65 Ford Falcon Squire Wagon

[philofab]

I think the Powerglide was the only trans to ever have a front and rear pump. There was a two speed Ford trans in the early 60's, but I have never seen one and don't know what the internals were like.

Older Borg Warner automatics had them as well as the Chrysler Torqueflight until 1966. It used to be important to be able to push start a car.

[SteveG]

I don't know much about transmission internals but I'm pretty sure these aren't supposed to look like this.

Nope, but that's kinda what they look like after 40+ years! You have a source for them don't you?

Yes I do but I have a couple "parts" transmissions. I hope to steal them out of one of those. As always, this is a LOW buck project. If I can steal parts from somewhere else, I will!

I think you got your money's worth out of those clutch disks...........! They're done!

For sure! The funny thing is the fluid really didn't look bad. Certainly no "no friction material left" bad.

[flyinbronco]

Hurry up and finish already the Bronco needs some love Steve.

[300]

I was going to say the sprag parts were pretty cheap, I was thinking like $12 or so, but then I went and spent $240 on a rebuild kit for a Chrysler trans today. Parts more expensive than I remember? Then I realized that 1/3 of the bill was for the book. First line in the book says "The 46RE trans is like no other trans out there........" Fantastic! That's kind of what I thought pulling it out of the truck. Who puts a bellhousing bolt behind the oil filter so you have to pull the filter off to get to it? I hadn't seen the ring gear on the torque converter in a very long time. And who puts the ignition trigger through a slot in the bellhousing to read the flex plate?

Those sprags are the last thing out of that C4, gotta take them all the way down to get to them.

[ntsqd]

I also cooked a C4. Puked it's fluid out the dip-stick tube. On Tollhouse grade (CA 168) flat towing the 'glass buggy in the middle of the night. Made it to one turn short of the BP station there a few turns into the two lane twistys. Pushed the '67 Ranchero uphill with the buggy using the buggy's tow bar. Made it the hunert yards or so into the station and spent the rest of the night there.
That RX-7 driver about 5am must have thought he hit black ice. Thought those things had rev limiters too.

Oh yeah, put an AOD in place of the C4 when I got home (8-9 qt's of Type F later it worked fine). No Net then, had to figure it out on my own.

"The 46RE trans is like no other trans out there........"

Tell me about it! In the middle of a valve body issue with one of those myself. Never heard the term "Stack Shifting" until now.

[SteveG]

Parts more expensive than I remember?

Everything is more expensive than I remember! The worst part is they're also (generally) not as good, too.

Those sprags are the last thing out of that C4, gotta take them all the way down to get to them.

The needle bearing and spring kit is $5.70 plus shipping... very cheap. I didn't want to wait, though, so I went ahead and pulled them out of one of my donor transmissions. Those are still in good condition.

So I pulled the bushing out of the high clutch drum because I thought there was a replacement in the kit I got. WRONG! No big deal, right? I figured I'd just order one and have it today. WRONG! No one has it in stock... can't even order it. So I pulled the drum out of the trans I stole the needle bearings and springs. I wish I'd looked at it when I pulled it out, cause it's in pretty rough shape. One more night of down time. I'll pull the drum out of the second donor trans tomorrow and hope it looks better.

A few of the trans pan flange bolt holes are pretty trashed, too. Now the question is, do I tap those to 3/8 and call it good? put inserts in them or use one of the donor cases? ...no way this is going to be done this weekend. A hang up every step of the way.

In hindsight, I should have just brought them all home, torn down all three transmissions at the same time and pulled the best of each.

First line in the book says "The 46RE trans is like no other trans out there........" Fantastic! That's kind of what I thought pulling it out of the truck. Who puts a bellhousing bolt behind the oil filter so you have to pull the filter off to get to it? I hadn't seen the ring gear on the torque converter in a very long time. And who puts the ignition trigger through a slot in the bellhousing to read the flex plate?

Bolts in lame places, triggers in hard to reach areas... all too common! I swear manufacturers build cars then realize they forgot some critical component and just cram it in wherever they can fit it with no consideration for service.

Don, do you scuff steels prior to assembly? The trans I pulled apart tonight has scuffed steels and drums.

[SteveG]

A few of the trans pan flange bolt holes are pretty trashed, too. Now the question is, do I tap those to 3/8 and call it good? put inserts in them or use one of the donor cases? ...no way this is going to be done this weekend. A hang up every step of the way.

