Fabrice's 429CJ 71 project

[Fabrice]

@tony-muscle
Thx Tony, but you know, I can't save these parts half! Once you actually do all this routinely, the shine comes almost for free. And that it's underneath or in plain sight doesn't really matters. Plus, once they are under a nice coat, they are so smooth to the touch, it's much more easy to clean than that raw rough steel.

@timachone
Nothing goes above a Mustang read for breakfast! 

I was planning to focus only on my new patient, the saginaw steering gear, but as this weekend was looking like the last dry not too cold weekend of the year, I went plan b and use that weather to spray a few things, so I could be able to finish a few things I've started before the misery comes back..

Here's my last weekend, as usual, not perse in chronological order.



After some taping and good degreasing, primed, painted and coated my booster. It popped in my mind that a a booster needs a master cylinder to actually do something and as it was in a box for a long time, I totally forgot it (almost). So sprayed it in its own grey and as the clear coat I'm using gave me pretty results on other zinc protected parts, I also took the chinese chrome cover with it.



While the booster was drying, made some rubber gasket to fit in between firewall and the unit as I did on my 73. There was nothing left of the original plastic thingy and as its sole purpose is to isolate air to enter the cabine, this should be even better as it eventually takes out vibs too. 



All hard on Sunday, I've installed the one way valve grommet/valve and I was pretty pleased to see the combo now in a pretty descent state!
I'm sure purists will file a complain about the finish... but in my jurisdiction, I'm dang happy about the way they look considering how all this was just a week ago and they match my greys theme ! 



In between spray & heat gun sessions for my parts. I went back to the gear dismantelling, and on one side, you need a special tool to unlock it.
A visit to my local shop revealed that the right tool, was just $110... yeah right. Soooo as I have a couple of similar tools that came with past axe tools to change/secure disks, I've cut one, and welded in the missing space.
Few minutes later, after first marking the position of the assembly to ease reassembly later on, I used my frankenstein tool and it did great. Tho, after the locking ring is loose, it's not really necessary. I think having it will be handy later on. Oh well, I have it now and saved some money



The unit had no play, no leaks and I could have just cleaned it up and mount it back, but I'm glad I did not cut corners, as while bushings and pretty much everything is looking good, after 50 years, it was really in need of a good clean up! New o-rings, gaskets etc..  should give it a few decades more! Btw, If you ever service one of these. Keep in mind there is a hole on the side of the casing to get that snap ring out. Don't loose precious time as I did to try get it out the way snap rings are supposed to be taken out, this is GM, they make holes in casings vs use good snap rings!



The weather still perfect, I also changed my plan that was to first put the gear back together and then paint, because 2 weeks of misery are coming this way and would end up with casing that only wants to rust on me. So after some love, got that casing grease, rust free and after some tedious masking, I've sprayed that baby. Because I know I will have the challenge to not damage the finish on the way back, I sprayed 6 thin layers of coat with 5 minutes in between with heat gun, and ended up with a real thick long lasting surface that should be solid rock next weekend.

Installing back faded alumnium parts on a bling bling unit being kinda silly when you own a polishing machine, I gave the top and end cap some love, corrected the many casting flaws with files and sanding paper and got them whoooo sssssssshhhiny!  



My pitman arm and its hardware already done, I realised the sector shaft would be out of tone, but this thingy being really heavy, I would need build some complex thingy to hold it while it took a bath... nah, plan B too there! Went freehand plating and before I got some cramp, I ended up with the exposed part looking as my pitman arm.
Ater a good rinse, cleaning it went in a freezing bag under a good layer of assembly goo so it doesn't rust on me or collects any debris. Btw, this stuff, is fantastic. made for transmission repair, where it really made a big difference for the 2 trans I did in past 2 years acting often as a third hand. Most of all, it  ensures all stays lube, no matter how long it will take before you actually use the parts. Once it warms up a bit it desolves.



My forgotten tie rod end also plated and painted, I could also place back the other side. Which gave me a weird alignment where both wheels were going opposite directions. Turning the sleeves on both side corrected that, tho I will only be able to make a "not too shabby" adjustment only after the pitman/gears are back in. Install and adjustments where done with great ease now that all is restored/new. Big contrast with removing them! Turning the wheels is now smooth as butter.



