I spoke with the guy I bought it from this morning. He’s a decent guy, he just forgot that he pulled parts out of it several years ago. He’s refunding my money and we’ll worry about getting this boat anchor out of my garage later.
Going threw this thread and I was hoping this would get ironed out, you are living rightJust a reminder, I'm using this thread to document MY purchase and everything that I've done to the car.
I've noticed that if I run the car hard through the gears, sometimes the shifter will bind up and not want to come out of second gear. A good solid jerk frees up the shifter and everything goes back to normal until you run it hard again. It has always had a drip from the transmission, so I thought I would start by checking the fluid. Two and a half quarts of gear oil later, it is full. I didn't see anything wrong with the shifter or linkage so I just lubed them good with PB Blaster.
A quick run down the highway confirmed that the transmission is now "fixed" and it shifts like butter. I wish all things were as easy as this to repair.
Nice car, with that much ceiling height in that garage, I would be putting a lift in it.So I went on a little road trip Saturday. There's a guy in southern Missouri that rebuilds four speeds out of his home shop. He had an 18 spline four speed that he was saving for his personal vehicle but then sold the car. It has all new bearings, seals and syncro rings. I was able to pick it up along with a new Competition Plus shifter and a nice A body shift lever. The Quick Time bellhousing was bought here on FABO from @Dennis Hilliard
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The plan for this winter is to get the old 3 speed and 8 1/4" out and replace them with the new parts above. I'll put the break in miles for the clutch on the old 318 and hopefully the drive train will be complete and broken in before my new engine is ready. More on that later!
While it was more cost effective at one time to have springs re-arched, they were almost guaranteed to sag again. New ones are a better choice, especially when you are planning to keep the car long term.A little more progress was made over the weekend. My buddy Gary came over and we finished removing the three speed trans along with the clutch and bell housing. Now that everything is out, I'll spend some time cleaning up the under side.
I talked to the guy at the local spring shop and he steered me away from re-arching the factory 340 springs. While it would have been cool to have them redone, he stated TWICE that he couldn't guarantee that the spring would hold the re-arch. I went with my original plan and called Laura at ESPO. My new six leaf +1 springs should be here in about 4-6 weeks.
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