51 Hudson transmission housing to bellhousing clearance

Kdancy

 I have a question on
the 51 transmission. Everything feels fine until I go to finish tighten  the bellhousing to the

Transmission body, then the mainshaft tightens up so it
doesn’t turn. I applied some dark grease to the gear bearing

retainer in the bellhousing so I could check to see if it
was touching the bearing race and it is, so that is what is locking

it up. How thick should the bellhousing to trans body be? It
seems like when I get to the point of around .025 - .030 gap

it is ok until I try to close that gap and then the retainer
is against the bearing and not allowing any end play.The gasket on

now is very thin.

??

Kdancy

The story behind this transmission, it was
locking out of third gear and not able to shift. All adjustments were

checked. The owner pulled the transmission
and dropped it off at my house ( I didn’t ask for the job but got it anyway!)  I want to learn how to do this type of transmission so here goes--

When I pulled the cover plate off I found the parts with tabs on them (in the bag) in
the bottom of the transmission.  Funny thing is I could not find those parts in any of the
parts books I have but did find a reference to them in one manual.

I asked Al S. about these and he said they are not needed, he doesn't put them back in when he builds one.

Another odd thing to me was I could not
find a part # for the big C-type clip laying next to them but could see it in a
black and white schematic of the whole transmission and od unit in
the manual. It’s in its proper place in the OD now.

 I
also only found 15 roller bearings in the shaft pilot instead of 16 as the
parts book lists. I obtained another bearing and installed 16 during the build.

It all feels good, shifts good (on the
bench) and turns good, until I go to tighten the bellhousing on to the
transmission housing the last few thousands.

Guessing .025-.030 and then the bearing
retainer in the bellhousing goes up against the gear bearing and the shaft
starts locking up. If I back it off a tad,

It loosens up ok.

I thought maybe one of the 16 bearings in
the shaft pilot might have come out but it is thick enough that I don’t think I
could have placed the pilot shaft in and

not “felt” it.  

I have another Hudson 3sp that I am going
to pull the bellhousing off of and check the end play for the main drive gear –in
and out and see what the difference

Is between it and the one I’m working on. I
guess it might be possible that one of the bearings came or was dislodged loose
and is in the end of the main drive gear cavity and is not allowing the shaft bearing
to fully seat?  The measurement on the
other one should let me know (I think).

 

super651

Kerry, Rudy here, That happened to me twice and one was the wrong Mainshaft bearing ,it was a little to thick and the other one, was the pilot bearing snout was a little crocked in the bore of the bell housing so, make sure that it has bottomed out in the bell housing. If it was removed, be sure it is timed  (grease hole in the bell housing to grease hole in the snout)  Hope this helps.    Pal    Rudy

lostmind

Why can one not post a URL in this forum?
/openforum.hetclub.org/discussion/162237/pierre-from-france-hudson-49-needs-help-transmission-problem/p1

I've been asking that since they started this new forum. No answer yet.

Seems like the moderators can do it.

Kdancy

Rudy, hope you are doing better!
I didn't remove the pilot bearing snout from the bellhousing so I don't think that is the issue.
I added another gasket and it feels fine now, but I won't feel comfortable until I take it back apart and check
those needle bearings. I want to do this right and learn while I'm doing it. I've already rebuilt a couple of T-86 trannys but they are different then this one.
I'll probably do this on Monday and report back!

Kdancy

 I finally figured out what
the problem was. I took everything back apart and laid the shaft assembly’s on
a table and found I had installed the Synchronizer Shift Sleeve hub with the
tapered side facing rear instead of
toward the front. Everything is smooth now! The needle bearings were fine and in place.

 I will say that I think working with one that has the OD is more difficult as you have the output shaft with the od adaptor plate on, while putting the gears and such on the shaft in a very tight spot. I got pretty quick with doing it after several times! Also easy to forget to line up the oil holes in the low-reverse gear to the output shaft. Working with the cluster gear wasn't easy either, as I had to be careful not to get the spacers caught while installing the shaft. I like the T-86 way of doing it with the shaft tool.

Glowplug

Thanks for sharing... Fantastic that you figured out what was wrong!

Park_W

And you're definitely right about the OD tranny's being a good bit tougher to deal with.