Transmission Removal - 51 Hudson

Jake_N_His_Hornet

Hey HET Folks,

I recently discovered my clutch was smoked, so I now am working on pulling the trans. The mechanical procedures manual says to pull it from the top side and it seems reasonable enough. I have everything ready to remove the hump cover inside the car, except for the brake pedal rod, it is seized up and I cant seem to free it. Just wondering if anyone has a good way to remove it? I was thinking like a mini gear puller or something along those lines. Any help would be greatly appreciated

- Jake

RL Chilton

Remove the nut on the backside of the panel and with a phenolic or brass hammer, tap it up and out of the brake arm.  Best to put the nut on the threads but let the nut stick out and hammer on the nut to break it loose.  That way, you won't take the chance of damaging the threads. 

Glowplug

Hudson provided a tool that pushed the pedal shaft out of the swing arm. This allowed the shaft to be pushed without floor removal. The tool hooks over the swing arm from bottom and a push pin screws in to remove the shaft.  The following link shows the tool

http://hudsonrestoration1948-54.com/StepdownPedalRemovalTool.pdf

Jake_N_His_Hornet

That tool would be perfect! Too bad i don't know anybody with one to borrow, but that gives me an idea, i think i can adapt a little gear puller or maybe a pitman arm puller to do the same thing. 

I tried with a hammer and couldn't get enough swing to break it loose.

Thanks for the info guys 

Park_W

Jake, you might consider taking the tranny out the bottom, especially if it's the heavy, overdrive version.  Depends somewhat on your age and condition of your back!  You still have to remove the floorboard panel, but I've found it more comfortable to put a jack under it and let it down that way instead of having to lift it in the awkward position you have to assume in the cockpit.  You do have to have the car up a bit higher off the floor, in order to slide the tranny and bell housing out from under.

The real payoff comes when you reinstall it.  Quite a bit easier to align and maneuver it into place when it's on a jack, not hanging from your shoulders.  In any case be sure to make and install a couple of guide studs and put them in the top two bolt holes, to support the tranny and position it accurately as you put it in place.

Taking it out the bottom requires removal of some of the parking brake hardware underneath, but it's quite simple to do.