Not sure anyone will be willing to re-visit my clutch problems on my 52 Chevy, but let's see. I followed Nate's advice and opened up the flywheel case and cleaned out a lot of goop that had gotten in through a gap in the plate. Used a couple cans of areasol brake clearer. Clean enough? Not sure. But a lot cleaner than it was. Yet the clutch just will not disengage now. Three weeks ago it would. Over that time, gradually worsened. Now won't. I can move it through the gears with the engine off, but when its on and I try to disengage out of neutral, nothing but grinding, no matter what gear I try. Am I at the point -- heaven forbid -- that I have to yank that tranny and replace clutch parts. A funny thing. 3 weeks ago, it disengaged just fine. Gradually worsened, and now not at all. Nate gave me great advice on how to yank the tranny, and plenty of warnings from all of you. Am I at that point? I wish not, but..... Eric
Eric ; Didja try to break it loose whist driving in 2nd gear at the sweet spot ? jamb the clutch pedal to the floor and jockey the foot feed HARD , maybe it'll break loose , if it does the disc has stuck to the flywheel . Clean it some more and see what turns . It's possible the clutch has just failed , I remember one time driving my old '46 W/ '57 235 and as I depressed the clutch to upshift I felt the clutch pedal jump and heard a faint " boing ! " noise ~ it turned out the DPO had left a couple bolts out of the clutch cover and so it was flexing and the diaphram spring simply gave up .... Sometime these old trucks simply need repairs ~ hard as that may be to believe....
Ahhhh, come on it ain't THAT bad. The job itself is relatively easy and fairly straightforward. You never did a clutch job ever before??? Just make sure you have a boom style engine hoist to lift it and have guide pins (bolts with heads cut off) when re-installing it. See attached thumbnail of when I installed mine the right way (with broken and smashed finger). Note space-age flexible corrugated fiber transmission cover used to keep falling debris out of tranny after the top is taken off. Now that my tranny is installed, I can let you have the aforementioned space-age flexible corrugated fiber transmission cover at a special "friend of the forum" price. Just ask and I'll pm you with the details. Andy
I don't see how I can use a boom style engine hoist for the tranny, since my clutch went just after finishing an inside and outside body restoration. Does the tranny actually fit up through the space in the floor, once the cover is taken off, or are you just bracing it through that space? I was thinking of trying to belt underneath the tranny and then support it with the belts through that floor opening. Anyway, can't see how I could use the engine hoist..... Eric
Tranny Jack i borrowed a big tranny jack from a friend and went in from the bottom. Notice the sm420 is secured with chains. The rounded case is not conducive to being stable. It worked. I also have an ole tranny pilot shaft I use to keep everything in the clutch assembly in place until ready to slip the tranny in place. No mechanic here, but I take lots of pitures so I can remember what everything looks like. Jim
Jim: What's up with that custom side cover?? My daughter married one, so I can say anything bad about them I want to.
Boom hoist goes in through the open door and LOWERS tranny to the floor. Tranny does not come out through engine compartment. floor access hole is just that...a floor ACCESS hole. allows you to use the hoist CAREFULLY so as not to scratch up your expensive restoration. Remove seat and seat frame and there is plenty of room to lower the tranny safely with the engine hoist. Note how the tranny is chained and bolted to the plate on the floor jack in another post. The rounded bottom of the Muncie would still allow it to move even with that precaution. Really, the hoist worked just great and I installed it by myself and essentially one-handed due to my right hand being bandanged at the time. Andy
Bill, that's profiling and profiling is wrong! You should be more sensitive to the feelings of others
SWMBO is a t-sip, this is about the only place she would allow me to put an Aggie sticker on "our" truck. She didn't know it was there until I showed her. We have an agreement no college stickers on either of our cars. (I got away with this one) Enjoy Jim
