Editing Rebuild of Ford manual transmissions

This is a very simple tip for getting the cluster gear in the bottom of the box and not loosing a couple of needle bearings as you push the cluster gear shaft through the outside of the case, through the gear and back flush with the other side of the case. As a young guy I had Ford Falcons ('63 and then a '67) both with 6 cylinder engines and 3 speed non-syncro 1st gear transmissions. Trying too hard to keep pace with my friends and their stronger cars, I was rebuilding my week-knee boxes on a regular basis. The 1st rebuild I was getting a bit flustered, after greasing the needle bearings in place, removing the shaft, placing the cluster gear into the bottom of the case, then carefully sliding the shaft back through the cluster gear just to see one or two needle bearings fall out on the other side. I'll bet most of you already know this trick, but for the one guy that doesn't, here goes....

After packing the ends of the cluster gear with grease (with the shaft in place) load up the needle bearings and put the assembly into the freezer for about 15 minutes. Shaft still comes back out nicely, and when you have it in the case and slide that shaft back through, you won't see any needle bearings getting pushed out.

The above article was written by me, Bob Lemke aka deckofficer, and was written for Crankshaft Coalition, so no need to credit back to my forum, as most all of my members drive automatics.