Case replacement it is. I just went out and drilled and attempted to tap one of the damaged holes for an insert. There was very little material left after drilling and the case split when starting the tap.

[300]

Don, do you scuff steels prior to assembly? The trans I pulled apart tonight has scuffed steels and drums.

I don't scuff them and don't think I would on a street trans. Had not seen that, just LOTS of them with swirly blue color patterns. Might consider it on a race trans. I guess the idea is to make them grab a little harder?

The farther I get into the 46RE the more I think it was a valve body/governor pressure issue. Was a lot of "dust" in the bottom of the pan and figured the clutch material was gone, however I can still read the printing on some of the disks. Had read that check balls will hang up in the cooler lines, but this thing would barely drip any fluid out the "out" port on the trans, let alone push it through the coolers. Should have checked line pressures and codes before tearing it apart!

[philofab]

Don, do you scuff steels prior to assembly? The trans I pulled apart tonight has scuffed steels and drums.

I don't scuff them and don't think I would on a street trans. Had not seen that, just LOTS of them with swirly blue color patterns. Might consider it on a race trans. I guess the idea is to make them grab a little harder?

The farther I get into the 46RE the more I think it was a valve body/governor pressure issue. Was a lot of "dust" in the bottom of the pan and figured the clutch material was gone, however I can still read the printing on some of the disks. Had read that check balls will hang up in the cooler lines, but this thing would barely drip any fluid out the "out" port on the trans, let alone push it through the coolers. Should have checked line pressures and codes before tearing it apart!

46RE and 47RE are tough transmissions. I thought they were just a 727 with tail shaft OD and a way different valve body. Whats so special about them?

[ChaseTruck754]

That they're hard to find???

Those came on the cummins trucks in the 1st gen Dodges. 47RE and 47RH that is. Not sure on the 46RE.

[philofab]

46RE was used on Gas v8s. 5.2 and 5.9 in Ram pickups and such. Not as beefy as a 47RE but still based on a 727 and more than tough enough for 200-300 hp.

[SteveG]

i pulled the third high drum in hopes that it would be usable. Nope. It's got some rust in it. I'm going to try to bead blast the rust out of it then clean it up. That's my major road block at this point. I hope to be passed it tomorrow but we'll see.

I did get the valve body cleaned up and mostly assembled. Most of the valves came out just like in the manual. One of them is different. Same parts but different order. Which is right? Ha!

[ntsqd]

If it is just surface rust a couple hours or 4 soaking in vinegar will remove it. Far gentler method than grit blasting. I use vinegar for taking plating off of hardware that I have to weld on and for rust removal. I tried it after a friend mentioned using it to clean up old, un-plated fuse block contacts.

[ChaseTruck754]

good tip. I'd never heard that & will have to try it!

[ntsqd]

FWIW I use white vinegar from Smart & Final. Compared to Muriatic its not fast, but it's easier on parts and your lungs.
EDIT: I keep it in a large Tupperware (w/ lid) out back and put a piece of safety wire around each part so that I don't have to dip my fingers into the vinegar to remove the part. Seems like it take a week for the smell to leave my skin when I do have to reach into it, and SWMBO usually isn't too happy with that.

[SteveG]

FWIW I use white vinegar from Smart & Final. Compared to Muriatic its not fast, but it's easier on parts and your lungs.
EDIT: I keep it in a large Tupperware (w/ lid) out back and put a piece of safety wire around each part so that I don't have to dip my fingers into the vinegar to remove the part. Seems like it take a week for the smell to leave my skin when I do have to reach into it, and SWMBO usually isn't too happy with that.

I've heard the Vinegar thing before. There's a guy that dunks complete seized (from corrosion and sitting) engines in the stuff to break them free.

[SteveG]

I think assembly can finally begin. I'm pretty sure have all the parts I need... will start going back together tonight and hope to have it on the road later this week.

I had to clean up all three cases before I found one i liked.

[BajaF250]

I think assembly can finally begin. I'm pretty sure have all the parts I need... will start going back together tonight and hope to have it on the road later this week.

I had to clean up all three cases before I found one i liked.

Good grief! That looks absoultely awesome! Very nice!

[philofab]

Which way did you end up cleaning that case?

[SteveG]

Which way did you end up cleaning that case?

I cleaned the case at work in our parts washer... scrubbing and scraping. All the internals were cleaned with gasoline... worked great.