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Rebuilding the c6 in my Galaxie

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Drew Pojedinec:
Just putting this out there with pictures.  Maybe it'll help someone.
If any of you experts see something I did wrong please make mention of it, I've only built a handful of these and would consider myself far from an expert.  ie I'm not above putting something in backwards.

The only tools I use for building a c6 are a few sockets, an inch lb torque wrench, snap ring pliers, some good screw drivers.  Tools I have that I find useful but aren't required:  Slide hammer, bearing driving tool.

My crossmember I built with filter housing:



Whole trans out:



I remove convertor and pump bolts:



Flip trans over, remove pan and valve body







I pry here on these hard teeth and not the aluminum to force the pump to pop out.  In this picture it is already slid out.  Sometimes, especially with old transmissions this is a lil hard to get it to move.



Pump is out and on the floor.



Old selective washer.  Always handy to check endplay before taking everything apart just to see where it is at.  I like to save this selective washer too, it gives me a good starting point when I reassemble.



Undo the band, and start pulling the guts out:



Once all that is out, I take out all the other forward parts, servo, servo arm, etc etc.
To get the output shaft out, there is this snap ring.  Perhaps the hardest part to undo or get back on.  It's not a real snap ring and so it slips off pliers and is hard to get a screwdriver on it as well as it spins:



Once that snapring is out, it is easy to remove the output shaft, so I go and remove the tailhousing and output shaft:





I take this off, I have heard it called the governor housing, but it just covers the parking gear and routes fluid.  The lil tubes come out, which makes it easier to clean:



I like to show folks this picture or something like it..... this is all that holds your 4,500lb car when you put it in park.



After this I start taking apart the assemblys, stuff like clutch drums:



I do one clutch assembly at a time, get it all cleaned up and reassembled.  These are the springs and the one way clutch race:



Servo parts...  this trans had an N code, which is one of the smaller ones.  I pulled an L code off another parts trans because it is a little bigger.  That servo was hard as a rock and was one of the reasons I wanted to rebuild this trans.  The other reason, it was a B&M built transmission that was built, installed, and sat for 6 years....  I wasn't crazy about the way it was working and over time hard seals seemed to be an issue as certain gears were slipping, and others were badly timed.  With time this got worse and fluid would be burned fairly quickly.  Towards the end under full throttle 1st gear hit well, second gear never engaged and third gear would slam.  I like to beat on my vehicles, and I like to know whats in them :-)



Make sure you have plenty of space and I use lotsa cardboard as I can constantly be moving parts onto clean cardboard.  I used to do all this on a table, but my tables are plywood and all the leaking trans fluid was annoying.  At the end of this job I can drag allt he cardboard out back and burn it.



New torque convertor seal and bushing, you REALLY need to check these well, same with convertor where it goes into the trans.  I'd hate to ruin a convertor because the bushing was torn up.



Cleaned up and redid the pump and stator.  there are oiling mods to be made here.



My favorite $50 toolset:



5 hours of cleaning ensues.  I wish I had a parts washer.  Instead I use 5 cans of spray cleaner, an air compressor and lotsa shop towels.  I started doing the work in the case:



low reverse piston, needs new orings and whatnot:



disassembling the high/reverse drum



This compressor is just two pieces of 1/8inch plate and some threaded rod.  I'd love to buy one of those fancy $100 spring comrpessors... but whatever, this works well.





You can't take the pistons loose without taking out the springs.... the pistons can almost always use some new orings so there is that.  The springs are for disengaging that particular drum, so of obvious importance.



Especially if old these pistons can be crappy to get out.  Compressed air can help sometimes.  Othertimes some good needlenose pliers and a slight twisting action can pull them out. 
Not all drums use a spring in every slot



I think they say to soak the frictions for 20 minutes.  I just toss them in my cleaned transmission pan and forget about them.  Either way they need to be well lubed so they can swell up, otherwise your clutch pack clearances will not be correct.  Having too tight of a clearance might mean two gears being engaged at once.  having too loose of a clearance might mean one of the pistons overextending and getting cocked/not seating. 



The forward drum.  Called that because it is engaged in all forward gears.



These take a belleville spring instead of individual springs.  Since it isn't highly shifted, it's a lil less fussy as far as frictions go.

forward clutch piston out for r&r



I'm glossing over all this really, but each part needs to be inspected.  The belleville spring can flatten, parts can show burn marks, etc.  Check the sealing rings and where they ride.



My sun shell had some burn marks and the thrust washer was kinda rough....  luckily I have 3-4 transmissions in the shop, so I just went and pulled the best looking shell and used it.



