squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

[TheSilverBuick]

Any tech pictures of the speedo repair in progress?

[squirrel]

I don't know, I think I took one, but nothing detailed, just a picture of the workbench with crap strewn all over. If I did take the pic, it's in the camera in the garage with the 55 chevy O2 bung pics I just took

It's pretty straightforward. You take it apart, see if you can figure out what the hell is going on, and try to fix it. Having lots of spare parts is a big bonus.

[jays67]

Have I told you lately I hate you ( in a good way lol) Still my fave body style trucks . I some day will own one and a 64 short bed again to go with my 67.
Great work keep it up!

[SuperBuickGuy]

I don't know, I think I took one, but nothing detailed, just a picture of the workbench with crap strewn all over. If I did take the pic, it's in the camera in the garage with the 55 chevy O2 bung pics I just took

It's pretty straightforward. You take it apart, see if you can figure out what the hell is going on, and try to fix it. Having lots of spare parts is a big bonus.

that sounds about right... take one speedometer apart, put it back together and have lots of spare parts left on the bench.... but you claim yours worked again?

[squirrel]

no, I took 4 apart, and put one together, and had a lot of parts left over.

I'm the guy who did his first automatic transmission overhaul when he was 16....

[Huskinhano]

Yeah, squirrel was probably that kid in 3rd grade who built a color tv from scratch for a science project while the rest of us were trying to make a light work.

[JOES66FURY]

He was...but they didnt have color TV's then...it was just B&W.

He did it while fighting dinosaurs...

[squirrel]

I've been driving my truck a lot over the past two months, it's been working pretty well. The transmission sounds kinda loud in 3rd, and a friend gave me another transmission in addition to the other two spares I had already, so I decided to start taking transmissions apart and see if I can make one good one.



The gears out of the first one.




The 3-4 synchro rings out of the second one, shown with a new ring I bought years ago. I've never seen these things worn this much, I guess it was driven a long, long time after it started grinding.



My teardown bench is getting a workout today.

[Scott Liggett]

You should've heard how loud the bearings were in the Impala's 4 speed. The trans sounded like I filled it with gravel.

[squirrel]

I'm gonna want to take the one that's in the truck now, apart when I get it out, just to see why it's so loud.

I got the replacement trans mostly put together. I need to get a seal for the front...they don't use one on the 57, but they do on the 59-up. I'm also going to reuse the parking brake and top cover off the trans that's in the truck now, since they work pretty well.

Here's how I put it all together again.


First the chip collector goes in the bottom of the case. Yeah, it was pretty nasty under there.



The countergear goes in next.


This is the second gear synchro, which is inside first gear. Strange.


First and Second gears on the mainshaft.


Reverse idler installed in the case.


Lock pin for the reverse idler.


Mainshaft assembly ready to go in.


Mainshaft in. Next install the bearing on the back of it.

[squirrel]

I decided to fix up one of the top covers and put it on the transmission. The one with the parking brake lever pivot was the obvious choice...and it was in pretty good condition. The reverse spring was bad, this is a common problem--the spring sits in a horizontal hole, with no drain, and it fills up with condensation, the spring rusts and breaks, and it becomes difficult to find 2nd gear, making it a pain to drive the truck. I found a suitable spring at Ace, cut it to fit, and staked a penny over the hole it fits in. I also replaced the pins that the lever pivots on, they're always worn and loose...I reamed the holes to 1/4" and used my lathe to make some new ones with 5/16" od heads and 1/4" threads, they're retained with nuts instead of being riveted like the originals. I'll see how long they last...and they're replaceable.

I also made that funny stand to hold the transmission upright, mainly so I can put it on my floor jack and keep the thing from falling over while installing the transmission. The floor jack also has a 1/4" thick 12" square plate on it that I use for automatics, it's a nice flat surface to clamp my SM420 jig to.

Out with the old




in with the new

[SuperBuickGuy]

you comment about out with old and in with new reminded me it was shortly after that picture that I found I'd not put one needle bearing in a top loader.... oops. But then again, I didn't use something silly like a book to guide me, the fact it moved (and sold) was pretty surprising to me.

[squirrel]

I"m pretty good about the books...and also keeping the parts well organized so I can keep track of what I've installed and not installed.

[squirrel]

Hmmm.....it leaked a bunch out the PTO cover, so I put a different one on. And it grinds a little into 2nd, and a bit more into 3rd. But 4th is nice. And the parking brake is working pretty well now, too. I guess you can't expect much out of a transmission, if you don't put new parts in it when you rebuild it. But I'm still gonna take the old one apart and see how it looks, and I also have the original 4 speed out of my 57 suburban, it was working when I took it out. But I don't remember how well it worked. It's covered with a thick layer of yucky.

I'll probably go for a long drive today and see how it does.

I rekeyed the door locks to work with the ignition key. I also added a rear view mirror on the passenger door, using an original driver side bracket that someone had mangled, and I mangled further. It works fine. I should have just bought a new repop, but there's something about being able to use old parts over again on this truck that I really like.

[DanStokes]

Does it shift more better if you double clutch it? Helps decide if it's synchros or funky gear sets. I'm going back to 1955 Ford here, but we found that if it wouldn't double clutch well there was something funky in the gears themselves. All the synchros were of the seasoned variety but they worked pretty well if we trimmed the burrs off with a file. Of course, 1st. HAD no synchros in either direction, hence the double clutch lessons (one guy's Dad was a truck driver).

Dan