Toploader Rebuild

tiger260

Gold forum user
Messages
425
Somewhere over the Atlantic is a David Kee Master Rebuild Kit winging it's way to me so I can rebuild my gearbox.

The bearings have become noisy and the chippy is picking up steel 'dust' so I decided to give it a rebuild.

Hopefully in the next few days, and after Customs and Excise have taken a bite out of me, I should be ready to go.

Does anyone have any pearls of wisdom or cautionary tales they would like to share to make my mission as painless as is possible.

I've already ordered a telescopic magnet and a tub of green Assemblee Goo to help things along.

I don't have access to a press but I believe there are ways around that. I believe the Toploader Heaven Video covered them.

How many on the bleeding knuckles scale does a rebuild register?

Thanks.
 

Rootestang

Moderator
CAT Member
Messages
19
Top Loader Rebuild

The book "How to Rebuild and Mofify High -Performance Transmissions" by Paul Canglialosi has a detailed chapter on Toploaders with step by step instructions and lots of photos showing how to do the rebuild. www.cartechbooks.com or Amazon will have it.
Confession: I chickened out and had a shop rebuild mine.

Good luck,
Bill
 

tiger260

Gold forum user
Messages
425
Thanks for the reply.

I believe instructions come with the kit so I'll wait and see what they are like before I invest in more literature, but thanks for the link.

Hopefully, my 'bravery' in tackling the task myself won't me a mistake.
 

Warren

Gold forum user
Messages
3,872
Shop teacher

Gary C. and I and another member rebuilt 3 and I can't imagine doing it with out a hydraulic press. I have a factory manual I scanned. Been meaning to put it here somewhere.
 

steven

Gold forum user
Messages
875
Make sure you have the correct tube for the lay shaft so all those needles stay in place while you gently push the real shaft in to replace the dummy one.
 

spmdr

Gold forum user
CAT Member
Messages
359
Different ways to skin the CAT....

There are ways of doing the deed that are not obvious.

A press is handy but not mandatory.

The process I have been using for decades came from Dan Dyksra.

Instead of using a puller to remove the rear main shaft bearing, you just remove the clips on the main shaft until you can pull the shaft out the back.

My personal best time from start (complete trans, without shifter) to having the main shaft out, is 11 minutes.

And this is with JUST hand tools, no power tools!

And, as they say, "reassembly is the reverse..."

Study the order of the parts until you have it down cold.

Some notes:

-- I found it handy to use an engine stand as a holding fixture to mount the main housing, using some stout angle steel.

It makes it easy to slide the counter shaft in when the trans is rotated on end.

There is less chance of the cluster gear thrust washers to find their way out of position.

--And you don't have to chase the thing around the top of a bench.

--Also, I use a tube as a dummy shaft to hold the cluster rollers, and then loop a wire through the tube and main case to keep the thrust washers from going too far afield.

--Also, for YEARS there were NOT good syncores available.

Even the OEM Ford parts (when you could get them) were iffy.

The problem was the dimensions of the 3 slots in the syncros.

The slots were marginally wide and sometimes poorly clocked.

As I recall, the nominal slot was about .670 wide.

The better syncros are less than .650 wide.

--Check the syncros on the hubs to make sure the movement on the 3 dogs has the small teeth offset the same both ways of the free play (clocked correctly).

--And also, make sure the new bearing outer snap rings are at least as wide as the old ones on the bearings.

--And finally, I have had good luck NOT using the front and rear gaskets, instead, sealing the trans with RTV.

The gaskets just add clearance that must be moved through during a shift.

Note, the top gasket is still used (unless the vent hole is moved to the tail housing, really the only mod needed for high RPM use)....:------
 

tiger260

Gold forum user
Messages
425
Thanks for posting that.

Very handy reading.

The kit arrived yesterday and I've managed to strip it down, clean it and get the reverse idler and counter shaft back in with new roller bearings.

Was interesting to see that in the kit, the thrust washer are made of plastic.

Anyway. Input shaft next. Wish me luck.
 

Warren

Gold forum user
Messages
3,872
Harbor Freight

We had purchased a 125.00 dollar press and it was still a chore to heft the cases to and fro. I have to admit that when faced with round two of a wide ratio swap and rebuild I horse traded. A Cobra shop owner and a recent Tiger purchaser called me and asked if I still had a spare trans, and I did. I bartered as he polished shift rails bead blasted case made rear vent mod and generally fine tooth combed the box. It's a really fiddly job and with the added hassle of if it's not right R and R both engine and trans I wussed out. I wish Gary would chime in as with Dan's .02 this has become a great thread.
 

tiger260

Gold forum user
Messages
425
An update.

Apart from the rear casing, the gearbox is finished.

The snap ring that retains the rear bearing is being a particular kind of pig so I have ordered a better pair of pliers to finish the job off.

I used a David Kee rebuild kit and if you follow the instructions and pay attention to what goes where (taking a few pics as you go), I see no reason why anyone couldn't rebuild their own toploader.
It isn't at all difficult, just time consuming.

A small telescopic magnet is required to get the detents and springs out and back in.
Without one you would go slightly mad.

Assemblee Goo is brilliant for fitting the roller bearings. You stick them in and the just stay put.

I didn't use a press to remove and fit the front bearing.
To remove it, I gripped the old bearing in a vice and gently tapped the input shaft out of it.

The fit of the bearing onto the shaft is somewhere between transition and a couple of thousandths of an inch interference so I removed the inner race from the old bearing (ground through the outer one and removed the balls and cage), placed it on top of the jaws of the vice, sat the new bearing on top and gently tapped the shaft into it.

No great effort was needed to get it on.

I decided to strip my gearbox as it was noisy and I suspected that the front bearing was on it's way out so was relieved when I found this.

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Tiger tamer

Gold forum user
Messages
318
Well done

Never tackled a gear box before. Just had to look at an exploded view in a workshop manual to frighten me off, so well done Martin.
Cheers Mal
 

tiger260

Gold forum user
Messages
425
Good news.

All gears in correct position and a nice quiet gearbox.

Thanks all for your help and assistance.
 

steven

Gold forum user
Messages
875
When my son did mine he was happy we made a dummy shaft for the lay gear shaft. fitting all those needle rollers with the dummy shaft in made fitting the lay shaft easy.
 
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