I need to instal a transmission driving plate shaft plug, that fits in the tail shaft of drive plate, part #3321 page 68 of langs catalog.
My question is can it be done with the transmission in the car? The green Ford book implies it can be done in the car but is not very clear. I am going to replace the forth main with a sealed ball bearing. I really need to slow the oil leaking from the rear of the transmission. I would welcome any advise as to how get this done. Thanks in advance Bob
A worn 4th bearing babbit around the drive plate shaft, is one of the worst sources of leaks in the entire engine. I stopped the oil from leaking past the 4th bearing in my engine by removing the 4th bearing ball cap and sending it, along with the drive plate shaft to George King III at www.enginerestoration.com, for rebabbiting. He needs the drive plate so he can pour the babbit and custom fit it to the shaft that will be running in it. He does a great job at a reasonable cost and it is well worth it. Jim Patrick
Here's the instructions Bob.
Garnet
Bob: To answer your question: No, the driven plate needs to be removed from the engine. To do that you need to remove the engine from the car.
You will more than likely find that the plate shaft will need to be machined to fit a ball bearing forth main.
If it goes in the it is shown in the picture, why cant you do it with the engine still in the car?
They are an expatiation plug and need the smack in the centre as shown in the last fig73 to seal.
Not a bad idea to use silicone sealant around the edges after the plug is in place.
I observed a transmission on a work bench (engine being refreshed) with a real wad of silicone sealant in the tailshaft. The owner claimed that in the past he had pushed the expansion plug in place with the engine in the car and put silicone in the tail shaft and packed it in with an old universal joint. I don't know if that is what he actually did, but that was his story.
One way to keep the oil leak down is to use wheel bearing grease in the universal joint. Pack it until it is completely full. The grease will work its way into the 4th main. This will at least slow the leak until you take the engine out and do a more complete job.
Fellows, a better plug is a 1 1/8" cup type freeze plug. It can be driven/pressed in prior to the bush being installed. The parallel sides give a positive location and a good seal without having to peen it.
Hope this helps.
Allan from down under
I would reconsider using the sealed ball bearing in the fourth main as opposed to going with the babbit. I was convinced against using the modern bearing back in 2010 by those here in the know, who learned the hard way that the modern bearings are not up to the task of replacing the original babbited bearing. Perhaps the bearings have improved since then but back then, it required some machining and for 3/8" to be cut from the ball housing.
Normally, a modern ball bearing fits tightly around a shaft and the bearing itself fits snugly into a cup and is secured tightly into place, but in the fourth main, imagine all of the forces that the bearing is subjected to at this point, It is supporting the downward weight of the heavy transmission which suddenly increases with each bump, while being subjected to the the revolving drive shaft and flexing drive shaft housing, not to mention the constant vibration and constant movement of the entire engine on the chassis. It is no wonder that it could be subjected sudden catastrophic failure. This argument was enough to convince me not to take a chance and to go with the old reliable babbit that has proven itself for over a century. Jim Patrick
Whatever you use for the bearing, you must allow for expansion and contraction. The shaft will actually move slightly inward when cold and outward when hot. This movement is in addition to the others mentioned above.
Norm