While we've gotten way too much practice removing and reinstalling the transmission, we were somewhat excited about this opportunity. Why you might ask? Because we got to try out Dad's new Christmas present, a 3-ton Craftsman floor jack.
We had previously been using a hydraulic bottle jack with lots of 2X4's. It worked, but this is much nicer. 3 tons seems like overkill since the curb weight of a 1966 Mustang is closer to 2300 pounds, but this particular jack had a higher lift height. With the bottle jack we had to lift the car up and get it on the lowest settings on the stands, then put more blocks under the jack to lift it up further. Lowering it was the same sort of process in reverse. With this jack, we can lift the car up sufficiently high enough and get it on the stands all in one shot.
With the new jack, we were able to get the car lifted and the transmission out in record time. We've got the process down pat: disconnect the gear shit lever, lift the car, drain the gear oil, loosen the bolts to the bellhousing, disconnect the spedometer and reverse switch, unbolt the crossmember from the transmission, remove the drive shaft, remove the cross member, take out the remaining transmission-to-bellhousing bolts, lower the transmission onto the dolly we specifically built, and roll it out from under the car.
Once we had the transmission out and on the workbench, we started doing some investigating into what was causing our noise. After realizing that the noise only occurred when the output shaft was turning, it didn't take long to narrow it down to this:
This is the Output Shaft Bearing. We found that it no longer turned smoothly and made quite a bit of noise when it was turned. We ordered a new one from our local NAPA and it actually took them about a day and a half to get it. Replacing it requires completely disassembling the transmission. Completely disassembling the transmission means that we have to put it back together. Which in turn means that we would have multiple opportunities to screw it up.
During the process of putting the transmission back together, we made us of each of those opportunities. Here is what the inside of the transmission should look like:
Please forgive me if I get some of the terminology wrong, I'm still learning all of this. The large gear on the right with the selector fork next to it is the travelling gear. It's what selects either first or reverse. It's the fork that we put in backwards before. We put it in backwards again (as shown in the picture is the correct orientation). You can't really see it in the picture, but behind it and below is the reverse gear. It is possible to put the reverse gear in backwards. We know, because we did that too. The mechanism on the left with the other selector fork in it is the synchro assembly used to select either 2nd or 3rd. It's possible to get it in backwards as well (yep, you guessed it, we originally put it in backwards).
The worst part about all this is that in order to take it apart and get it right, you have to remove the snap ring that holds everything onto the output shaft. Snap rings can sometimes cause some difficulty because you have to get the snap ring tool on them just right and get them expanded enough to come out of the groove. But they usually aren't that bad. This one is evil. I have very bad things to say about the engineer who designed this one. Why is it so bad? Next to the groove is a small gear. So, you don't have to just get it out of the groove, you have to get it over the gear and the teeth of the gear make it almost impossible to get the tool on it properly.
But anyways, enough complaining, we got it back together. Correctly. We then got it back in the car (in 45 minutes, we timed it). Correctly. A short drive around the block confirmed that we have been successful. The clutch is properly aligned, the transmission shifts properly, and there are no gear noises coming from the transmission. The transmission is in better condition than it has been in 15 years. This can mean only one thing. It's time to teach my wife how to drive a manual transmission.
