The Great Pumpkin - '71 Duster
Took a break from the engine build today to start looking into the transmission. I have two units; one I took apart earlier this year and the one that was in the car. Both are 904s and both are 999 versions but the one that came out of the car was a regular 904 built as a 999 with a 5 clutch front drum. I did not take apart the guts from that unit yet but I can tell whats inside because of the wide bands around the drums. They are exactly the same as the ones I got out of my real 999 so I am confident that what's inside is the same.
So the plan for the trans is just a rebuild since the hard parts are already heavy duty. No need to go bananas here with all kinds of trick parts, it's a tough piece already and should hold up to the new combo fine.
I got a rebuild kit from A&A along with a selective snap ring kit, 4.2 lever and reinforced band strut, new bands, clutches, steels and a 'race prepped' case.
Rebuild parts, plus lever, band strut, selective snap ring kit, bands, clutches etc.
For the race-prep case, they take a garden variety 904 case and clean it up to like-new. There's a cut-out at the bottom of the bell for converter bolt access. It also has improved venting so hopefully this unit stays clean. The unit that was taken out of the car was really dirty, like annoyingly so. Seemed like if I got within a few inches of it, I would be covered in grime. I hate working with stuff like that so the case was a no-brainer for me.
Case in point.
I have to transfer things from the unit that was in the car - valve body, cooler tap fittings, pan and gasket (I have a reusable one), various fasteners for the bands, tail shaft housing, servos, lever and pivot rods, shifter bracket, speedo gear and a few more items I can't remember right now. Need to get the servos out too. May look into some fancy billet ones once my money tree starts blooming again.
Here are the parts getting transferred from the old unit on the bench. These things need to be cleaned up before going in the new case.
The valve body is a Turbo Action, #17680 which they no longer make. It's a forward manual valve body, no engine braking in first, passing gear linkage eliminated. Only difference between their regular reverse pattern part is obviously the shift pattern. It's gnarly.
Need to clean this thing.
So again, unlike the engine, this is more of a basic rebuild replacing mostly factory or factory-style parts. Plus, I already have everything on hand so not much to buy going forward. Only thing I am unsure of right now is whether to use the giant, heavy, cast aluminum deep pan I have. There's a lot of fluid in the trans with the extra capacity in the pan and the large cooler so I may take hard look at it and see if it's worth using again. It looks cool though!
The other thing I am contemplating is whether to replace the front pump bushing since I have a new converter. I may call Dynamic and see what they say about it. I know that some companies used to send a new bushing with their converter depending on what material the snout is made from. They did not send one or mention it on the phone so I imagine it's OK but it's probably worth a call. I got the thing apart so now would be the time to do it. I guess that's where all the leaky front pump stories may originate from, the bushing chews up the new converter snout and causes the leak. I don't really have the right tools for the job but there are several trans. shops within a few minutes of my house so I could take the pump to one of those places to have it done.
So things are looking OK for the trans at the moment. I don't foresee too many issues that could arise but being this is my car, I'm sure I will run into a snag.
Carlisle is this week so I'll be on the lookout for some things while I'm there - possibly an 850 carb and maybe a fiberglass hood but I don't really have a way to get one back easily so that might not be in the cards. Unless I have updates during the week, stay right here for a full, detailed report when I get back next Sunday.
More to come.
Took a break from the engine build today to start looking into the transmission. I have two units; one I took apart earlier this year and the one that was in the car. Both are 904s and both are 999 versions but the one that came out of the car was a regular 904 built as a 999 with a 5 clutch front drum. I did not take apart the guts from that unit yet but I can tell whats inside because of the wide bands around the drums. They are exactly the same as the ones I got out of my real 999 so I am confident that what's inside is the same.
So the plan for the trans is just a rebuild since the hard parts are already heavy duty. No need to go bananas here with all kinds of trick parts, it's a tough piece already and should hold up to the new combo fine.
I got a rebuild kit from A&A along with a selective snap ring kit, 4.2 lever and reinforced band strut, new bands, clutches, steels and a 'race prepped' case.
Rebuild parts, plus lever, band strut, selective snap ring kit, bands, clutches etc.
For the race-prep case, they take a garden variety 904 case and clean it up to like-new. There's a cut-out at the bottom of the bell for converter bolt access. It also has improved venting so hopefully this unit stays clean. The unit that was taken out of the car was really dirty, like annoyingly so. Seemed like if I got within a few inches of it, I would be covered in grime. I hate working with stuff like that so the case was a no-brainer for me.
Case in point.
I have to transfer things from the unit that was in the car - valve body, cooler tap fittings, pan and gasket (I have a reusable one), various fasteners for the bands, tail shaft housing, servos, lever and pivot rods, shifter bracket, speedo gear and a few more items I can't remember right now. Need to get the servos out too. May look into some fancy billet ones once my money tree starts blooming again.
Here are the parts getting transferred from the old unit on the bench. These things need to be cleaned up before going in the new case.
The valve body is a Turbo Action, #17680 which they no longer make. It's a forward manual valve body, no engine braking in first, passing gear linkage eliminated. Only difference between their regular reverse pattern part is obviously the shift pattern. It's gnarly.
Need to clean this thing.
So again, unlike the engine, this is more of a basic rebuild replacing mostly factory or factory-style parts. Plus, I already have everything on hand so not much to buy going forward. Only thing I am unsure of right now is whether to use the giant, heavy, cast aluminum deep pan I have. There's a lot of fluid in the trans with the extra capacity in the pan and the large cooler so I may take hard look at it and see if it's worth using again. It looks cool though!
The other thing I am contemplating is whether to replace the front pump bushing since I have a new converter. I may call Dynamic and see what they say about it. I know that some companies used to send a new bushing with their converter depending on what material the snout is made from. They did not send one or mention it on the phone so I imagine it's OK but it's probably worth a call. I got the thing apart so now would be the time to do it. I guess that's where all the leaky front pump stories may originate from, the bushing chews up the new converter snout and causes the leak. I don't really have the right tools for the job but there are several trans. shops within a few minutes of my house so I could take the pump to one of those places to have it done.
So things are looking OK for the trans at the moment. I don't foresee too many issues that could arise but being this is my car, I'm sure I will run into a snag.
Carlisle is this week so I'll be on the lookout for some things while I'm there - possibly an 850 carb and maybe a fiberglass hood but I don't really have a way to get one back easily so that might not be in the cards. Unless I have updates during the week, stay right here for a full, detailed report when I get back next Sunday.
More to come.