What To Do When You're Housebound

Sitting around the house on yet another below 40 degree early spring day and feeling anxious and I realized what was up... I needed to get my hands a little dirty and get back to rebuilding the carb that I started taking apart back in probably December. Luckily I remembered how most of it went back together, but then my friend Doug's excellent rebuild guide, filled in the other 75%! (Especially how the needle float and float pin went back in because I dumped my new one out of the bag and they spilled out jumbled from the needle seat!) Thanks for the excellent writeup and photos (which I really didn't take enough of... ). It would be back together by now but I'm soaking the diaphragm housing which seems rusted or sealed in. I remember it sticking in past rebuilds but not this firmly stuck... Now if I had only remembered that my wife told me not to rebuild the carb at the kitchen table a few months ago I wouldn't be in the dog house!

Small Steps

Yay, small steps! I finally got around to ordering the replacement pressure plate bolts from Walck's a couple of weeks ago. Got a UPS tracking number and I noticed that the shipping weight listed it as 10 pounds!? Huh, for six bolts, lock washers and a keychain? Oh well, got the box last week and its huge and HEAVY! I open it up and yup, its a whole pressure plate! Got in contact with his wife this past weekend and she sent the bolts out which I got today and pre-paid packing slip to mail back the plate which I did today.
Spent a few minutes out in the barn with one of my sons and now have the clutch and pressure plate re-attached. Now, I just have to find what I did with four missing bellhousing bolts and I'll be back on my way with things!

An "Easy Out"

Slow progress/ no progress... Forgot to post that last week I did get that broken bolt out. I bought an easy out set that seemed to have alot of recommendations as well as being an American made product, from Alden. They make a line of easy outs for both bolts and screws. They seem to roughly all work the same way. One end of the bit cuts a centering hole and then you switch it around and the other end acts as the reversed thread shank that cuts and grips the bolt to pull it out. You get the idea...
Anyways, bought a set and I started to cut into the bolt just to find out that the pressure of the cutting end was enough to back it out enough that I easily got a pair of pliers onto it and unthreaded it...  :?
To have gotten a grade 8 bolt to snap off I thought that the bolt would have been too torqued in there to get it to unthread that easily otherwise I would have tried it. Oh well, live and learn. I still have to get a new set of bolts from Walck's before I get to start over again with the clutch!

A Lesson Learned...

So I also need to invest in something better than my little old tap and die set. Anyone have a recommendation for a good quality, preferably American made set? Or should I be looking for a thread chasing set or re-threader set? 
Yep, I learned a lesson today! Like I said, I thought to myself on the third turn, why is this bolt so loose? At the end of the fourth turn I knew that it hadn't been loose at all... But with that extra leverage provided by the long handle I hardly knew how hard I was torquing it. Wish that I had been using my old needle type wrench... lesson learned, I guess...

One Step Forward And Two Back

 One step forward and two back today, man am I bummed... :(
But first the good news- I spun the pilot bushing on the end of a taped up bit on my drill and ran the bushing over some sandpaper and took a few thousandths and lo and behold it went in easily with a rubber mallet and a few more gentle taps from a sledge.
Torqued down the flywheel and cleaned and repainted the T90's metal mount and got the old transfer case mount out of the crossmember. I was on a roll! Decided to clean up the pressure plate and put in the clutch. I was just about to call it a day while I torqued the bolts... The third bolt seemed to either be loose or had alot of slack in it and just before the message got through my thick head that I should stop because the torque wrench wasn't clicking... snap... sheared a bolt off in the flywheel. :(
Got a bit too eager. I should have stopped and replaced the old bolts. Instead I was using the old pressure plate bolts. Probably didn't have anything to do with it though. With all the reach of the torque wrench it put too much on the bolt... Just don't know why it didn't click.
So.... now I have to replace my old drill as it's shot and try to drill out the bolt... it didn't even have the decency to snap off with any thread showing so I could have tried to get it out with a wrench...

Another Sunday...

Didn't get much done today, still too damned humid to feel like moving. Tried tapping in the pilot bushing after taking it from the freezer... Hmmm... short of using a press (which I don't have...) anyone have any creative solutions for driving a new one in? I've tried using the input shaft as a guide but still manage to start pushing it in cockeyed. I mean they're pretty cheap but I'd rather not damage it too badly before I get it back in the flywheel. Comparing the old one to new slid onto the shaft you can feel some very slight... like 1/64" slop but its enough that I'm glad that I replaced it... well trying to replace it!
Still bashing away at the collar of the old transfer case mount now painted within the crossmember mount. I've got it started to separate with a chisel and punch, but that sucker is still firmly seated. So after losing a pound or so in sweat I decided to call it a night.

Wrestling With A Flywheel

Another scorcher today that really sapped my drive. Got a bit done though... Cleaned up the flywheel to look nice and purty with a bit more degreaser and then tried the unconventional 150 grit sandpaper and random orbital sander on it. Didn't go crazy with it, just got her nicely buffed and shiny. Took off the stubborn bits of grease.
Popped out the pilot bushing easily enough using the grease and input shaft trick...
I wasn't convinced that it was going to work, but wow, was I surprised! I'm freezing the new one and then I'll try tapping it in with the end of the input shaft again unless anyone has a better idea?


The aforementioned 'SP' initials on the front oil pan facing side of the bellhousing shield.




Pretty sure that it isn't a random set of scratches... who knows who 'SP' was!




Anyone know what this could have been or where it came from? It looks like a rounded lock washer with pointed ends... I found it somewhere near the rear of the engine after removing the clutch.


Closer view...


Lastly... I went to set the transfer case mount in today as well and discovered that it didn't fit. Looks like when I was cleaning up the old deteriorated one I left the old bottom metal seat of the old one in its cup in the crossmember. I remember scraping out the rubber from this cup when I was first cleaning up the frame, but that was all that came out. Just wanted to make sure before I start to chisel this piece out.