Jamie L Butler Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 Hi. I'm a mechanic, but I've never removed a transmission from a Dodge Brothers before. Mine is a 12v starter Generator type Dodge (slow) 4. 1926 Australian RHD, I think that makes it late 25 manufacture. My gearbox has lost reverse and 1st, I think there's sideways movement in the layshaft, bearing gone. Can anybody please describe the process for removing the transmission from the car. I do have a spare gearbox, which I would like to fit to keep the car mobile while I rebuild the old one. It doesn't appear to have bolts to separate the box from the bell housing, being all in one. I'm guessing that I have to unbolt the rear springs and roll the rear axle back with the chassis supported to disengage the tailshaft from the universal joint. Does the exhaust also need to be removed? Floorboards obviously would need to come out. If I remove the clutch/ flywheel under-cover and support the engine on a couple of bottle jacks and undo the gearbox/ engine mount/ cross member bolts to the chassis, then the engine to mount bolts, will the gearbox pull back from the clutch and come out without a fight? Can somebody please advise me? Thank you. JB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWPerry Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 I have done exactly like you say on my 1925 coupe. You have the procedure correct. You only have to remove the front bolts of the rear springs and then pivot the rear end back on the rear spring shackles. It's easier with a couple people to help. Then support the engine and transmission and remove the bolts through the crossmember. Putting it back together definitely requires some help with a second pair of hands, but still went pretty smoothly. Good luck. It was a lot easier on the 25 than when I did my 1928 Senior. If I need to do that again I think I will just sell the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattml430 Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 You might just want to pull the top off the gearbox first and have a look. Could be a broken fork or something simple like that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichBad Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 That’s a good point from Matt. To loose the 1st and reverse gear would be quite unlikely but for the selector to be damaged could be quite likely and would have the same effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie L Butler Posted February 21, 2019 Author Share Posted February 21, 2019 Thanks guys! I shall do that first then! Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie L Butler Posted February 22, 2019 Author Share Posted February 22, 2019 I think you may be on the money there. With the engine idling and the clutch pushed in with my hand, as I slowly released the clutch the sliding gear was being thrown back and was not engaging. The selector should hold it in place and I don't think it was moving forward enough, but being flung back out. surely the selector fork would throw the gearstick back into neutral if the gear was also flung back to neutral? (as it seemed to be). Well I have a spare box and I need to remove the floor to get the gearbox out, so I'll pull the top off first. I'm really hoping that is the problem, fingers crossed. Thanks guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sactownog Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 I would like to see your progress on this as I will be pulling my gear box soon to rebuild. mine currently makes a ticking/grinding sound when driving, not sure if it is the transmission or the clutch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattml430 Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 10 hours ago, Sactownog said: I would like to see your progress on this as I will be pulling my gear box soon to rebuild. mine currently makes a ticking/grinding sound when driving, not sure if it is the transmission or the clutch. Try disconnecting the speedo cable. That could be your ticking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinneyhill Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 esp. if the speedo is not stable but bounces up and down in speed. If that is the case, the problem is probably the speedo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sactownog Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 11 hours ago, Mattml430 said: Try disconnecting the speedo cable. That could be your ticking. the speedo is off about 15mph (I blame 1/2" larger than stock tires) but it only makes the sound when in gear, then sounds like a constant tick or grind but still drives fine. you think I should disconnect speedo from transmission and see if that fixes it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinneyhill Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 No sound when moving but you put the clutch in? If not, then it is not the speedo coz it will still be driven from behind, unless you have freewheeling engaged. A tick or grind sounds to me like you have bearing problems. Does it do it in all gears? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sactownog Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 yesterday my PRO mechanic friend took a look at it, thinks it may need a valve adjustment. I am going to remove the transmission and rebuild it and seal it up so both will be checked. but it seems hard to adjust valves as they are behind the headers and intake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinneyhill Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 39 minutes ago, Sactownog said: it seems hard to adjust valves as they are behind the headers and intake No kidding! And I think they are supposed to be done hot. Luckily in the 1939 Studebaker one can take off the wheel and inner fender and sit on the ground. No such luck here. You need to be a contortionist and learn to conform to the shape of the running board and mudguard and have heat resistant skin. At least you don't have a steering column with light switch and hand controls in the way, so it is pretty easy for you. