The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Last 1/4 in. of Tranny Installation

I have the 4-speed transmission on two guide bolts and it's about 1/4 in. from touching the bell housing. But it seems to be hitting something. Is the fit between the clutch gear bearing retainer and the bellhousing hole really close?

I'm using a tranny jack with pitch and yaw adjustments but I just can't get it the last little bit. Any hints??

Thanks!!

Wally, is the bell housing and trans the same one you had with the old motor? it should fit, could you have put the clutch disc in backwards? That might make a difference.

Wally, another thought, try having someone push the clutch peddle while you are movung the trans, maybe the splines are not lined up.

If your getting that deep the splines "should" be properly aligned. I had the same problem (3rd tranny, bad rebuild; bad junkyard; good one!) in my 68 C10. I was not quite aligned into the pilot bearing. After shifting the trannys alignment around (and cursing alot), it finally slid home. Just be patient, and don't get too rowdy while you try get it in. Those trannys hurt when you drop 'em.

There is a chance the pilot bushing is not driven into the crank far enough.

I can't remember but aren't there a couple of locating dowels ? If that is the case, probably a slight hint of rotation might do it.

No locating dowels .

I had fun with one I did a front bearing on , I put washers under the front cover screws , thats the bit the thrust brg slides on . Well the washers hung out the side of the cover a little ,, darn near bust my boiler trying to get the box in , till I saw the problem .

Wally i had the same problem when i used a tranny and bell housing from two different trucks. After an hour up alittle and over alittle and a few choice words i took the bell housing out and brought it to a machinist and had him mill the hole to fit the retainer bearing cover and now i am all set.

If you haven't gotten the tranny in yet, pull it out, push it out of the way.Take your alignment tool, you did use one right?, and make sure the tool slides in all the way ,seats completely into the pilot bushing.Now throw away your alignment bolts,useless actually,and using your tranny jack, with the trans in gear, put the tranny back in, carefully,wiggle the output shaft to help the spline find it's way into the clutch disc .It should slide in no problem.The tranny must be perfectly square to the bellhousing,don't worry if it's rotated one way or the other, you can rotate to line up the bolt holes once it's in all the way. Gently rock the trans slightly side to side and up and down while pushing in . Of course this is all complicated by cold weather, too many or too few beers or the tranny jack is on an uneven surface.And like the guy above said,same tranny that was removed from the truck?Not a later 4speed with the larger front retainer?

It's the same tranny and bellhousing that I had on my 235. I used an alignment tool and will check that out again for fit.

How do you check the bushing to see if it's driven forward far enough? Would tapping a wooden dowel with a hammer do it?

I can peak down there and the retaining cover might be hitting the bellhousing. Could be my guide bolts are holding the tranny up a bit. Once I get it into the bellhousing, I can probably wiggle it enough to get the bolts in.

Thanks, everyone!

If the bushing is flush, it's in far enough. Follow Tony's advice, that last 1/4 to 1/2" is most always an alignment problem.

When I was young, I would put in 3 speeds by simply bench pressing them, hold it up with one hand and use the other hand on the tail to turn the shaft and align. After sliding in hold the tailshaft up and put in the bolts. I can't recommend doing that with a sm420 though.

Got it in! All the advice helped to convince me that I was on track. I dumped the guide bolts like Tony said. Wiggled it around like everyone else said. I finally snugged it up round-robin with the bolts like Stevejumpr suggested. That either pushed the pilot bushing back a bit or made the bearing retainer clear the bell housing.

Thanks, again!! I'll be back!

Wally thanks for posting the update.

Wally,

Outstanding!! Looking forward to seeing it on the road later this week!!

I don't see the post in which it was suggested that you "snug(ged) it up round-robin with the bolts". If by this you mean that you pulled it in the last 1/4" by tightening the bolts in an alternate pattern, I have to say that this is a easy way to break the bolt ears on the trans or do other serious damage. If you did this and got away with it, you are very lucky.

If you mean that you ran the bolts up finger-tight, wiggled the trans around by hand and got some more free play in the bolts, then finger-tightened the bolts again and repeated till the trans was up tight, that's fine.

I disagree that headless guide bolts are useless. They can't possibly hurt, and can help prevent you from dropping the trans on your head or chest. They make it much easier to line up the last inch or so.

Glad you got it in, and I hope you don't hear any strange noises when you start it up and step on the clutch.

Joe

Joe,

I made the suggestion to Wally in an offline discussion. Sorry for the confusion, but what I told him was what you are referring to. Just a couple small turns at a time, no heavy torquing of the bolts which could, of course, break off those cast mounting ears.

OK, Steve, that sounds good. Wally's last post could be read to mean that he just tightened up the bolts till it seated.

I didn't want to leave it like that, offering a possible trap for someone less experienced.

Thanks for the clarification.

Joe

Stevejumpr and I work 500 feet from each other every day but didn't know each other until we saw our posts on the Stovebolt page!

It was a gentle snugging, moving the tranny closer without hardly noticing.

I had a similiar problem a few years ago... I put the wrong type pilot bushing into the crank shaft.. tightened it up that last "1/4 inch", and ended up spinning the main bearings... doop.. this area is a place where if it dont fit, dont force it.