The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Can I really flip my ring gear? 54 chevy 235

Finally got my bellhousing & flywheel off and engine on a stand!

My ring gear on the flywheel is chewed up pretty good and had a dead spot when trying to start the engine before dissasembly. Can I really just flip it over and use the other side? Do I need to add a chamfer to the other side if so? I'm having a machine shop resurface the flywheel and they said they could put a new gear on at the same time if I provide it.

I can only find one source for a 6V 139 tooth gear and its $75 while most others cost about $20 whch seems odd. For $20 I'd just replace it!

Thanks!

yes you can! The instruction for that is here:

http://devestechnet.com/Home/Flywheel

Allen Jones wrote that up and did a pretty decent job. If your wife doesnt allow you to use your freezer or oven, I went with a propane torch and freeze spray.

Great article. So I don't have to worry about losing the chamfer on the leading edge of the gear? I'll probably give it a shot and just test it when the engine is in the frame before I put the cab on.

Tj

Ditto on Deves article.

If the ring gear has a heavy chamfer you still can usually still repair it by turning it on the flywheel. If you notice a spot that is worn far more than the rest of the gear it is because an engine almost allways stops rotating in the same spot when shut off, this means the starter gear engages the same spot on the flywheel every time you start the engine, so if you rotate the ring gear 90 or 180 or whatever you want, you get a new spot to wear on. Obviously this won't work with a severly abused ring gear.

Keep us posted on how it went TJ. It's always good to get feedback so others can benefit.

i ask about the chamfer because i figured it is by design and needed for meshing the gears together. are they normally strait cut teeth?

They were manufactured to fit on the flywheel either way. It's a good question that I can't answer. Everyone says just put it on backwards and enjoy another 60 years, so that's what we do! It didn't answer your question, but sometimes you just do it because it's been successfully done a bunch of times?

I have a NOS GMC ring gear that is still in the GMC box for a 56-59 GMC 6 cylinder.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/1126369...2151510882&oid=112636930370126476644

It has absolutely no chamfer on either side and there is no front for back to it. We put a lot of miles on our old GMC tank wagons in those days and we bought a new ring gear after we had used up the teeth on both sides. I never used any special precautions except that I used a big rose bud to get the ring gear hot before the heat transferred to the rear main and seal. When the entire ring gear was red, it only took a light tap and it fell off. I quickly flipped the gear, tapped it back on and let it shrink itself back on. I did this same procedure on my father in law's 1950 John Deere A a while back so we could sell it to go toward my mother in law's nursing home bill. The JD ring gear hadn't been off in 65 years and dirt had plugged up the drain hole and the ring gear had stood in water and mud for years.

Sounds good to me! 60 more years it is.... Thanks all!

Tj