With one or 2 hours of sun left, I decided I did enough for the weekend and that it was time to take the lady 73 for a spin... awesome!

To be continued....

 

[Fabrice]

Weekend! Because weather was on the cold and wet side (again), no cruising
Instead, i've returned to the Saginaw gear thingy...



Unbeleivable how many parts are pushed into that thing!!! No matter what, everything needs to go out and be cleaned before even think about how you're gonna put all these back together!



At some point, totally high of the cleaning thinner. All the parts inspected, sorted, cleaned and some even plated. You end up with a nice puzzle and it's time to scratch you head about where to start to put it all back together! 


Thx to 2 manuals, the sheet that came with the rebuild kit and some videos of more recent but similar units on youtube, I've spend the afternoon putting it back together.
I won't cover in details, but know that there are 24 bearing balls for the endless worm and these turned out to be different. Each having a different colour and they need come back in an alternated pattern. On the videos that I saw it was obvious, on this unit, much less, so make sure to clean them and their yellowish patina before reinstall and keep them in different containers.
Also on none of the doc I had or saw there was anything about how to put them back except it was told it was a "biatchy" experience. Most doc was saying, use tool #whatever without showing it or use a fuel rubber line, plenty jelly etc...
So what I did is install the worm with plenty goo and piston without them, rotate the piston to have access to the holes, and with the worm on the farthest position, pushed them in, not forgetting the pattern while slowly turn the shaft. "Was it a dark or shiny ball I just pushed back in??" was a question returning every 2 or 3 balls! Dang it I get older!

Eventually got them all back in, and the last remaining 8 need to be placed into the bridge (still in the alternated fashion), the bracket and screw secured and the piston can be turned back to the point where the teeth for the section shaft are visible and center. I told that before: using assembly goo made for transmission made a massive difference and became a third hand at times. I've used of course plenty ATF oil as well to make sure all was nicely lubricated.
One trick I've learned from my AOD rebuild experience during the servicing of the governor nylon rings is to use a sewing needle to insert them which acting as a guide makes easy to go over the grooves you do not want to populate, because of course, as learned on the trans, they go into these and they do not want to get out easy...
This unit has 4 and they come on top of o-rings. For the rear piston, inserting the big nylon ring is easy and can be done by hand, but for worm side, you have 3 grooves with each an o-ring and 3 nylons, lots of fun! The less you distord them the better and that's when it's time to push all these into the bore that you really appreciate the savings on the distortions using this little trick...

The kit I've used came with all the necessary o-ring, snap rings, seals and on the exception of the cover o-ring one that comes as a nice metal plate that once folded will allow you to install the cover and remove it with ease (because during fine tuning you need remove the cover a couple of times (because you're getting old and you forgot to check the alignment of the teeth or forgot to add more oil before close). All were, at least using this kit, spot on regarding sizes and near perfect replicas of the originals.
May the bushings show play/wear, you can order these separated or buy a more extended kit. Mine being in excellent condition, shaft with zero play and no visible damage, I saw no reason to go through their replacement.



Once you have said a few bad words every now and then, cut your finger tip on the sharp bore inside and swore again because you used that bloody tip again while using thinner, let a ball fall on the ground because you can't hold it good using the wrong finger and spend 15 minutes locating it much further away than you'd thought possible. You end up with a not looking too bad Saginaw gear!



Reinstalling it in the car with the restored hardware with the previously prepped pitman arm was a breeze and all connected nicely with the rest of the steering parts without a single bad word being said!!

Tho that was for just a short moment as I found out that the coupler ordered by Rockauto wasn't the right one... So now need to contact them and see if they have the right one.
And also noticed that the column is not only having a massive play, the coupler plate it's not moving up or down making the install of any coupler possible... something I did not remark a few months back as I took both coupler and gear out together.

Soooo, without the right coupler and that stubborn column that will need inspection, my plan to roll the car to the street, turn it and start work on interior/floor rear is delayed... grumblegrrrr

Oh well, that's part of the game!


