HOw rebuilds our manual transmissions

[BIG PSI]

I have a couple of manual transmissions that need rebuilt, who does this kind of work?
How do I contact them ?

Thanks
Chuck

[BIG PSI]

I think his name is Cliff Ramsdell ?
Does anyone know for sure ?

[Pat]

I dont know if he is still doing it, but Cliff Ramsdell had done many trans rebuilds. Contact Chris or Cindy as I think Cliff was doing thier rebuilds at one point.

Brian Slowe might do them also.

[MC#4]

Not sure if he is still rebuilding them. I did get some trans parts from him recently though. His email is mopartek@aol.com, that's hit and miss though, sometimes he responds right away and sometimes its takes a little while.

[wheming]

Rebuilding transmissions is not his only job. He has a demanding day job also.
I've contacted him recently and work has him pretty busy and extra hours.
Be patient. He has rebuilt several trannys for me and as long as he'll do them he's the guy I'll go to.

[turbo84voyager]

Definately try Cliff. He is a real good guy. If he cannot do it, depending on whats wrong with it, new shift pads, bearings and seals may be all that is needed. These transmissions are not that difficult to rebuild. The only problem is sourcing the parts. Most of the bearings are available aftermarket but the one intermediate shaft bearing is delear only, unless someone found a replacement ( I looked pretty hard and had no luck) and the shift pads are delear only. Some of them are no longer available. Someone on the forum has been selling brass replacement pads. I believe Simon had a few rebuild kits available a while back, im not sure if he has anymore. There is a good list of part numbers listed in the KC. The biggest problem tends to be the intermediate shaft bearing going bad and taking out the intermediate shaft.

[BIG PSI]

Thanks for the info.

Chuck

I have a 5-speed manual in a 1990 Caravan that on an intermittant basis it will NOT go into reverse without grinding.
So I shut off the motor, put the shifter into park and refire the motor. Kind of a pain but not that bad.

[turbo84voyager]

Reverse is not synchronized and is nothing more than an idler gear that slides back and fourth. It is not uncommon for a transmission to grind a little when going into reverse if either the input shaft or output shaft are still spinning. If you hold the clutch to the floor for sever seconds while stopped and try to put it in reverse, does it still grind? If you continue to hold the clutch to the floor and it still will not go in with the engine running I think you have a clutch issue.

[89FerrariShelby]

also, make sure you put the car in 1st before going for reverse. I don't think it's "mandatory" but I have found it makes a huge difference...

[Vigo]

Justin is right. IF it intermittently WONT go into reverse without grinding even if you've had the clutch in for several seconds, that is a clutch issue.

Putting it into 1st before going to reverse sometimes makes it easier to go into reverse, but that is only because A, you are impatient and are using the 1st gear synchro as a brake to bring the shaft speed down to 0, or B, you are using the first gear synchro as a brake to cover up a clutch disengagement problem.

Either way you are putting extra wear on the 1st gear synchro because of a 'bad habit' or a mechanical problem with the clutch.

[89FerrariShelby]

huh, glad i posted it, i was unaware it was a bad habit. I think it might have even been cliff that told me to do it way back in the day. Either way, what you say makes sense, I'll have to stop doing it!

(though for the record, I often put it in first only with the clutch already fully dis-engaged, so i'm not sure it's actually doing any wear to 1st gear, at this point its just a habit)

[trbowgn]

Who needs reverse? Simple solution: 1. put trans in neutral 2. open door 3. put left foot out door 4. begin to push backwards with foot (when using this method you must be selective on where you park choose flat surfaces or park on inclines with the front of the car higher than the rear)

[Reaper1]

I still use the 1st gear trick, even if I'm backing up and haven't even moved forward. It helps align the shafts and makes engagement easier. I *can* use the clutch to align it, but it's not as easy as using 1st.

[89FerrariShelby]

Who needs reverse? Simple solution: 1. put trans in neutral 2. open door 3. put left foot out door 4. begin to push backwards with foot (when using this method you must be selective on where you park choose flat surfaces or park on inclines with the front of the car higher than the rear)

My driveway is about a 55 degree incline, steeper at some points... so i'd say I need reverse =)

[Vigo]

huh, glad i posted it, i was unaware it was a bad habit. I think it might have even been cliff that told me to do it way back in the day. Either way, what you say makes sense, I'll have to stop doing it!