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sactownog Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 23 minutes ago, Spinneyhill said: No kidding! And I think they are supposed to be done hot. Luckily in the 1939 Studebaker one can take off the wheel and inner fender and sit on the ground. No such luck here. You need to be a contortionist and learn to conform to the shape of the running board and mudguard and have heat resistant skin. At least you don't have a steering column with light switch and hand controls in the way, so it is pretty easy for you. yeah, more and more I keep leaning towards ripping out the motor and trans and doing a full rebuild, that way non of the car body gets in the way. actually, while the front holes on the fenders where the BUMPER MOUNTS TO FRAME are the only areas of rust on the car and I need to take the fenders off to have the holes repaired and the fenders painted. so I may have to tear down car this year and fix all this BS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinneyhill Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 12 minutes ago, Sactownog said: I may have to tear down car this year and fix all this Reminds me of the story of Gordon V. with his Healey Allard. He rolled under it to tighten the sump bolts to quench the oil leaks. Before you knew it, the entire car was disassembled! A full restoration followed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinneyhill Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 26 minutes ago, Sactownog said: I keep leaning towards ripping out the motor Too much emotion here! "Ripping" is a hazardous activity. Just take it out carefully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sactownog Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 yeah, I have never taken apart this old car, I always imagined I would want to FULL RESTO this car. to be 100% honest, it scares the hell out of me. I have built full custom vehicles in the past BUT the difference for me is that if something is broken on the new vehicles, there are parts readily available. with the old 33 if something gets broke, well then a search begins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 36 minutes ago, Sactownog said: yeah, I have never taken apart this old car, I always imagined I would want to FULL RESTO this car. to be 100% honest, it scares the hell out of me. I have built full custom vehicles in the past BUT the difference for me is that if something is broken on the new vehicles, there are parts readily available. with the old 33 if something gets broke, well then a search begins. If you DO end up taking it apart, take LOTS and LOTS of photos and make a LOT of notes. Bag and tag EVERYTHING. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinneyhill Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 (edited) One way to reduce the fright is to do one thing at a time. Take something off and restore it. Either store or re-fit. Repeat. I get restoration paralysis so that is the way I do it. Keeps me focused. The other thing, of course, is research. You will need every reference you can get. Find out where other (original) vehicles are and visit them for photographs etc.. Edited March 1, 2019 by Spinneyhill (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sactownog Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 14 hours ago, Spinneyhill said: One way to reduce the fright is to do one thing at a time. Take something off and restore it. Either store or re-fit. Repeat. I get restoration paralysis so that is the way I do it. Keeps me focused. The other thing, of course, is research. You will need every reference you can get. Find out where other (original) vehicles are and visit them for photographs etc.. This is how I have been restoring the vehicle, just got steering done (kinda) and next will be the transmission for sure. that is going to be a fun job. well see what happens after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie L Butler Posted March 23, 2019 Author Share Posted March 23, 2019 I've had a better look, not pulled the top off yet. It looks like stripped gears on the bigger cog of the sliding gear. I'm going to pull it out and put my spare gearbox in after I've cleaned it up and got it in good shape. I bought a mechanics instruction manual. Only thing is that when I tarted pulling the floor boards out, the top one which has the starter button mounted and steering wheel going through appears to block the top of the gearbox from being pulled back? Not sure how I'm going to proceed there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinneyhill Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 1st thoughts from an ignorant bystander..... Remove and tag the start button attachments (leave it in place?). Slide the board up the steering column. Tie it up out of the way. Start on the gear box. A photo would help us understand the problem far better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie L Butler Posted April 2, 2019 Author Share Posted April 2, 2019 Apparently the steering column comes out with the top floorboard in one piece after disconnecting the steering coupling from the steering box. I was told by somebody who's done it before that it's easier to pull the bonnet and radiator out and use an engine load leveler and pull the whole engine and gearbox out in one unit from the front as I've been told doing it from underneath is much harder and getting the gearbox back in with the clutch lined up is a terrible job otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattml430 Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 (edited) On 4/3/2019 at 8:34 AM, Jamie L Butler said: Apparently the steering column comes out with the top floorboard in one piece after disconnecting the steering coupling from the steering box. I was told by somebody who's done it before that it's easier to pull the bonnet and radiator out and use an engine load leveler and pull the whole engine and gearbox out in one unit from the front as I've been told doing it from underneath is much harder and getting the gearbox back in with the clutch lined up is a terrible job otherwise. I wouldn’t pull the engine to remove the gearbox. You can get to it from the top once the floor boards are removed. As Spinny said lift the board around the column up a bit out of the way. Edited April 4, 2019 by Mattml430 (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie L Butler Posted April 9, 2019 Author Share Posted April 9, 2019 Ok, well back to the drawing board. I was looking at engine cranes as I had been told that pulling both out the front was the way to go, but if not I'll try the other way. I'll be needing at least two decent bottle jacks to support the back of the engine and I'll find out how hard it is to get the clutch shaft back in when I get to it. I've got to pull the top off either way, but at least I won't need a crane to get the box out, just some muscle power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinneyhill Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 I took the overdrive gearbox out of my 1939 Studebaker. It is a heavy beast. I made an a-frame out of Dexion and set it up inside the car. I used a ratchet puller to lower the gearbox to the floor, slung from that frame. A big floor jack might have been a better bet, but this way I had full control and it couldn't fall off the jack and I wasn't lying on my back under the car messing with a heavy thing. The tricky part was getting the sling so the gearbox didn't slide out of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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