Oh and asked that already in a separated thread a while back but go no answer, so asking here again... I have bought classic tube stainless brake lines as they are so affordable it makes no sense to even think about making custom ones...
But for some reasons, they do not come with holders. So restored for now the original ones that were really rusty so i can install. I would love to know where I could buy some new ones ( or at least the right name so I could et results of my searches).

And also where to find the square nylon nuts that are pressed into the radiator support that holds the front healights brackets.

Anyway, that's it for this update. Glad that the steering gear is done. It was more work than anticipated!

To be continued...

 

[bishoppeak]

You are the man!  Could your o ring install be easier if you put them on in the outside in order so the grooves would be full as you passed over them?

 

[Fabrice]

Could your o ring install be easier if you put them on in the outside in order

The less you extend them, the better and in fact using the needle trick, only the thickness of the needle is added and its less distorting the material if you bridge, as once in lower region, its diameter is smaller than for instance if I'd come over the piston diameter as the pict may suggest where it will then become the diameter of the part plus its own thickness and that for a relatively long time. The most important thing to remember is that they expend a bit but unlike o-rings they do not return to their original volume as fast if at all. Making it a true pain to insert them into the bore with no to very little chamfer to guide them in IF you even manage to insert them without damaging them (watch a few vids on utube and look at how damaged some went back in). The big one behind the big cap passed in really on last minute before go plan B! 
Plan B is also something I've learned and did on the AOD, which is to give the ring the expected size, then freeze it for 3 to 4 hours  and then install. On AOD's and newer its almost mandatory as there is not even enough tolerance for a ring compressor.
So if I did not have succeeded fast, I would have compressed the circumference of the ring. I think plastic tape 2 or 3 times around with bits of tension would do the trick. Then when you install, the ring has less than the inside bore size and all goes in like a letter by the post. I know my AOD pistons went in that way and it was really a piece of cake to install. Once returning to ambient temperature, they expend back again to their destination size slightly above the bore size.

 

[Lazarus]

Just FYI, getting the right rag joint (coupler) was kind of a hassle for me. If I remember correctly (it was a few years ago), my car ended up with a mixed unit made up of pieces from the dorman rebuild kit, a lares unit, and some of my original. None of the options I could find had everything correct. 
 

I remembered there was a great thread on it, so I did a search for you.   Apologies if you already know the thread (or may even be on it):

 

[Manu Mach1]

What gaskets did you use between the spindles and the dust shield ? Looks like they are in cork material but as they are distroyed and dirty...

 

[timachone]

Fabrice, brilliant documentation as always! 

For your parts search: the brake line or fuel line fasteners I bought from Don, the kit has them all, even the one with the special clip that will be put under the driver's feet 

https://www.ebay.de/itm/71-73-MUSTANG-BRAKE-AND-FUEL-LINE-FASTENER-KIT-V8-WITH-DISC-BRAKES/362183954266?pageci=35480bdc-0122-4b10-88bb-7c521ef0ba0f&redirect=mobile 

For the headlight parts search for 

'headlight adjustment kit 1971 Mustang' or 'headlight mounting kit 1971 Mustang' 

and have a look if you see what you need, then give a recall  :thumb:

 

[timachone]

What gaskets did you use between the spindles and the dust shield ? Looks like they are in cork material but as they are distroyed and dirty...

They are cork originally and can be ordered through West Coast Cougar Classics relatively cheap  :thumb:

 

[Manu Mach1]

Thanks Tim, I need a pair of them

 

[Fabrice]

Apologies if you already know the thread

Apologies for helping is not allowed in my book!  
After reading it, I recall now I thought back then I should take some notes knowing I'd need one. Guess I forgot like too many things these days! :O

Had a quick txt exchange with @Vinnie about this and was thinking about replacing the pins by custom ones. Baffles me that you start the production of parts like these in fairly big numbers without even checking on the cars you make them for!

I like the sleeve solution used in that thread. Less work and should be alright if pressed tight. Also thought about another option to somehow keep the old coupler metal and replace just the rubber, but that would work only if the pins are threaded at least on the old one, which is a big question mark. If heat was not a problem, welding would be easy.. 

