M
mickey
Guest
Here, the three "blocks" have been removed.
Gear puller in place. I had to grind a bit of metal off one of the puller's hooks to get it to fit under the gear. You yank that entire pack of gear, rings and synchros off the shaft as a unit.
Presto! Now it gets interesting. The gear puller will not fit under that 5th gear. There is a puller specified in the Bentley manual for the purpose. It costs about $80. Then you need to buy special hooks because the ones that come with the special puller are sold separately. They're ANOTHER $80!!! I tried prying the gear with a screwdriver, but chipped one of the teeth. (That's why I decided to go ahead and install the taller 5th gear pack.)
Here's how I did it: Since I had already chipped a tooth and didn't want to invest in a pair of puller hooks I bought these two nifty Seal Pullers at a specialty tool store. Wicked looking things, eh? But I'm sure some other prying deviced could be improvised that would work even better. These hooks put a lot of pressure on one tiny point and are apt to cause chipping. (Didn't in my case, but I don't trust this method.) I've seen various chisels and nail pullers that look kind of like screwdrivers but are bent at the tip. A pair of those could be used to hook under the gear and pry it upward.
The manual says to heat the gear to about 100 degrees C. (212 F.) before trying to pull it. I just warmed it up nicely with a propane torch, which you'll see in some of these pics standing next to a can of gasoline. (Not the recommended storage solution.)
Now the shift mechanism is removed. It won't go peacefully. Use a soft mallet, or cover the end of your hammer with a folded shop towel, and beat on it a bit. Not too hard! Aluminum isn't very tolerant of shocks. There is a casting "tab" that you can use a chisel or screwdriver on to drive the shifter housing away from the tranny. Once you open up a crack you can pry the thing out of there. Not fun!
After a few other external odds and ends, and about a million bolts, are removed you can pull the case apart. It won't want to go peacefully. There are some parts of the casting that stick out, and are intended for placing a chisel against and smacking the case smartly. Eventually it'll break loose. WARNING!!! Take EXTREME care not to damage the mating surfaces of the transmission case and the clutch housing! Because of the precision fitment of the transmission parts it is not possible to put a gasket between the two castings! It relies on very precise machining to properly seal. There is an assembly paste that is specified for reassembly, which you should certainly use, but it is used VERY sparingly and will not seal the case if you damage those surfaces! Consider yourself warned.
That's it for now. Stay tuned for Part Three.
-mickey
[ April 10, 2001: Message edited by: mickey ]
Gear puller in place. I had to grind a bit of metal off one of the puller's hooks to get it to fit under the gear. You yank that entire pack of gear, rings and synchros off the shaft as a unit.
Presto! Now it gets interesting. The gear puller will not fit under that 5th gear. There is a puller specified in the Bentley manual for the purpose. It costs about $80. Then you need to buy special hooks because the ones that come with the special puller are sold separately. They're ANOTHER $80!!! I tried prying the gear with a screwdriver, but chipped one of the teeth. (That's why I decided to go ahead and install the taller 5th gear pack.)
Here's how I did it: Since I had already chipped a tooth and didn't want to invest in a pair of puller hooks I bought these two nifty Seal Pullers at a specialty tool store. Wicked looking things, eh? But I'm sure some other prying deviced could be improvised that would work even better. These hooks put a lot of pressure on one tiny point and are apt to cause chipping. (Didn't in my case, but I don't trust this method.) I've seen various chisels and nail pullers that look kind of like screwdrivers but are bent at the tip. A pair of those could be used to hook under the gear and pry it upward.
The manual says to heat the gear to about 100 degrees C. (212 F.) before trying to pull it. I just warmed it up nicely with a propane torch, which you'll see in some of these pics standing next to a can of gasoline. (Not the recommended storage solution.)
Now the shift mechanism is removed. It won't go peacefully. Use a soft mallet, or cover the end of your hammer with a folded shop towel, and beat on it a bit. Not too hard! Aluminum isn't very tolerant of shocks. There is a casting "tab" that you can use a chisel or screwdriver on to drive the shifter housing away from the tranny. Once you open up a crack you can pry the thing out of there. Not fun!
After a few other external odds and ends, and about a million bolts, are removed you can pull the case apart. It won't want to go peacefully. There are some parts of the casting that stick out, and are intended for placing a chisel against and smacking the case smartly. Eventually it'll break loose. WARNING!!! Take EXTREME care not to damage the mating surfaces of the transmission case and the clutch housing! Because of the precision fitment of the transmission parts it is not possible to put a gasket between the two castings! It relies on very precise machining to properly seal. There is an assembly paste that is specified for reassembly, which you should certainly use, but it is used VERY sparingly and will not seal the case if you damage those surfaces! Consider yourself warned.
That's it for now. Stay tuned for Part Three.
-mickey
[ April 10, 2001: Message edited by: mickey ]