Transmission mystery solved

[Bihari, James]

<table>A year back I posted a question about trying to identify the source of a land transmission leak, where it would losemore than halfof the gear oil into the bilge area after an hour of driving. Didn't drive it far on land this year without putting in a bunch of oil first and finally had time to pull the transmission today. Problem turned out to not be a seal (as far as we can tell but we are thinking of replacing the rear oil seal anyway, since we have it out--we'd replaced the axel seals 2 years ago and they are fine.) but there is this odd little (intentional) closed hole in the casting on the driver's side maybe two inches in front of the axel. It's just big enough to put your finger into and maybe 3/4 an ich deep, but it's solid on the inner portion and not threaded--looks like maybe if they used the casting in another application, there would have been an oil line or plug there? (Does anyone know why this closed hole is in the casting?) Anyway, I took a closer look and found that the closed hole is not quite completely closed--it looks like a flaw in the casting. (Maybe that's one reason why my car only showed 50 miles on the odometer when I got it andbased on the tires and clutch plate and lack of license plate bolt holes when I got it,I think it's very possible that the car was driven on the roadvery little before 1973 when it was last titled before I got it.) Anyway, we are going to tap that hole out and put a 3/8" pipe plug in it as that looks like it will work. It sure was confusing figuring outwhere the oil was leaking out and very annoyingfilling it with oil all the time. Now if we can only get the transmission back in the car as "easy" as it was taking it out (without pulling the engine).
Jim Bihari

 

[Mike Israel]

<table><div style="font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><div style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif">Jim,
<div style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif">
<div style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif">Search the archives on reinstalling tranny. You do not need to pull engine. Omce everything is lined up it will slide in pretty easily. Per recommendation of Dave the Wave, I put a metal bar across the fins (put some foam or something underneath) and attached a small turnbuckle to that. Then atached to the engine lift point. This gave enough lift. yet precise control to get things aligned. It has been a while but I do recall that even though I blocked engine with wood when removing tranny, I did have to later lift it a good bit higher than I would have thought.
<div style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif">
<div style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif">Mike I.
<div style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif">

 

[glennyrosa]

Great story. However. I would never dream about installing a tranny
without replacing the seals even if they are only 2 years old.
Cheap insurance.

glencho in mexico

--- In amphicar-lovers@yahoogroups.com, "Bihari, James"
<jbihari@...> wrote:
>
> A year back I posted a question about trying to identify the
source of a land
> transmission leak, where it would lose more than half of the gear
oil into
> the bilge area after an hour of driving. Didn't drive it far on
land this
> year without putting in a bunch of oil first and finally had time
to pull the
> transmission today. Problem turned out to not be a seal (as far
as we can
> tell but we are thinking of replacing the rear oil seal anyway,
since we have
> it out--we'd replaced the axel seals 2 years ago and they are
fine.) but
> there is this odd little (intentional) closed hole in the casting
on the
> driver's side maybe two inches in front of the axel. It's just
big enough to
> put your finger into and maybe 3/4 an ich deep, but it's solid on
the inner
> portion and not threaded--looks like maybe if they used the
casting in
> another application, there would have been an oil line or plug
there? (Does
> anyone know why this closed hole is in the casting?) Anyway, I
took a closer
> look and found that the closed hole is not quite completely closed-
-it looks
> like a flaw in the casting. (Maybe that's one reason why my car
only showed
> 50 miles on the odometer when I got it and based on the tires and
clutch
> plate and lack of license plate bolt holes when I got it, I think
it's very
> possible that the car was driven on the road very little before
1973 when it
> was last titled before I got it.) Anyway, we are going to tap
that hole out
> and put a 3/8" pipe plug in it as that looks like it will work.
It sure was
> confusing figuring out where the oil was leaking out and very
annoying
> filling it with oil all the time. Now if we can only get the
transmission
> back in the car as "easy" as it was taking it out (without pulling
the
> engine).
> Jim Bihari
>

 

[Mike Israel]

Fw: Transmission mystery solved

<table><div style="font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><div style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif">FYI. From an old timer Amphi mechanic...


<div style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif">----- Forwarded Message ----
From: A Trillich To: amphicar770@yahoo.com
Sent: Monday, October 15, 2007 5:36:04 PM
Subject: Re: Transmission mystery solved


<font face="Arial" size="2">Mike,</font>
<font face="Arial" size="2"></font>
<font face="Arial" size="2"> You don't know me. I have been following the amphi postings for the last several years. I am a physically tired - retired wrench. I worked on Amphis in the early 70's when people drove them everyday because they had too much invested to just let them sit and nobbody would buy them. Usually they were well rusted, looked like swiss cheese, and were greatly ignored. Rare was the wrench that would work on them. I however used to.</font>
<font face="Arial" size="2"></font>
<font face="Arial" size="2"> My none to great experience with tranny R&Rs technique would be thus:</font>
<font face="Arial" size="2"></font>
<font face="Arial" size="2"> pop both hub caps &loosen all lugs</font>
<font face="Arial" size="2"> jack & block rear of body as necessary</font>
<font face="Arial" size="2"> remove both rear wheel assy's</font>
<font face="Arial" size="2"></font><font face="Arial" size="2">Pull both trailing arm assy's & shafts as necessary</font>
<font face="Arial" size="2"> loosen both do-nut shaft tube to body seals at trans</font>
<font face="Arial" size="2"> * * * O P T I O N A L * * *</font>
<font face="Arial" size="2"> pullfront seat to provide legroom</font>
<font face="Arial" size="2"> throw down at least 2 inch thick padded mat by rear bulkhead to preserve knees from hard as steel ribbing on OEMfloormat</font>
<font face="Arial" size="2"> * * *N E C E S S A R Y * * *</font>
<font face="Arial" size="2"> undo shifter by trans</font>
<font face="Arial" size="2"> unhook clutch cable at release arm</font>
<font face="Arial" size="2"> unbolt both trans mounts</font>
<font face="Arial" size="2"> unhook back up light switch</font>
<font face="Arial" size="2"> (I think it is by the trans. Hey, I haven't done this since 1975 and a lot of water has gone under the bridge since then.)</font>
<font face="Arial" size="2"> unbolt all but 5 or 6 of the twelve hundred seventy four bolts that hold the trans to the 40 hp engine (hemi's took 6)</font>
<font face="Arial" size="2"> lift trans at least about 4 inches at the boat end and slide something under the engine pan to maintain the new tilt</font>
<font face="Arial" size="2"> I think the starter has to be pulled and maybe the battery disconnected (I remember it being an inward pull)</font>
<font face="Arial" size="2"> put some kind of block under the trans to support it while removing the last 5 or 6 bellhousing bolts</font>
<font face="Arial" size="2">undo the last b - bolts and pull the bugger back.</font>
<font face="Arial" size="2"></font>
<font face="Arial" size="2"> The purpose of tilting the engine is to make wrastling the trans easier by not being down at floor level. You can pull the rear decklid and block across the fins if you REALLY want, but that is to much like work. Just tip ita bit and go. I would use some kind of strange bolt to be2makeshift dowel pinslike onAmerican engines to facilitate bellhousing re-alignment. Remove after re-install if you want to be O.E.M. I remember it being difficult to realign. </font>

<font face="Arial" size="2"> This is the first time I have responded to postings. You can foreward it if you choose. I watch all the kafuffel over suspension etc. Such fun. Most of this I did so long ago. Some I remember. More later if you guys get stuck.</font>

<font face="Arial" size="2">Al</font>
<font face="Arial" size="2">Detroit-Deutsch</font>
<font face="Arial" size="2"> </font>