Meanwhile, I'll contact Rockauto about this, because it's really not a good practice or even safe to sell important parts like this that you can't install without modification. Even if the design is a fail safe and the pins not that important while the rubber is fine, the smaller hole in flange will not accept the radius of the smaller one anyway. So this part should not be sold for our cars.

For your parts search: the brake line or fuel line fastener

I have found and ordered a similar kit this morning and even another set with stainless clips that will prolly be nicer with my SS lines. 
Thanks for the link Tim

@Manu Mach1
You can also buy a gasket sheet and make a template. The external shape is the spindle flat surface. The center circle is easy to be cut with a sharp cutter blade and bits of focus. No need for high precision as they are mainly necessary for vibrations and damp the sound the dust shield would otherwise make. For the bolts holes, I use a small tube that I've sharpened on a drill, and I simply slam cut them. Works perfectly and that way you have confettis ready for the next party! 

 

[Bentworker]

FWIW - The general consensus is that the 5/16" / 7/16" diameter pins on the factory steering coupler were chosen to make the column to steering box connection foolproof.  It rejects installation 180 degrees out.  If the choice is between a Scott Drake coupler with the correct diameter  but too short pins, or a Lares with the incorrect diameter but correct length pins I'd choose the Lares every time.  The Lares coupler still offers a connection between the driver and the road if the coupler rubber disk fails.  Only catch with it is that you have to me mindful not to assemble 180 degrees out.  

 

[Fabrice]

Only catch with it is that you have to me mindful not to assemble 180 degrees out.  

The one above is a LARES 201 {#31015, 7828871}
The pins indeed have the same length as the original.
To illustrate your 180 degree comment, here a pict with the two next to each other with that rotation wrong while the other side (see above) looks the same.

 

[Lazarus]

Here is my frankencoupler when it was getting installed. 
 

 It was a mix of all three I believe (original, Lares, Dorman rebuild kit?), but I don’t remember which piece was from which.  Hopefully the front and back image gives you an idea. 

 

[Fabrice]

Here is my frankencoupler

Looking safe to me!

Meanwhile mailed Rockauto as I bought it there and Lares. Rockauto, has some kind of retard in charge of replying to the mails, all he does is checking if order number fits the return policy. What you type has no influence on his brain and he simply copy paste the same "sorry too late" message he pastes whole day long.
No reply from Lares.

 

[Manu Mach1]

I remember I had the same issue on my first Mustang, ordered the wrong coupler.

Today, on the Mach1, I removed the Lares 202, and was able to connect the 201 I had since years, I don't really understand as it sould be or 36 or 31 splines...

And just realize I need to turn it half round

 

[Fabrice]

@Manu Mach1 The 201 is the one we need with power steering/Saginaw. I think the 202 is for tilt column, not sure tho, may be different gear box.

Btw Lares replied to me, they insisted the PINs diameter is not a safety issue and they said they have copied 1-1 OEM parts and have the right diameter. Not sure I agree with them as I have 2 used couplers from my cars and both are having a bigger and thinner pin, the flange also with not equal holes... Oh well, I'll test all this once i have that column out and restored and see if I need sleeve one pin.

----

Small boring update...
Been busy, but not with the usual rusty to bling bling things...

My garage is actually too small for what I'm doing in it and because I'm out of rusty or broken things from the windshield to the nose, I needed badly to create some space to move to another area of the car... 



There were tons of stuffs stored in and on the car, among 3 years of dust. It was nice to see the car for a few again! Spent most my time emptying boxes, step on a ladder get another from the attic, put parts in others that will be installed later on, and ended up clearing some space to soon allow me to store a good part of the interior that needs to come out...
 



On sunday managed to install back parts done years ago back on the car and it was nice to see all of them meeting up on the car, creating a nice whole that my eyes liked a lot!
Of course once i'll have all these back on, I'll be then forced to pack/protect the entire front in plastics so all stays clean while I return to dust making things in the near future. Totally not by the book, and would love to work on an empty shell, but what do you do?



