T56 Transmission Rebuild - Transmission: Not Impossible

Here is a comparison of shifter fork pads and keys. The larger pads on the left are 1-2 fork pads. The shiny bronze pads are an upgrade from the black plastic ones shown below them. The middle set is the 3-4 fork pad, and the small items at the right are the keys. The black key at the far right is a machined billet item, which replaces the factory stamped steel one below it. The keys are what fell to pieces in our disassembled tranny above.

Oh, no! Our Second gear needs dentures since it no longer has teeth. Compare the thrashed gear on the right with the brand-new one on the left. Missing Second gear, who does that?

After all the parts are cleaned and inspected, they are laid out on the workbench so that Joe can begin his sequence of reassembly.

This shows the sequence of First through Third gear assemblies to be installed on the mainshaft. First gear is the set closest to the camera, Third is at the rear.

Joe carefully installs each of the three gear sets in sequence, using his hydraulic press.

Here is how they look when installed properly. From the top, this is First gear, Second gear, then Third gear. It is important to note the two small grooves around the outer diameter of the two silver sliders should always be on the side that faces the front of the transmission.

Fourth gear was in good condition, so it was not replaced. It rides on the input shaft of the transmission, which plugs into the rear of your engine.

The input shaft is placed into the adapter plate base of the tranny, and this is set into the hole on the workbench for easy reassembly.

This is the foundation on which we plan to build. Fourth gear is shown in place.

The third shaft is the cluster shaft. Here, Joe is pressing on a new set of end bearings.

The cluster shaft with fresh bearings in place.

Here we have the adapter plate shown with the cluster shaft and the main shaft with First through Third installed. A threaded rod is tightened into the cluster shaft so that it can be measured for tolerance on the next step.

Joe bolts a steel plate to the top of the tranny, so that he can use a magnetic gauge to check the endplay on the cluster shaft. This is done using the threaded rod that was installed on the last step. He prefers to build them at 0.003 inches of preload.

Here is how the endplay is checked on the main shaft. Once again, Joe shoots for 0.003 inches of preload.

In order to achieve the proper preload, the shafts are lifted out and bearing shims are used. Then the preload is rechecked for accuracy.