Bummer - broken Chicago Transmission

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2012: Bummer - broken Chicago Transmission
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Walt Berdan, Bellevue, WA on Saturday, September 15, 2012 - 09:51 pm:

Drove my speedster from Bellevue to Vantage and back today (about 300 miles the way I went) and went. About 40 miles from home, while cruising in Chicago overdrive, ugly noises and the drive train seemed to be seizing up. Kicked the Chicago into neutral and coasted to a stop. Underdrive and direct still seem fine but overdrive is a definite no-go. I got home in direct drive but I've got a new project ahead of me. I hope the trans isn't completely toast. Guess I'll soon be searching for parts (at best) or a complete Chicago trans at worst. I really like the transmission and really don't want to shorten the driveline again for a different brand of aux trans.

Anybody got any spare Chicago parts or a complete trans they are willing to sell?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By David Stroud on Sunday, September 16, 2012 - 03:33 am:

Walt, keep an eye on ebay, they come up on there from time to time. Dave


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Wayne Sheldon, Grass Valley, CA on Tuesday, September 18, 2012 - 12:01 am:

Vic Sala, of Speedster/Racer Hall of Fame, liked the Chicago transmission better than any other auxiliary transmission for the model T. He said they shifted better than any other. In the earlier years of restoring model Ts and speedsters, good original equipment was pretty easy to come by. Vic had enough good originals to enjoy in his various Ts. In the later years, he bought several more Chicago transmissions, often on the word of the seller that they were in great condition. Vic complained, however, that most of them were junk.
I have one Chicago transmission. It is beyond being a piece of junk. But I have looked it over. there is a serious flaw in the design of the upper shaft. IF all the bearings are properly adjusted, everything lines up and it runs great. But the only support for the upper shaft is three tapered roller bearings pressing the front and rear portions of the shaft into each other. If they are too tight, they will bind, and wear badly. This would eventually result in being loose. If they are at all too loose (whether by wear or poor adjustment), the gears, under load, will push themselves to one side and cause the gears to wear badly. If the adjustment is too far forward or back, the gears will not line up properly. This can result in all kinds of problems.
It is possible that a proper adjustment of the bearings may fix your transmission. It is also possible that improperly adjusted bearings has already done irreparable damage to the gears. Only looking inside will tell.
Good luck!
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Walt Berdan, Bellevue, WA on Tuesday, September 18, 2012 - 12:40 pm:

The gears look OK, at least no worse than before. The underdrive gear on the countershaft has been somewhat abused but that isn't a new thing. The trans was low on grease (my bad, I'd filled it not that long ago but it does leak some, don't they all?). In any case the major difficulty seems to be with the bearings that I hope to replace. Now if it were more obvious how to remove the bearings from the countershaft and remove that shaft, life would be better.

Walt


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Richard Wolf on Tuesday, September 18, 2012 - 01:30 pm:

I sold a guy in Indiana 2 Chicago transmissions to make one. He might have them or some parts. Let me know if you still need some parts and I can get with him.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Walt Berdan, Bellevue, WA on Tuesday, September 18, 2012 - 01:48 pm:

Richard,

Thanks for the offer. I think I will be OK with new bearings and they may be available. At least Clayton was able to find one of them at a bearing shop. I'm hopeful I will be able to do the same.

Walt


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By mike conrad on Tuesday, September 18, 2012 - 03:04 pm:

Walt don't feel bad I broke too. Just a head gasket and after hearing of your misfortune I scrambling to get my car back on the road. I may have slim chance of beating you now without your overdrive! It may be my only chance.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Walt Berdan, Bellevue, WA on Tuesday, September 18, 2012 - 04:52 pm:

Mike,

At the moment there is a serious gap between the drive shaft and the rear of the T trans so I suspect you could pull away from me in any gear. :-)

I hope you can find a good NOS head gasket. I think the only ones currently produced are cut out 8 valve gaskets or modern composite that don't have the fire ring. You might check with Olson Gaskets to see if they still have any NOS in house. I used the modern composite from them without problems but held my fingers crossed until I had a few miles on it.

Walt


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bob Gruber- Spanaway, Wash. on Tuesday, September 18, 2012 - 05:13 pm:

Hey Mike...
The only time your car sees 38 MPH is when you pass that speed on the way to 65 or pass it coming up to a stop sign!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Walt Berdan, Bellevue, WA on Tuesday, September 18, 2012 - 06:20 pm:

Bob - let's give Mike a break. He might slow down a bit in a school zone if the cops are watching.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By mike conrad on Tuesday, September 18, 2012 - 06:58 pm:

Bob you know me well. It's possible my dislexia got the best of me. (83)
Walt your not fooling anyone. I was most likely chasing you thru that school zone and that cop was looking the other way!


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