Whether its a bad habit depends on how you're doing it. If you come to a stop, put in the clutch, push it into first gear, and then into reverse all in the space of 1 second, you are probably putting wear on the synchro. Ive seen people who were trying to to a u-turn in the middle of the street do it fast enough to make me cringe. If you're giving it 2 seconds or more at a stop with the clutch in, the shafts are already probably almost stopped so you're not really wearing the synchro at that point. If you want to find out how long it takes for the shafts to come to a stop, you can get the shifter over near reverse in neutral, and push the clutch in while BARELY pressing towards reverse. If you do it right you can feel the idler gear rubbing the other gears and you can feel the gears slowing down to 0, and see about how long that takes. Just dont push it hard enough to actually go in while the shafts are spinning, it's a nasty clunk!

Putting the trans in 1st gear doesnt align the reverse gears to go in reverse. The reverse idler isnt touching any other gears when you're not in reverse so you have no way of controlling its position. BUT, putting the transmission in any other gear does tend to bump the gearset slightly one way or another since the teeth of the shift collar and the dog teeth on the gear are rarely perfectly aligned. Those faces facing each other are both tapered to a point so even if they arent aligned there's a 99% chance they will still slide together and align themselves.. So sometimes you'll sit there with the clutch in and try to go to reverse and it just feels like a brick wall. That's cuz the straight cut teeth on the reverse gears are out of alignment and they dont have that same tapered edges facing each other so if they arent lined up they just wont go. At that point you can push it into any other gear, which will bump the gears over a tiny bit and usually that does it. Any gear works for that.

[c2xejk]

I agree that the clutch needs to be checked, but I was about input shaft play. Can too much play aggrivate this? (TU requires this to be checked and fixed if out of range for their clutch to work right, not wobble.)

I would think shimming the shaft to have a little bit of pre-load would help slow the shaft quicker (as well as not wobble the disk).

[turbo84voyager]

I agree that the clutch needs to be checked, but I was about input shaft play. Can too much play aggrivate this? (TU requires this to be checked and fixed if out of range for their clutch to work right, not wobble.)

I would think shimming the shaft to have a little bit of pre-load would help slow the shaft quicker (as well as not wobble the disk).

I believe you would need a lot of end play for this to be an issue and if you had that much play I would expect there to be bearing noise. As for setting the input shaft I have yet to find the correct setting. Some documentation calls for a few thousants end play while others call for the same amount of preload. The only thing I dont understand about the preload is I have yet to see one of our transmissions that do not have end play on the input shaft. I am not saying they are not out there but I have not seen this and I cannt see the bearings wearing that much on all these transmissions to go from having preload to having end play and the bearings show no obvious signs of wear. I discussed this with several people years ago and I set mine up to have 0 end play but no preload (no turning torque). I have not had any problems like this and others have done the same. The problem with adding preload is you are also adding more heat and the bearings are not designed to slow down the shafts. It taking a few seconds for the input shaft to stop is common on all transmissions, this is why heavy duty non synchronized truck transmissions use a clutch brake to stop the shaft, without it they have the same problem shifting into a forward gear at a stop.

[Vigo]

I agree that the clutch needs to be checked, but I was about input shaft play. Can too much play aggrivate this? (TU requires this to be checked and fixed if out of range for their clutch to work right, not wobble.)

Well, it makes sense that any problem with that would be aggravated with a TU clutch with a modified fulcrum point in the PP since it will 'lift' the pressure plate less than a normal clutch setup, leaving you less room for disk wobble before it starts dragging.

But, i agree with Justin that it's an uncommon/overblown phenomenon for it to be bad enough to cause an actual issue on these trannies.

[Reaper1]

By aligning the reverse gears by using 1st...bumping the shafts a little is what I mean. I know it doesn't actually align the reverse idler gear...it physically can't (just as you said).

I have probably done it fast enough to make you cry! My car can NOT do a u-turn, even from a left turn-lane going to the opposing direction that is 2 lanes. I have the turning radius of Jupiter! LMAO. I remember one autocross I went to that had a hairpin 180. I Had to to a 3 point turn to complete it! I could NOT complete the absticle without doing that! It was sad and funny at the same time.

[Vigo]

Yeah, these things have the turning radius of the moon. It is truly laughable by modern standards...