TR4/4A About to put in an OD Transmission. What else should I do while in the air

[rnpennington]

In about a month, I'm going to swap my 4 Speed for an Overdrive transmission. While I'm in the neighborhood, some other jobs are obvious to me to do at the same time - replace clutch components, replace U Joints on drive shaft, seal on diff where drive shaft comes in (it leaks now anyway).

While wanting to avoid shipwrights disease, since I will have the car on a lift - Can ya'll come up with some other suggestions? The whole point of all this is to prepare the car for some cross country trips this summer.

I've already rebuilt the front suspension and checked the lever shocks (they are good), but I want to make the most of this opportunity.

 

[sail]

You may want to reinforce the clutch fork pin with a bolt. New rear transmission mount.

 

[tdskip]

Hi Bob - you'll love having the OD in the car as it transforms touring use etc.

Assuming you have a solid axle car, so no worries about differential mounts and trailing arms. Maybe make sure your engine is mounted back enough so you can readily change a fan belt on the side of the road?

 

[Geo Hahn]

X2 on reinforcing the clutch fork pin - a weak point you don't want to have to re-visit. I used a grade 8 bolt...

I also took the suggestion to add both a slow-blow fuse to the power feed to the solenoid (in case it gets stuck) and a diode to the relay (to snub something - I'll confess I took this one on faith).

A magnetic drain plug is, IMO, even more important on a gearbox than an engine as the potential is there of a significant hunk of metal to be broken off and swept up to where it can do real mischief.

You also get to ponder what lube to use. Initially I used 30W non-detergent based on the rebuilder recommendation but now have Redline MT90 in there. No one right answer so you will need to weigh your options and look at the opinions.

Enjoy your 7-speed.

 

[glemon]

RE: Replacing the pinion seal on the diff. I think the procedure is a little different on the earlier cars, but you want to make sure follow the procedure for putting the flange bolt back correctly or you can mess up the differential. I think the later cars you want to mark where the nut goes to set pre-load, and on the early cars it may be a torque setting but it is a look at the manual operation if you don't want to blow up your differential (worst case) or make it noise (less worse case) in the future (don't ask me how I know this).

If you want to insulate the cockpit for sound/heat with some of the foil backed home stuff, or the more expensive products like dynamat it is a good time to do that too.

 

[JerryVV]

I trust that you know that the transmission comes out and goes back into the car thru the passenger compartment and not from underneath. While a lift is nice it's not necessary.

 

[rnpennington]

True, but reconnecting all the clutch stuff and the drive shaft will be easier on the lift rather than crawling under the car.

 

[vivdownunder]

While the car is up, it's good to lube the handbrake cable and make any adjustments to the lengths. The handbrake is the emergency brake if the non-split main system fails.

Grease the drive shaft uni joints if not being replaced.

Check the fuel and brake lines.

Spray lube between the leaves of the rear springs to help suspension movement.

Check the rear spring hangar rubber bushes.

Check the diff breather.

Check at the bottom of the rear backing plates for any sign of oil or brake fluid leaks.

Check along the inside of the frame rails for any sign of rust pinholes.

Check along the bottom of the inner rockers for any sign of rust eating through.

Viv