Project Christine slo Hackensteinberg

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Re: Project Christine slo Hackensteinberg

Post by Rope-Pusher »

Yes, you've driven a Buick converted to the Amish faith longer than anyone else in recent history!
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Re: Project Christine slo Hackensteinberg

Post by theholycow »

Today's progress:

1. Mounted bellhousing...that turned out to be an ordeal!:
First thing this morning I went to bolt the bellhousing on to the transmission and the holes were all wrong. DAMN! I could have sworn that every GM T5 has the same transmission-to-bellhousing pattern, and that the only other pattern was the Ford pattern, which my bellhousing also has. In other words, all my research indicated that the dual pattern bellhousing should fit every T5 ever made.

By clocking it slightly I got the T5's two bottom holes to line up with the previously-unused two bottom holes in the bell. One of the top holes was halfway overlapped, and the other one was in no-man's land...but it was a decent place to drill, where it should be pretty strong. I drilled there on the bellhousing and put a bolt through from the bellhousing side. I also oblongified the other top hole on the T5 so it overlapped the bell's hole better, then put a small bolt through. It'll do. I used lock nuts and threadlocker on all of them.

Oh, and one more thing that turned out to be loose...the ball stud. At least that can't back out all the way, as long as the transmission is somewhere near the bellhousing.

2. Cut floor hole for new shifter location:
My dad was helping me today, and he extended the floor hole for the new shifter location. His jigsaw work is sloppier than mine, somehow. I never thought I'd say that about anyone. It's good enough, though.

3. Turned pilot, mounted clutch assembly:
I turned the pilot outside diameter down just enough and hammered it in. Actually, I probably could have turned it some more. I fear that it will be difficult to remove when that time comes. Anyway, it wasn't so tight that the inside diameter got squeezed, nor was hammering it in a struggle -- in fact I was able to use a socket to drive it instead of hammering it directly. I made a clutch alignment tool (same as last time) and mounted the clutch assembly.

4. Stabby stab stab:
Stabbing was successful! This time I didn't have to re-align the clutch a single time, I centered it on the first try just using my homemade alignment tool and eyeballing it. The transmission jack and a helper make stabbing less difficult but still not exactly easy. Transmission went right home where it should.

5. Crossmember:
Then I put the crossmember in place. One of its bolts broke yesterday and had to be drilled out, but that didn't work out really well so that one got a smaller grade 8 bolt and nut. Then the transmission mount went on between the T5 and the crossmember.

6. Mr. Slave:
Finally I bolted on the slave bracket, but I gave up for the day before getting the slave push rod into the fork's dimple. I fear that the fork has been pushed in to the bellhousing and I'll need to give it a good yank anyway.

No photos, I was too busy.
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Re: Project Christine slo Hackensteinberg

Post by theholycow »

SUCCESS!

I got it all put together. I added a feature that I've needed for the entire time I've had it...it will help the clutch release system work well, and it will give me peace of mind. I finally added a buttress for the clutch slave bracket! No more flexy bracket absorbing some of my clutch travel.

See, I put it together and the clutch slave cylinder was touching the exhaust manifold, and that's before I even step on the pedal (which would make the bracket flex so it would touch even more). Not sure why it ended up that way now; it's the same bellhousing, same bracket, same slave cylinder, none of that stuff changed. Of all the loose bolts, the bellhousing-to-engine bolts were never loose. The only thing I can think of is the lower bolt on the bracket; I had to put it in a different spot because the old hole cracked, and maybe I didn't get a good angle.

Anyway, I looked at it and decided there wasn't much I could do about it just by loosening bolts and trying to bend things so I started looking around my scrap for buttress material. I found this rusty tubular piece that was already bent exactly right, it just had one end an inch too long. I lopped off the end, hammered its tapered tube flat, struggled to drill the slave bracket (close quarters, so glad I bought that right angle drill...but I still had to cut a drill bit in half for clearance), bolted that end on, temporarily braced the slave with as much pressure as I could (basically shoved a crowbar in there), then had an easy time drilling the hammered end of the tube and a random tab sticking out from the T5, bolted it in place, pulled the temporary braces, and done!

Image

The photo is taken from the ground looking up. Top of photo is floor pan. Photo doesn't look like there's good clearance for the fork or the floor pan but it's fine. Those are grade 8, 1/4" bolts at each end of it.

When I was cranking down that bolt I felt something snap and at first I thought I broke the bolt, but that wasn't it. I think I broke through the top of the buttress. Thinking about it now I guess I should worry that the buttress will fail pretty easily. At least I'll have a broken one as a pattern out of which to make a new one, and nothing has to be disassembled to replace it.

BTW, here's a shout out for Tractor Supply Company. Those guys sell bulk grade 8 hardware by the pound, good stuff that's tough, never rusts, and never seizes. It's all SAE, which is good for my 1960s bellhousing but not good for the metric rest of my antique American car, but it's acceptable for custom DIY hacks like that bracket.

I forgot to put in the remnant of the foam thingy that goes between the transmission and the floor hole...not that much of it remains anyway. I should try to acquire a new one.

