Rebeldryver's '65 Impala SS Black Betty

[JOES66FURY]

Re: Rebeldryver's '65 Impala SS Black Betty

What can be done to fix the off center issue? anything? or is this going to be an on going issue?

[Scott Liggett]

Re: Rebeldryver's '65 Impala SS Black Betty

Offset dowels. I need to get the tool to measure the center then use offset dowels ro center it. Its not hard and I had planned to do this before installing the scattershield.

[squirrel]

Re: Rebeldryver's '65 Impala SS Black Betty

The tool is just a dial indicator and magnet mount, all machinists have one.

[Scott Liggett]

Re: Rebeldryver's '65 Impala SS Black Betty

As I said in an earlier post, I got busy pulling the transmission and clutch out of the Impy.

First things first, I needed to get the car slightly higher in the air, so out came the jack stands. I ended up with the car on four jack stands.


Next, came the console, shifter boot, and shifter with linkage. The top half of the console is one piece of metal and quite heavy. The bottom is a piece of now brittle plastic. Don't drop the top half on the lower half. That would bad.


The rubber floor mat on the trans tunnel is covering a cheesy metal cover screwed over the original auto shifter's hole. This will all get fixed when I replace the driver's side of the floorboard.


One of the mods I made to the Hurst Indy shifter in order to use it with this trans were the two one inch spacers that move the shifter mechanism out from the bracket.


With the linkage rods disconnected from the trans, I just pulled the whole thing out the bottom. I also took the bracket off. Look closely at the shifter rod at the bottom. I moved the z'ed part back, so it wouldn't hit the trans. This was the other of the major mods in order to get the trans to work. Not much really.


Yes, that hole is mongo large and mongo hacked by Mongo the Impatient.


It's kinda hard to see in this pic, but that is the stock pg crossmember in it's stock location. The nice thing about this trans is that sits right on the stock crossmember and the driveshaft doesn't need any mods either. At the top, is the crossmember hangar that is welded to the frame rail. The frame on this car is totally boxed.


I can get it to this point by myself, no sweat. From here, I just need an extra hand to lower the jack to be safe. It's moments like this where I begin to miss by buddy Bill. He was always there to help out. Carl took over this day. I ended up unbolting the exhaust from the headers and removing the trans cross member to make things easier.


Here's the old trans out and on the bench. The slop in the front bearing is pretty awful.


Here's the first proof the bellhousing is not even close to being centered. Noticeable wear on one side of the bearing cover shaft. You can see that I had to get this bearing cover rewelded when the throttle got stuck and I stalled the car by letting out the clutch at 6000 rpm.


Back under the car. The bellhousing. It's an 621, 11 inch. These are pricey at the swap meet, but they are now being repro'ed for about $250. The throwout bearing is wasted.


The pressure plate looks good. The clutch disc still has some life in it. I'll keep these for spares in an emergency.


The flywheel got a bit cooked from the burnouts when drag racing. I'll get this turned. It's an heavy ass iron one. Good for drag racing, lousy for road racing.


The pilot bushing got hammered badly. The trans being off center really push a lot of pressure on this. That hole is supposed to half that size. I have a new one in my spare parts bin.


Out came the Simple Green and the hose. I did some degreasing.


I used up the last little bit of three semi gloss black cans of spray paint to get the cross member pretty.



The last thing I did today was to reassemble the new trans so it's ready to go back in. I took the allen head bolts off the old trans bearing cover. If I use the old one again, I'll need to get more off these.


Lastly, I changed out the speedo drive gears and housings. The one in the new trans had a 35 tooth while the one I had been using had a 42 tooth gear. The housing is different for both gears as well. The tooth number of gears that fit each housing is on embossed right on the outside. Also, I swapped the 3/4 and 1/2 lever plates, then flipped the front one upside from stock. This was also a mod made for the shifter operation. She's ready to go in now.


So, now I need a clutch set, a bellhousing centering tool and offset dowel pins. Not so bad. I'll be showing how to locate the bell housing as I learn how to do it. I won't be doing that with a two pound bellhousing, but a 40 lb scattershield. Won't that be fun?

[Huskinhano]

Re: Rebeldryver's '65 Impala SS Black Betty

My brother bought a brand new Gremlin in '72. Kept busting the 3rd gear blocking ring. The dealer fix it under warranty the first time, we replaced the trans the second time. When it did it for the third time I replaced the bellhousing because that was the only thing I could think of. Never had a problem after that. Yes, they do come fubar from the factory.

[Scott Liggett]

Re: Rebeldryver's '65 Impala SS Black Betty

I need help finding a bellhousing alignment tool for making sure it's aligned correctly. Any help.

[milner351]

Re: Rebeldryver's '65 Impala SS Black Betty

I will do a search later today if work schedule allows, but I was pretty sure the companies that make the steel SFI approved bell- housings also sell "offset dowel" kits. The pin is ground off center on purpose - so you can rotate the pin while checking the alignment between the crank shaft and trans pilot - then when all is within spec, mark it and lock it down. One friend of mine has done this several times puting T5's into older mustangs - he usually tack welds the pin to the bellhousing - but - that can make taking the bellhousing in and out a PITA.

[mike343sharpstick]

Re: Rebeldryver's '65 Impala SS Black Betty

These parts look odly similar to the crap I've been doing lately. :D

[milner351]

Re: Rebeldryver's '65 Impala SS Black Betty


Here's a video on the subject:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Woh-fS3DJA

Here's the pins from lakewood:

http://www.summitracing.com/search/Brand/Lakewood-Suspension/Product-Line/Lakewood-Bellhousing-Dowel-Pins/?autoview=sku

[Scott Liggett]

Re: Rebeldryver's '65 Impala SS Black Betty

Finding the pins is quite easy. I am having trouble finding the tool to find the center. It looks like a dial bore gauge with a long rod that goes into the pilot bushing.

[milner351]

Re: Rebeldryver's '65 Impala SS Black Betty

Scott - the one I've used was built by a machinist friend. It's a laser straight shaft that centers on the pilot bushing - replacing the pilot bushing with a fresh new one helps to insure accuracy.

The dial indicator is then fixed to the end of the shaft with the tip on the trans pilot bore of the bellhousing - rotating the shaft allows you to record the offset writing on the bell housing at a few locations.

If the shaft doesn't center well - you're out of luck with this approach.... I suppose you could try this starting with an old trans input shaft...

[squirrel]

Re: Rebeldryver's '65 Impala SS Black Betty

why not stick a magnetic dial indicator base on the flywheel, put the indicator in the bore of the bellhousing, and turn the flywheel? how close does it need to be?

[milner351]

Re: Rebeldryver's '65 Impala SS Black Betty

The idea is to get the pilot bearing/crankshaft and the bellhousing trans pilot bore concentric.


How do you position the mag base on the flywheel such that the indicator is centered on the crank centerline?

that's why my friends fixture uses the pilot bearing bore to center.

[squirrel]

Re: Rebeldryver's '65 Impala SS Black Betty

The flywheel and indicator will turn on the same axis as the crankshaft, since they're attached to it solidly.

I don't see what the big deal is....maybe it's because you're trying to do it without turning the crankshaft?

[squirrel]

Re: Rebeldryver's '65 Impala SS Black Betty

scroll down to post 18...

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...d.php?t=431073