I like to have clean cardboard set up so I can set rebuilt/cleaned parts to sit while I work on other stuff:



New bits getting installed:





low reverse piston, checkball down toward pan:



oil hole in case must line up with oil hole in one way clutch race:





This might be a lil tricky, as you need to line it up while you are bolting it from the backside of the case:



inspecting spring and installing them for the low/reverse



bit of a pain in the butt to get them all to sit nicely while you are getting everything together:



compressing to get the snap ring in:





Low Reverse piston goes in.  Some folks use assembly lube, I just dunk everything in clean ATF.  Only thing I use is a lil dab of grease to hold a thrust washer here or there.  I figure less stuff to wash out and get in the pan.  You will most likely need to gently beat this thing until it seats.



Thrust washer for parking gear, and parkin gear next.





I replace all the old sealing rings.  Thing to check is where they ride.  They will always leave a mark, but like in this case, they don't actually leave a groove.



Gotta get it all set in place, and have to tap it here and there to get it to seat.... meanwhile making sure the tubes go into place well.



new rings installed, oiling mods made, ready to install.



a little thing that can hang you up is getting output shaft in place and keeping it there tight.  If you don't there is enough play in the parking gear and thrust washer for the washer to move or rotate....  this sucks so pay attention to it.

The governor assembly needs to be taken apart and make sure it slides freely.  If the governor is sticky you will have some shifting issues.  I had one that wouldn't shift into 1st because of a sticking valve.



I dunk it in lube too and work it a lot before install.  Governor installed and oriented this way:





Ready for the one way clutch and it's drum.  New units don't use the thrust washer or two snap rings that were previously in the drum.





I use a long splined reverse hub and a torrington here.  Pics of old one and new one:





Both Installed.  Need to get that pesky snap ring in to hold it all in place.  This often requires some jiggling and making sure the output shaft is pressed forward and the hubs are wiggled back into place.  This can take a lil while to get the snapring in perfectly.
Around this time I get the low reverse clutches installed.  No real mastery here....  just stacking plates.  No real spec for the clutch clearance here, some say 50 thou to 100





4 pinion reverse planet and two torringtons:





Once that is set in place, you may need to spin the one way clutch and install the reverse planet a few times to get it to sit in far enough to get the snap ring in.  I don't know if I should have to mention this.... the one way clutch.... it only spins one way.  If it doesn't figure out what you did wrong.

I start stacking my other drums.  From the factory I think most c6's come with (from back to front)  4, 4, 3 clutches.  If I remember I got 6, 5, 5 in mine and still kept clearances I needed.



Might take a lil while to spin the drums on one another and to get all the clutches to engage.



more parts I bought to use torringtons with:













Whole assembly has to fit and the tabs need to sit pretty tight.  If they don't you did something wrong.



Once good, install whole unit without breaking a finger cuz it's heavy



keep something under it all until you can get the band in place.  (ya know, the band you forgot to soak)



just say no to thrust washers.



and burnt plates...



Band in place holding the works up





Hmmmm valve body looks a lil muddy.  this is gonna be interesting.





This b&m unit had some weird parts in it.... hope it all works when I put it back together :P  I probably shoulda grabbed a different valve body off the shelf... but we'll see what happens.  Clean clean clean  (2-3 hours)





After that I set my endplay.  This involves putting the pump in, bolting it together and seeing what selective washer was needed.  This is handy not only for getting the clearances set, but also it'll be obvious if a washer is sitting crooked or if you forgot to put one in.  I think 25-40 thou is the Ford spec, but I used lotsa torringtons and was advised to keep it between 10-20 thou....  I lucked out, second washer I tried I was rewarded with 14thou clearance which was pretty close to what I was hoping for.

You are checkin here:





Air checked clutches to make sure they all engage.... good, no problems, Installed valve body, got the levers all in the right place.  Pan on.  Lets stab this joker in and go for a ride.




So there.

Drew

Drew Pojedinec:
Oh forgot to mention, the rebuild kit, and all the special parts and torrington bearings are from Jay at Broader Performance.  He a wizard.  I can't thank his service enough, he is a one man show tho, so order a month in advance and don't be in a hurry.... he is busy building transmissions, this parts service is a bonus to us.... ie he aint Amazon.com
Also the oiling mods I make are his, they are in a book he sends you.... I specifically did not show them, as I consider those to be his information which comes with the kit.

I also have a copy of Ken Collin's video from BadShoe productions.  At this point I probably dont' need it, but I load it up and watch it just to make sure I don't do something stupid.  The Clutch spring compressor is also built off his design.  When you buy the dvd from him he send instructions on how to make it.  $20 dvd and you get a free $100 tool..... it's a good deal, so freakin buy it.

jayb:
Great how-to, Drew!  Thanks for all the details and the pictures; helps to remove the intimidation factor...

Drew Pojedinec:
Yeah especially for those folks that assemble a SOHC 511 engine in their garage but *claim* they can't build a transmission *wink wink*

hehe.  thanks.  Can't wait to try it out, this is my first with so many roller bearings.

turbohunter:
Gonna have to give you the Big Brass Balls award for this week. ;)

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