AACA Library Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 Hello All,I am working on my '37 Special engine. It is out of the car and on a dolly. I am now trying to remove the flywheel & the upper flywheel housing but have been unsuccessful so far. The clutch assembly is out and the flywheel to crank bolts are loose and nuts are off. There isn't enough room to pull the flywheel off of the bolts - they hit the housing. So.... According to the shop manual there are 4 bolts that hold the housing & 2 locating dowels. I've removed the 4 bolts but that housing isn't budging at all. Pan has been dropped but the shop manual says I don't need to remove the rear main bearing cap. Has anyone had experience with this portion of engine disassembly? I looked through the old Torque Tube index with no luck and won't have access to a good parts list until Tuesday. Any help is greatly appreciated!Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pont35cpe Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 Hello All,I am working on my '37 Special engine. It is out of the car and on a dolly. I am now trying to remove the flywheel & the upper flywheel housing but have been unsuccessful so far. The clutch assembly is out and the flywheel to crank bolts are loose and nuts are off. There isn't enough room to pull the flywheel off of the bolts - they hit the housing. So.... According to the shop manual there are 4 bolts that hold the housing & 2 locating dowels. I've removed the 4 bolts but that housing isn't budging at all. Pan has been dropped but the shop manual says I don't need to remove the rear main bearing cap. Has anyone had experience with this portion of engine disassembly? I looked through the old Torque Tube index with no luck and won't have access to a good parts list until Tuesday. Any help is greatly appreciated!ChrisI had the same problem when I disassembled the engine in my `36 40 series. There`s two more bolts at the top, inside the bell-housing that you can`t get to until the flywheel is out. I wound up removing the crankshaft and flywheel as a unit(also as a unit when re-assembled). Don`t forget to mark pressure plate to flywheel and flywheel to crankshaft for re-assembly. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AACA Library Posted June 2, 2013 Author Share Posted June 2, 2013 Thanks for verifying that Tom, I am glad I didnt really start wailing on it! I wonder why the shop manual only mentions the 4 bolts?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenz38 Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 When i have assembled my Engine i have turn the Crank Screws then you can fix it all, at the next time, without dropping the Crank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Shaw Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Hmmmmm, maybe somebody should make a video of this for the library....? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Chris, you don't have to remove the upper housing. I have had my flywheel off at least twice without removing the engine. I think you need to push the bolts back, rotate the engine so they are in the upper position, and then push the others back - something like that. Give it a try.Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seldenguy Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Chris, I don't know if changes were made on the 40 series from 1936 to 1937 or not, however my '36 shop manual on page # 11 says "On the series 40 it is first necessary to remove the rear main bearing before the flywheel bolts can be taken out permitting removal of the flywheel.". Sometimes they made running changes during the production run and also from year to year. I'm quite sure the '37 shop manual would address this change if there was a change. Have you had a chance to check out Jeffs suggestion above? Perhaps it is the practical mechanics way of beating the "flat rate". In '36 you have to drop the pan to remove the rear bearing cap, however your shop manual (1937?) said not necessary. Good luck and post what the solution was. --Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AACA Library Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 Thanks for the replies all, I will be removing the rear main bearing cap and the bolts will slide right out. I am glad my engine is pulled because this would be a total ***** crawling under the car reaching up. As for video for the library, don't worry there are plenty of notes & pictures being taken. Video would be good if my son was a little older to hold the camera.......but he just turned 1. Thanks again for the comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Shaw Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Thanks and good luck Chris... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenz38 Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Yes ,you are right,( now i'm remember..) the rear Maincap must be out ...than you can slight out the Screws.much add work ,drain the Oil,drop the Pan, open the rear (to this Point perhaps tight rear Seal ) ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AACA Library Posted June 5, 2013 Author Share Posted June 5, 2013 I was able to pull the main cap last night & liberate the flywheel and housing. Sure enough, there were two bolts holding the housing on behind the flywheel. You can see in my pictures that while I could angle the lower portion of the flywheel free from the bolts I just didn't have enough wiggle room for the top bolts. I marked the clutch cover, flywheel & crank so that everything will go back together properly down the road. Now the case is on some horses ready to check bearing clearances on Friday night. This will be my first experience with Plastigage and it looks fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 Keep track of the shim stock that you have on each side - for both rods and mains. If you are close to original specs, the shims will still be in their "pack" which is four or five shims pressed together. You can use a pocket knife or the edge of a razor to separate just one shim from the shim pack on each side. I forget what each individual "leaf" of a shim pack measures - perhaps .0005" or .001"? Then, re-install the remaining shims. If you are out of shims, its either new inserts for the mains or rebabbit the rods. Remember, I have some left over rods in the garage. I think I gave away the best two, but certainly some were still decent.You are missing out on a great experience by not doing this flat on your back. Even if you let the opened-up engine set overnight, every once in a while a drip of oil falls on your nose.Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoelsBuicks Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 Chris, another thing you'll want to consider is the flatness of your rod journals. It is very likely that you'll be doing the plastigage between the rod cap and journal at the point of its highest wear. If you remove shims and try to fit specified clearances at this point, you could end up with something that gets very tight very quickly. I'm not saying that you can't live with some journal flatness, I'm simply saying that if it's there, you should account for it. Be safe and enjoy!Joel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibarlaw Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 I agree with Jeff on the great experience of doing this on your back! I am presently doing the same operation on my 1925. I did bearing checking with plastigage on my 37-41 I believe in 1988. (I remember a much younger man in his early 30s did ths job). On all bearings only had to remove 1 shim to bring back into spec. Same time I rebuilt the oil pump. Had a long frustrating fight trying to install the rear seal I was told needed to be there. Untill the "Torque Tube" indicated instead there was a slinger flange and a check valve. I had to remove the flywheel to get the ring gear flipped and redressed. At the same time I scribed or center punched the clutch and all other parts to hopefully keep balance. Great, except after 3 months when CARS said they could not rebuild my clutch because the disk was an aftermarket. They returned it. Then they lost the entire pressure plate assembly. Seems at that time their rebuilder was in Florida. So I was sent a replacement one. Well it held up things for over a year untill I put the bottom end back together. Then life happened and 25 years slipped by. It has just been running since August 2012. The pan gasket I so meticuliously glued and fitted in 1988 leaks badly now. Even with retightening the bolts. We are hoping to drive the 37 to South Bend. Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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