Before the weekend was officially over, as it was dry, even if it was dark already, a guy needed to make sure his leds headlights were still working on his 73! So he went put a few extra CO2 grams into the atmosphere and loved it! :O

All with all, glad this boring necessary step is done as it should allow me to move on to the next part of the car. Not sure which one yet, but I'm sure I'll see plenty ugly rusty broken parts again soon and enjoy revive them!

To be continued...

 

[Hemikiller]

@Manu Mach1 The 201 is the one we need with power steering/Saginaw. I think the 202 is for tilt column, not sure tho, may be different gear box.

Btw Lares replied to me, they insisted the PINs diameter is not a safety issue and they said they have copied 1-1 OEM parts and have the right diameter. Not sure I agree with them as I have 2 used couplers from my cars and both are having a bigger and thinner pin, the flange also with not equal holes... Oh well, I'll test all this once i have that column out and restored and see if I need sleeve one pin.

----

The pin diameter difference is for the assembly line, so the steering wheel will be indexed correctly to the box. 

 

[Fabrice]

@Hemikiller Yes, once I'll try and i'm convinced the 201 Lare will do fine without extra work/mod, I'll keep in mind index the coupler with the intended rotation.

Almost weekend again and realise I did not update last weekend!! 

Nothing much to say or show tho as I've been busy on my 73 for details mainly, small leak at water neck to fix, some bolts to plate or replace.
On the 71 front: I have been able to continue throw away boxes with parts waiting after being restored and make room for the next big step.



Placed the wipers arms back. To ensure they are waterproof, instead of injecting some sealant during and afterwards, I decided to try to make gaskets out of a rubber sheet. Making the templates took a bit of time, as you can't really take a print easy and there are angles that force you to have oval holes rather than round.
The little extra work payed off, all seals well, and it's looking pretty ok. It actually looks better than on my 73 with the original sticky seal.



The motor is back, tho, one of the holes that had been butchered, where a bigger metric sized bolt had been used. I will need to find a longer bolt to secure it from behind. Prefering adding an extra nut rather than change all 3 by bigger. Ofc, a longer one isn't to be found easy over here, so will look at ARP or similar place to find something to match the 3. Hood hinges and other details back on too.
 



All takes much more time that one may think!  Because of course years have passed since I've removed them and my old brain had to figure out where the hell were the hardware stored for that thing and that one and this one: what is this thing? Do I need it?
Loads on the front are not tightened yet, as I will need to play with them once I wil test fit them with the hood, grille, fenders etc..
And chances are also high I might even need to remove some when ill put back the 429, as I will prolly want to  keep the engine/trans weight near the hoist..

Even if it takes ages, it's still very plaisant to see all coming back! Soon I'll pack all this under protection and will move on to the middle of the car. interior floors, dashboard... back to misery soon !

Oh and can someone tell me what is supposed to go into these square holes where the bumper brackets and reinforcement plate meet?
The ones that were on were non original rusty metrics bolts/nuts, and as my 73 was modified to replace the big bumper, I have no clue about what should go into these.
Bolts/nuts probably, but may be it is as on the rear bumper where some special j-bolts are required???

to be continued...

 

[rio1856]

Oh and can someone tell me what is supposed to go into these square holes where the bumper brackets and reinforcement plate meet?
The ones that were on were non original rusty metrics bolts/nuts, and as my 73 was modified to replace the big bumper, I have no clue about what should go into these.
Bolts/nuts probably, but may be it is as on the rear bumper where some special j-bolts are required???

Fabrice these are the bolts you need to put in the square holes.

 

[Fabrice]

thanks Rio! I saw them and hesitate order... will do next time.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Time for an update...

I've been silent lately, having quite a lot on my plate on the private and work side
and on the mustang side, well been busy too but simply did not find the time to update..

So first the 73..
This past spring, i've rebuild an AOD (detailed some pages back here) and because I didn't feel like crawling on my driveway to do this, I  was waiting for a friend to have time and his lift free to finally do my FMX/AOD swap at his place.

About 2 weeks ago the waiting was over and the old FMX brought me 30 miles away for its final drive.
After hours reading on fora about the swap, I was about to find out if all the posts about that swap were real.



