enough information, my English is good enough for small talk, but all the parts names is a bit more difficult for me!

Clean everything up & put some sticky wheel brg grease where the rollers go. Put the rollers in & if you have a gap between them then you are missing 1 or more. As luck would have it, it seems like you are always short one. If it is in the bottom of the case take a magnet tool & fish it out.

I took the magnet tool and fished all out that i could see, Will fish a bit more tomorrow

One more question, where do the thick and where do the thin rollers go?

Shaft

Rollers
the thick ones on #1
the thin ones on #2
Thats what i could think of, just because the thin ones make a largere demension

Use some grease and put them in the race. You will know if any are missing. You will also know if they are in the right place. Hard to explain and easy to see. Let us know how it goes.

allright, we'll see how it goes! I wish I wasn't that stupid by taking it apart to much! I'll keep you guys updated, but it wont be before next weekend i think.. No time!

I have an SM319 (55 Muncie in front of a 58 or so BW overdrive), but the 3-speed guts are the same as the sm318. I don't know if yours is the same.

Mine had 14 fat roller bearings and 24 thin ones. The fat ones go in first (into the input shaft).

Take a look at this thread, post number 993870.

Keep looking!

Best,

Jim

Thanks alot! i hope i find 4 more then, i'll keep digging and see what i can find! thank you a lot!

found two more.. Ill soak the transmissionbox with diesel and try to flush out the remaining.. cant find them with magnets and what not so i guess thats my only chance... ill keep you guys updated.

It's amazing how well they hide. When I (like you, it seems) took my input shaft out a little too quickly, I had the same problem. I counted and recounted and swore I must have had the original count wrong...but they ended up all being there. I managed to get them out because I caught them before they went into the sump below the thin metal pan at the bottom, but I think your diesel idea may work.

I found two or three of mine hiding between the front of the case and the main gear cluster. Could not get a magnet in there. I think they are shy...

Best of luck.

Jim

They were really shy! Haha

But i got ll of them, 14 thick and 24 thin. Used some grease to get them on the main shaft and put it all back together, shifts smoother than before now that i got out a lot of thick oily stuff that has build up in the last 60 years.. Doesnt look like it has ever been cleaned before.

Thanks a lot!

Good work