I'd recomend taking photos or video tape as you tear it down, since you haven't done this before. It helps whne you stack things back up.

You were right that the nuts were metric. JW was giving the std size approximations.

I'm guessing that you'll need the first gear dog teeth, brake band and prbably the shift sleeve. You may need the 2nd gear dog teeth too, but you need to check everything first.

You'll need a tool, or you'll need to have a shop press off the dog teeth. It also helps to have a press to take one of the gear stacks apart. When you put them back together, you can heat the bearings and such up in your oven to get them big enough to slide on.

Regards,

Jerry Kroeger

Thanks, Jerry. I do have an underutilized press, but I may take them somewhere just to avoid any damage. I am waiting for an impact wrench, of all things!

What parts in the PP catalog are the ones you mentioned? I will probably just hold off on all the transmission parts until I can inspect everything. I always focus too much on the logistics!

Olivier

So far, so good
 

It took this long to get an impact wrench, but I had plenty to keep me busy with the clutch and engine clean-up.

The synchro onfirst gear is definitely gone, the teeth are mashed completely flat where they are pointed on second? gear. The flattened teeth are the ones pointing towards the differential end of the tranmission. I assume/hope this is the first gear syncro wear.

I am having trouble getting the first gear off, though. I don't want to disturb anything I don't have to, like the fork alignment, etc.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1072152232.jpg

This part has some very small vertical wear marks on it, but I am not sure if it is worth the risk (from my efforts) to replace.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1072152577.jpg

Olivier

If the first gear dog teeth are gone, they damaged the mating teeth on the 1-2 shift sleeve, so you'll need that too. You will probably want to replace the 2nd gear dog teeth, while you're in there.

You can pull the whole gear stack out, whithout having to realign the shift forks, if you place the bellhousing face down on a bench, pop it into 3rd gear, remove the 2 detents that go into the side of the diff housing, wrap your hands around both shafts and shift rods at the same time, and wiggle out the whole works. the trick is to engage 3rd gear. same for reassemble. John Walker posted that tip a while back. Do a search on tranny rebuilding. There are a lot of valuable posts.

Some said that a press wasn't needed to destack the gears, but I needed a press for one of mine. I don't recall which.

You may have read that the synchro bands can be reused if there is only slight wear. Just flip them around the other way. That could save you a little money. You prbably still need at least the first and seconf gear synchros though.

Good luck,

Jerry Kroeger

the roller bearing on the pinion shaft needs to come off first. use a knife edged chisel or screwdriver and hammer between the gear and thrust washer to get it started, then work the bearing off using a couple of screwdrivers, flat prybars, or a puller, being careful to only pry under the inner race. then scribe a mark on the shift shaft at the edge of the fork, and take the fork bolt out. 1st gear lifts off, then the fork and shift sleeve come off together with a little tapping to help the fork off the shaft. if the syncro was all you wanted to replace, the fork and sleeve could be left alone, but the sleeve is undoubtedly worn from rubbing on the syncro ring and gashing against the dog teeth, so it should be replaced. second gear is just a lift out at this point. hell, what's another syncro ring at this point?

Thanks, everyone, I will give it another careful try tonight!

The simplicity and elegance of how the tranmission is pretty neat to see. This is the first time I have been able to relate the movement of the gear shift all the way to the actual selection of gears. The pictures never made sense until I could actually see the movement of the shafts, etc. It really is a fairly simple assembly, but still intimidating to rip into!

Olivier

Got the gear off
 

Well, John's instructions have been really easy to follow once I can relate everything to what I can see. Everything has worked exactly as he said.

Here are some pictures of the worn dog teeth on first gear. I also included some shots of the operating sleeve, because it looks like there is no wear. I am debating whether I should remove the operating sleeve and go further.

Are these the type of parts that should always be replaced, or only if there is significant wear? I should mention that even though the syncros were worn, I rarely ground the gears, since I was aware of the issue. Could this have protected the teeth on the operating sleeve? The dog teeth are worn flat, but the only other wear I see are some light vertical lines on the outside of the operating sleeve hub.

