rebuilt a 3spd/od....need to vent frustration

ashford · Jun 22, 2004

rebuilt my first toploader today, wish i never touched it. ive rebuilt eaton 13 speeds, spicer 7 speeds, a few t-5s, a few others(im a truck mechanic). but ive never seen any other tranny like this that is such a pain to assemble. the input shaft wont come out unless you drop the counter shaft which is the main cause of problems. well the other thing i found is that the synchro dogs are about .040 difference in size, i didnt know that until i installed the front bearing retainer and tail shaft housing

. whell then i took it apart again and reassembled then messed up a thrust washer for the cluster . reused an old one. then when i was putting it back together the third time i dropped a needle bearing out of the input shaft after i got the countershaft in .

sorry about the griping i just needed to vent a little

rbohm · Jun 23, 2004

ahhh that joys of building an srod, aka the first gen tremec. the ford top loader style trannies can be a royal pain to rebuild, and not just the srod, but ALL the toploaders including the 2.77 and 3.03 3spds as well as the T&C 4 spd. the nice thing is that these trannies(except for the 2.77) are very hard to break, so you shouldnt have to go through that again for quite some time.

D.Hearne · Jun 23, 2004

ashford said:
rebuilt my first toploader today, wish i never touched it. ive rebuilt eaton 13 speeds, spicer 7 speeds, a few t-5s, a few others(im a truck mechanic). but ive never seen any other tranny like this that is such a pain to assemble. the input shaft wont come out unless you drop the counter shaft which is the main cause of problems. well the other thing i found is that the synchro dogs are about .040 difference in size, i didnt know that until i installed the front bearing retainer and tail shaft housing . whell then i took it apart again and reassembled then messed up a thrust washer for the cluster . reused an old one. then when i was putting it back together the third time i dropped a needle bearing out of the input shaft after i got the countershaft in .

sorry about the griping i just needed to vent a little

Well I've never rebuilt the ones you have, but I did do two toploaders and didn't have a problem with either Sent it here, I'll fix it. And as rbohm said, they may be harder to assemble, but they DO last longer than the others

ratio411 · Jun 23, 2004

Hi-jacking in progress

What are the gear ratios on the overdrive as compared to the close/wide ratio 4 speeds?

Dave

D.Hearne · Jun 23, 2004

If I remember correctly the 3+1 OD Toploader had something like a 3.08 1st, a 1.52 2nd , 1.00 3rd, and the OD was .70 The #'s for 1st and 2nd may not be 100% acurate, but they are close. Third and the OD 4th though are dead on.

ashford · Jun 23, 2004

on mine a rough test showed 3 1/4 turns on the input shaft to one on tailshaft, second was a little over 1 3/4, 3rd is 1 to 1 and od was about 3/4 to one

rbohm · Jun 24, 2004

there were two sets of gear ratios for the srod's, the aluminum case ones had a 3.06(?) first gear with a .82 o/d ratio, and the iron case ones had a 3.29 first gear and .70 o/d(not sure about the mix of number or which case cause i was never really interested in using one).

ratio411 · Jun 24, 2004

Sounds to me like a 'super wide ratio' toploader.

Something to think about.
Thanks
Dave

D.Hearne · Jun 24, 2004

ratio411 said:
Sounds to me like a 'super wide ratio' toploader.

Something to think about.
Thanks
Dave

Actually , pretty much the same ratios as the Toploader 3 speeds had, except the 4 speed has one more gear. If you've got a torquey motor like a 390/410/428, the gear spreads aren't so bad. Whooped a built 69 Camaro with a 350 /4 speed/4.11 combo in the 1/4 on the street once with my old 67 FB Stang with a 390 / 3 speed Toploader / 3.00 9" combo And it wasn't a fluke, the Chevy guy was scratching his head about the first run, so we did it again same result, he lost.

mds65stang · Jun 26, 2004

Your post made me feel much better, I thought I was the only one struggling with a 3 speed rebuild ! mike

Mongo316 · Jun 26, 2004

sorry to here about that being a pain to rebuild!!! I do have a question I have a 67 coupe with a 351w and a 3 speed i am looking for a new shifter linkage rebuild kit of sorts, any one know where i can purchase one???
Thanks Mario

D.Hearne · Jun 26, 2004

Mongo316 said:
sorry to here about that being a pain to rebuild!!! I do have a question I have a 67 coupe with a 351w and a 3 speed i am looking for a new shifter linkage rebuild kit of sorts, any one know where i can purchase one???
Thanks Mario

Are you looking for the parts for an automatic or manual? If a Manual, does it have the factory shifter or a Hurst?

Mongo316 · Jun 26, 2004

looking for parts for a manual looks like factory 3 speed shifter would consider changing the whole linkage mechanism and shifter if possible just looking for who makes this kind of kit for a manual 3 speed
Thanks Mario

D.Hearne · Jun 26, 2004

Hurst may have a shifter and install kit for the Toploader three speed, go to their website and check them out. Otherwise try some of the classic Stang and Ford suppliers to see if they have bushing kits for the factory shifters. Next stop after that is to watch Ebaymotors for what you want.

rebuilt a 3spd/od....need to vent frustration

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