All parts in house, me and my buddy started by removing one header. The passenger side one. Not only because there is more space but because I had a month before removed the other side to fix some sneaky leaks causing my EFI to go kookoo. Turns out to be a good idea for something else...

Once the starter, the shaft, the high pressure oil lines were removed, the shifter linkage disconnected, the FMX went out without a fight.
Because it has leaked since I drove the car again last december, the entire underside was covered in a protective thin oil film down to the rear tank!

So before install the bling bling AOD in, it's been about cleaning the underside and touch here and there some paint that I was not able to properly spray with the trans still mounted.

Then it was time to install the new baby in place. The new converter primed and tested that it was well indexed on the 3 axles of the trans, we were 3 inches from installing and found out the driver exhaust was preventing the trans to engage. Once the unnecessary bits of casing was cut (see bellow), the trans went in its place without hesitation. Glad I had removed the passenger header and not the driver one a it would have been harder to find out and fix.

Securing it to the engine with the new longer bolts (the AOD casing is twice as thick as the FMX at the bolts holes) was bits challenging to be done from bellow, but thanks to ultra long power tools and 4 hands, they eventually went all in.
The flexplate used for the FMX being of the same inbalance(28 oz) as the one necessary for the AOD, the converter bolts were spot on. Turning the engine to secure the new nuts demanded some serious muscular efforts as the 351c is really healthy, but that too, went without any problems aside muscle pain the next day
Starter engaged without a hitch.



For the yoke, I bought a Sonax 28 spline to replace the FMX 31 splines. I took this one also for the fact that it was having the same u-joint as the FMX on both shaft and trans side. Most coming with exotic sizes, I wanted one I could service in the future by just looking for my Mustang specs. because you know, you forget what was u-joint type after a few years. The yoke, of surprising great quality while being affordable, comes with really tight clearance.

At home, busy prepping the swap, I had tried to install the u-joint, but simply could not secure both side. Unlike the many u-joints I've changed over the years, this one demanded a press or stronger than mine vice to be installed. Turned out after many atempts to install it without the propper tools, that one of the pens was torned. My friend, a routined mechanic, told me I would not be the first one to do so. The size being same as what I had in place, there was no issue to use the one already on the shaft that was near new and after removing the old yoke without much force, my friend also experienced the tight tolerance. We ended up honning the bores of the yoke a tad to remove some anodisation material and with 4 hands and a big bad vice, the yoke was on the shaft again, moving freely without any chances of play. He also told he never seen such tight fit... The shaft on the trans I could secure on the rear side, and there was indeed no need to shorten the shaft. There is not much play tho, but because I don't do off road, I don't see for now any chance of issues on that side. Time will tell.



As expected the original trans mount can be reused but needed be cut to fit. Even the original rubber and its big bolts/nut could be installed.
There is plenty meat left on it for the job, but I will remove it again this summer to reinforce it a tad and restore it properly as there was not time to do that.
I will also need to make a custom inspection plate just like on my FMX. For now a plastic plate cut to fit will do fine to keep foreign stuff to enter the belhousing.

I had for the FMX high pressure lines in teflon that I wanted to reuse for my 429 C6, so had let made a new pair for the AOD, to find out that the fittings were not able to be secured/pushed to seal properly. So plan B for these, after some massage the FMX ones went back in service after looking for an inbetween fitting to match threads.



All secure and reconnected, header back in place, underneath all was done and next job was to adapt the shifter.
That's where you will read all kind of non sense online about the shifter that doesn't match the trans and that a custom one is necessary.
Its all about compairing the linkage travel distance with the trans lever on the FMX and the distance from P to 1 on the AOD.
Then with simple geometrical projection of a circle, I determined that the pivot point had to be closer to the shifter pivot point as the old lever was travelling more distance than the shorter AOD one. 