I will definitely replace the dog teeth and the synchro ring, and maybe the brake band if it is not expensive.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1072240268.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1072240291.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1072240315.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1072240343.jpg

Olivier

In case anyone else new at this is following along, here is a shot of the teardown through the first gear operating sleeve, and the parts "assemblies" removed so far. Nothing to this point has required more than some gentle encouragement with small pullers and screwdrivers, just as John described.

I am going to replace the syncro ring, hub, and operating sleeve for first gear.

I am going to read up on the technique for getting the syncro teeth off without the special tool before deciding to get the tool or have a local shop just install the new syncro teeth for me. I remember John describing something involving a piece of wood and dropping the part on the floor. Happy Holidays!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1072283210.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1072283256.jpg

Still waiting on some small parts like brake bands and blocks, but so far, everything has been easy and exactly like everyone described on this site.

I have a question regarding the flange output seals, though:

It has to do with the proper installed depth of the flange output seals.

On the side of the transmission without the removable plate, the seal to be replaced was flush with the highest level of the case.

On the side with the removable plate to access the differential, however, the existing seal was recessed down to a lower ridge (i.e. not the very outermost level of the case, but not driven all the way in). There is a recessed level of the case about 4mm wider in diameter than the seal itself, and the seal is flush with that surface.

Is that OK, or should they both be flush with the absolute outer case surface? I am just replacing these during a partial rebuild, they were not leaking significantly before.

Thanks,

Olivier

flush will work fine.

Thanks again, John.

Olivier

holy crap! i should print this thread and put it into a binder! or i could just get a black van and drive around and kidnap all of you guys.....

olivier, i admire your tenacity (aka. brass balls) i understand pulling the trigger is the hardest part.

unfixed,

So far (keep in mind I have not reassembled or driven the car yet), this has been one of the most rewarding jobs I have done, even though the cost savings are minimal since many of the "wear items" are very expensive.

There is something very rewarding about finding the physically worn out parts that created whatever symptom you want to fix, extracting them, and replacing them with fresh parts. It was also cool to finally understand exactly how the tranmission works and what parts contact each other, etc. Next time, I will probably open it up and just change the syncro bands as soon as there are the smallest symptoms, to protect the dog teeth, sliders, etc., which are the expensive items that are commonly worn out.

Olivier

What a great thread!

He Groks!!! :)

Ditto on the great info on this thread.

Here is first gear reassembled minus the snap ring, just to check that I matched JW's directions in another thread.

JW and others, is this the right alignment of the brake band? Assembled with the snap ring, the syncro will rotate just a few degrees in either direction before locking to the gear.

How important is it to replace the thrust blocks? With all of the parts confusion and wait times, I am only waiting for the thrust block for 2nd gear. Everything else in the first two gears will be brand new except for the 2nd gear dog teeth which were in perfect condition. There was only the slightest bit of wear on the 2nd gear syncro band in the first place.

Thanks, Olivier

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1074436279.jpg

Keep us posted Oliver! This sounds pretty cool and probably very similar to what I'll have to do also. What's your total bill so far?

Probably at least $5-600 just in wear parts in the transmission. I have not added it all up yet, but the dog teeth, hub, and slider are all at least $100 or $150 each. Syncros are another $100 each, and then the smaller parts are less. I think it is easy enough to replace the syncros at the first sign of wear to avoid any wear at all to the other parts in the future. I would still rather spend close to as much and learn to do it myself than to just get back a closed transmission.

Olivier

Well, I got the last syncro part today (thrust block). As I was struggling to put it all back together (it has been way too long and the pictures weren't as good as they could be), I noticed that 2 of the three cages on the bearings with the smallest rollers were cracked in one place on both the top and bottom of the cage. It almost looks like the cracks belong there, they are perfectly aligned and not jagged at all.

These are the bearings that go inside of first and second gears.

Can anyone confirm that these bearing cages are supposed to be without any cracks or separations?

I am pretty sure they are not supposed to be this way, but I wanted to check before ordering more parts.

Thanks,

Olivier