Galaxie/TKO

[My427stang]

Wade have you had it around the block yet with the new gear and tranny?

I can only imagine it downright jumps now

[65er]

This weekend, in spite of still being horribly tired, I managed to upgrade the tranny crossmember and mount up my parking/E-brake.  I ended up cutting the bracket off the original crossmember and bolting it onto the new one.  I also fabbed a mounting bracket for the cable coming from the pedal that mimics the original geometry so I got to reuse a lot of the old parts and their proven geometry.  Then I made a nice rubber tranny mount from some 1/2" thick silicone rubber sheet we had laying around the shop.  Literally laying around... we have about a 3' X 4' sheet on the floor behind the shear so the cut pieces don't clang on the floor when they fall.   With the rubber mount and another 1/4" spacer I got my tranny angle back to within about 1/8" of where it was originally or about 7/8" higher than in the pic I posted with the top cut out of the tunnel.   Then I re-reversed my Steeda shifter so it's back in the rearmost position and I fabbed a fairly decent tranny tunnel cover out of some .063" thick 5052 (soft) aluminum sheet.  Got the carpet and floor mat back in place too.

Unfortunately the car is spending another night at the shop, darnit.  I did drive it around the block a couple times but there are a couple things i need to check out before I drive it home.  That tranny sure seems to make a lot of racket, I hope it's just me not being used to hearing one or maybe it will get quieter as it breaks in.  I DID fill the tranny with Pennzoil Synchromesh oil per the instructions but I'll check it again tomorrow.  Maybe changing the angle had some effect.

Also my ALT warning light comes on when I turn on the headlights.  I bet I knocked something out of place when I was swapping out the speedo cable, there's a bunch of stuff right there.  I hooked up a multimeter and watched the voltage at the ignition switch while I turned the headlights on and off with the engine idling.  Looks like it wants to be around 13-14V with the lights on and 14-15 with them off (130A 3G alternator).  Seems like it should be ok but I don't want to drive it much until I sort out that warning light.  Any tips on finding that problem would be most welcome...

 The speedometer works, the reverse lights work and the neutral safety switch works so I'm happy about all that.   The old auto linkage was pretty worn so I was having to fiddle around with the shift lever to start the car and again if I wanted the reverse lights to come on.   I've got parts on the way to convert my steering column to floor shift style so the leftover automatic shift lever will be out of there soon.  Probably about when I get used to not grabbing that useless shift lever is when I'll convert the column, lol.

 The tranny and the clutch both need to break in a good couple hundred miles before the "jumping" may commence   

[BruceS]

65er,
Did u use any sound deadener on that alum cover piece you fabbed for the trans tunnel?  I would guess if that piece was sealed to the original tunnel, and had some Dynamat laid on top that the trans would be quieter... jMO!

[JimNolan]

65er,
   Did you dial-in your bell housing. Lakewood wanted no more than .005" total. Mine, without any offset pins ended up .003" total. Don't know what one sounds like misaligned but I know mine didn't make any noise when I got through installing it. Are you sure it's not coming from the rear end or someplace like that. My traction bars squeak like hell and you'd swear it's the front end. I'm an expert on squeaks, squeals, bumps and bangs and it had me fooled.  I have to take my traction bars off and oil the bushing to get the squeak to go away. Jim

[65er]

I think I have whatever the original setup was on top of my trans tunnel now.  The carpet has a real thick mat on the back and there was some tarpaper kind of stuff on the sides of the tunnel but I don't remember if there was one on top.  I looked and looked but couldn't find an extra piece anywhere so I guess it didn't have one.  I don't think the sound deadener will fix much because you can feel it through the floor.  Only under certain conditions though, mostly during light acceleration at low engine rpm.  I think if I keep the RPM up it doesn't happen.  At least so far as I've noticed.  I think I've put about one mile on it so far, lol.

I did dial in the bell housing, but the instructions were kind of fuzzy being that they said something about half the indicator reading.  According to that sheet, it allows up to .005" misalignment or .010 TIR.  I had .007" TIR and after fooling with the thing for a while I had .007 TIR in four different directions so I guess it wants to be .0035" off center no matter what.

I certainly wouldn't rule out the rear end either.  Being that it's a 4.30 gear and I've never set up a ring and pinion before it seems probable that the rear end is the source of the noise.   Sounds like it's coming from the tranny but like Jim says sounds can be tricky like that.   I've only had the car up to about 45 so far so I don't know how it sounds or feels yet at highway speed.  Tomorrow I'll check the oil level in the tranny then take her out on the highway! 

 

[Heo]

How did you make the rubber mount?
maby its transfering the sound since you
feel it in the floor

[JimNolan]

65er,
   You're right. I went back and re-read my write up of the swap and it was .010 TIR, not .005 TIR. That swap was a while back, so my memory isn't what it used to be. I'll bet that noise is the rear gear.
    When you measured to have the drive shaft made, did you have it sitting on it's wheels. Jim

[65er]

I think it's fine.  This morning I took it around the block again with a friend and fellow car nut in the passenger seat and I babied it a little less than I did yesterday.  As long as I don't let it coast in gear it's just fine.   

[65er]

How did you make the rubber mount?
maby its transfering the sound since you
feel it in the floor

The mount consists of a 1/4" steel spacer at the tranny, then a 1/2" thick piece of rubber sheet, then the crossmember, another 1/2" piece of rubber, and another 1/4" steel piece to cap it off and keep tension on the rubber.  I also left the bolt holes undersized through the rubber and  bored the crossmember mount holes out to 3/4" so when it'is tightened down the rubber gets squeezed into the crossmember holes preventing excessive lateral movement.   It all seems to be working as intended, I can see the shifter body shaking a bit (like a shaker hood scoop kinda) since i don't have a boot for it yet.   

I'm thinking my main issue now is getting used to it and adjusting my habits =)

[Heo]

ok

[ScotiaFE]

If your feeling the vibration on the floor, then I would suspect that the trans is rubbing somewhere.
It does not take much rubbing to make it feel really big.
Also you do not want too stiff of a trans mount in a daily driver. It will really put the vibrations into the car. btdt.

[65er]

I think the mechanicals are all ok, I just need to get used to driving a stick.  I've had all automatics for the last 28 years or so, hahah.  I'm getting better with it and finally drove it home from the shop yesterday.   Now it pretty much just needs a longer shift lever with a ball on top and a shifter boot to call the tranny job complete.   I'm working on those pieces, should have them built and installed soon.