Uh-oh... just realized I forgot to boot the fork! Crapski, I was hoping not to get under the car again.

Also not sure I tightened the fill plug. Dang.

I should also make a better lower cover for the bellhousing. That awful 5-minute DIY thing was always insufficient.

To do: Cram foam thingy remnant in there, tighten fill bolt, make a fork boot, maybe plug exposed unused bolt holes in bellhousing...and maybe make a better lower bellhousing cover. Also a ton of cleanup of tools and such.

This time I RTV'd the shifter flange, which I could see was RTV'd before and may have been leaking for 5 years.

Anyway I drove it. That taller first gear isn't excessively tall. The smaller clutch and new clutch cover assembly hold the torque, at least as much as the engine can make while it's cold. If it slips a little at maximum output that will be ok but I don't think it will. I didn't notice in my short test drive if the pedal is a lot lighter but thinking back I guess it's slightly lighter...not much. Good. I was afraid it would end up being too light. I should try to measure it, I did that before with a bathroom scale and a 2x4 as a push rod.

It's so smooth!
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Like buttah!
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Re: Project Christine slo Hackensteinberg

Post by mtheis »

theholycow wrote:I think I broke through the top of the buttress.
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Re: Project Christine slo Hackensteinberg

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Image
PROPS!
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Re: Project Christine slo Hackensteinberg

Post by bk7794 »

Glad to see she lives. Time to open up and rebuild the S10 T5.
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Re: Project Christine slo Hackensteinberg

Post by theholycow »

Yeah, my to-do list includes making a spot on the workbench and hauling the old T5 indoors so I can spend the winter rebuilding it. Knowing me, however, I will never get any further than placing it on the workbench...maybe if the new transmission eventually fails I'll get a round tuit.
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Re: Project Christine slo Hackensteinberg

Post by watkins »

Heres one!

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Re: Project Christine slo Hackensteinberg

Post by theholycow »

Done:

- Crammed foam thingy remnant in there

- Tightened fill bolt (actually it was already tight)

- Make a fork boot: This time I made it from layers of sheet metal and rubber instead of a huge piece of rubber. It's still ugly and hacky, but much improved.

- Plugged exposed unused bolt holes in bellhousing

- Made a better lower bellhousing cover. It's still not perfect but it's a lot better.

I started putting tools away and decided to try once again to make a damned grease gun work. I have a new pneumatic one. Yesterday I loaded a cartridge into it and it worked for a few minutes, then stopped working. I've been trying to bleed and prime it, but I'm getting the same result I always get with every grease gun...failure.

FSCKING GREASE GUNS
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HOW DO THEY WORK?
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Re: Project Christine slo Hackensteinberg

Post by theholycow »

I went for a longer drive, to buy groceries. The new shifter position really became obvious. Not only is it a few centimeters aft, but because of the twist I did to line up bolt holes for the bellhousing (amplified by the lever length) it's also positioned left of center.
Image

Also, it really is like buttah, so smooth. Snick snick. Everything is firm like it should be, it's like driving a new car. The new ratios are great, although I didn't get to try 5th.

Two issues:

The new improved clutch inspection cover rubs the flywheel. It's harmless but sounds a little crappy, a constant scraping. I believe that it is a problem that will solve itself.

There is a clicking or rattling that I think is the T5 hitting the excess length on the shifter boot flange screws sticking through the floor. That is also going to be a self-solving problem...they'll bend or break. I'll get a better look at it tomorrow when my wife is not in the car, maybe it's just the plastic console.

Oh, one other thing: That plastic console may have to go away. The seat might not move far enough forward now.
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Re: Project Christine slo Hackensteinberg

Post by Rope-Pusher »

theholycow wrote: Image
The new improved clutch inspection cover rubs the flywheel. It's harmless but sounds a little crappy, a constant scraping. I believe that it is a problem that will solve itself.
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Re: Project Christine slo Hackensteinberg

Post by theholycow »

:lol:

It's very thin metal; I cut it with a knife (well, I scored it and then ripped it along the score line by hand)...and being aluminum it's great at conducting and ridding itself of heat. I don't think it will start a fire, I think it will just wear a hole after a few miles.

One other thing...I can't tell if this thing is leaking or if it's just dripping from overflowing when I filled it. I guess I could wipe it down or get an undercarriage wash then see if it continues dripping.
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Re: Project Christine slo Hackensteinberg

Post by Rope-Pusher »

Most of these NASCAR fires start out as simple tire rubs, but 200 MPH tire rubs are never simple, are they.

Yes, I don't spose you'll be on the 11 pm news with your car any time soon.
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Re: Project Christine slo Hackensteinberg

Post by tankinbeans »

Rope-Pusher wrote:Most of these NASCAR fires start out as simple tire rubs, but 200 MPH tire rubs are never simple, are they.

Yes, I don't spose you'll be on the 11 pm news with your car any time soon.
Isn't that syphilis? Wrong rub?
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Re: Project Christine slo Hackensteinberg

Post by theholycow »

Went for a longer drive. Feels like a new car.

Excellent!
Image

There is definitely a leak though. :( I wonder what I can do.
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