Before come to his place, I had prepped a template so we could simply place the metal on it and weld and it was a matter of cutting the rod and offset it. Because my friend has multiple welding machines and I couldn't use that 380 volts monster, he did the welding for me. put back the shifter together, reinstalled it in car, secured all wires underneath.
Oh yeah, something else. No need to use the AOD electrics for the rear light or safety switch. Once the shifter being perfectly sync, there is zero need for any changes in the electrics. The harness, even the speedo gear go back in with no problem as if the car was build with this trans offered in 73!!

Bad point here is that I forgot to take shifter bearings and with only one side in, I would have to put the shifter out again to change them.



Then it was finally time to test. The car started right away, starter having no issue regarding the 164 teeth as the flexplate was the same, prefilled with 8 quarts, it went in R, N and to OD position without a hitch. It was actually so smooth, I thought at first there wa a trans issue. But the EFI screen was clearly showing diff in rpm when it engaged gears and letting the brake go also confirmed all was fine... 
So we added more oil as 11 quarts was the expected amount.

till my friend asked me to shut down NOW!

A massive oil leak was at play. I was mad at me in an instant as I couldn't bear the idea that I had f..ed up the trans.
But close inspection showed the trans was fine, it was leaking from one pressure line, couple of inches away from the trans.
And then I understood that the FMX wasn't leaking at all, it was that line that was leaking all this time!! But because the pressure was much less on the fmx and the oil was going on the front, I took for granted without a lift that the old lady was leaking at the front pump! Wrong!

The weather was terrible. storm, super cold and outside it was raining like crazy, so as it was late, we postponned for the next weekend...

The week past and I came back to his place with my lines corrected for better fit, this time tested with 100Bars of air, the bushings for the shifter (so it went out again) and as the car was still up on a lift, also some SS hardware to replace some exhaust ones.

and it was time to test...

Car started fine, went from P to 1 without problems or leaks. but when I pushed back to P. I was still in D!!
Glad i had my foot on breaks...

My friend mad at me, for not having placed the shifter back in P before secure the linkage. car went up again, he adjusted it and down again, we tested and this time the shifter was not sync at all. To even do nothing anymore! 

car up again...  the weld of the shifter was broken!  The 380 volts machine, way too fast and strong for that gauge had failed.
So shifter out of console again, nicely arranged wires disconnected free again and while I took that out my friend was installing a more suitable welding machine for the job. This time we used big guns to test the bead and now that it could lift the eifel tower, all went back in. trippled checked, all wires tucked nicely again.

Car down, turn key, all fine, engaging P, R, N, Od, D 1 without problem.
Time for a test ride! woohoo!

Weather was terrible, rain and just 1 degree above freeze point... after a kilometer, no second. No matter the rpm, the trans didn't want to shift into second gear! What a...
So turned back and we checked oil level again. all fine as far as you can tell when cold, there was at least enough...
My friend and I decided to go together so he could experience... and suddenly the second passed, followed by the third and even overdrive, but very roughtly.

Because the lift and my friend agenda were not free for the next month, I decided drive home, and as the trans started to warm up in this wet cold weather, all started go much better. Arrived at my place aside the trans bits sticky when downshifting to 1 at a stoplight (that would have stalled the engine if the efi wasn't such a smart thing)
all was fine (if you ignore the showers of cold rain coming down on my new paint).

After giving it some thoughts, it's is likely that the gel/goo used for the rebuild had not reached the melting point causing the governor weight to stick and probably bloat some passages else where. Once it had meted and mixed with the oil, all was fine. Ken from badshoe also concluded it was a sticky weight.

Since then, I have driven it for 100 miles or something and aside some TV cable issue (because Lokar spring isn't pushing the TV lever back to rest position fully) that I will address soon. It all runs and function well.
The overdrive is absolutly crazy. driving on roads here at iddling rpms. On highway around 2000 rpm, I'm already above speed limits. For now, sticking to D and with that 2500 stall converter, it's near the experience of the fmx.

All with all, the swap on itself went pretty well and shows 1/2 the info you find is wrong. Make sure unlike me, to really check/test roughly the welds you do on the shifter, because with this weather, I was really happy it happened at his place and not on the road! The AOD swap turned into a real adventure

I have done way more, and this post becomes a roman... so for now, need get back to work  
I'll post more may be tonite.

To be continued...