Bad day in the shop with '63 Coupe

[Norris W.]

My Saddle Tan '63 coupe has been back from the paint shop for over a year and I've been slowly getting it going in between other projects. I decided yesterday to crank it for the first time in over 30 years. I've owned this one for over 25 and bought it in boxes WITH the original drivetrain (340 horse) but have been slow getting it finished. So I bumped the starter over a number of times to get the valves set, and set the timing with the timing light but without fuel so it couldn't crank and then put fuel to it. Cranked it for a few seconds and it was running rough, so shut it back off. (clown at the bodyshop apparently thought crossing a few plug wires would be cute). Run back through firing order, which of course involved taking lower shielding off both sides. When I cranked it again after about 2 or 3 seconds in lunged forward punching one of my '67's which was parked directly in front. The car didn't even have a shifter installed yet, so I knew it didn't jump in gear. I pulled the transmission (early '63 car with T10) and 3rd gear is stuck tight on the main shaft. I haven't tried to press it apart yet to see how bad the transmission damage is, but in all these years of messin' with cars I have never heard of a manual transmission car galling a gear on the output shaft. Except for being manually pushed around my garage some and some at the bodyshop too, the transmission couldn't have over several hundred revolutions total in it. The 90 wt oil hasn't even had a chance to wash the grease out of the needles in the rear of the input shaft yet. Anybody else ever seen this happen?

The good news is it didn't hurt the '67 even though the rear bumpers are off of it, but the bad news is it cracked either the surround or has a nasty paint crack to the left of the right headlight. Paintwork again for sure, hopefully no glass work.

[Timothy B.]

Re: Bad day in the shop with '63 Coupe

Norris,

I have never heard of such a thing happening, the only thing I have witnessed is the clutch disc sticking to the flywheel. Are you saying the transmission has been overhauled, if so I'm stumped.

[Edward J.]

Re: Bad day in the shop with '63 Coupe

Norris since 3rd gear free wheels on the shaft about the only thing I can think of is that moisture in the gear box may have rusted the gear to the shaft from sitting so many years.???

[Domenic T.]

Re: Bad day in the shop with '63 Coupe

Norris,
If 3rd gear was stuck to the mainshaft the car should not be able to be pushed as all the gears rotate when in nuetral. Did they/you have to push the clutch in to push it around?
Tim, I has the same experiance with the clutch sticking to the flywheel after a loooong sit.

DOM

[Norris W.]

Re: Bad day in the shop with '63 Coupe

I'm stumped too Timothy. I put a small parts kit in it after I got it several years ago, but didn't disassemble the mainshaft because the gears and synchronizer rings all looked perfect. With the 3rd/4th gear synchronizer hub removed the 3rd gear is tight enough on the shaft that I can't bump it loose at all with a brass hammer and there are signs of galling on the surface between the third gear and it's mating surface with the synchronizer hub also. I don't have a compatible bearing fixture for my press, so I'm sending it out for removal. What is puzzling is that the car was run for 5 or 10 seconds 4 or 5 different times setting valves & ignition with no incidents and was actually running when it suddenly lunged. In other words, it didn't lunge from hitting the starter motor but rather was running at about 1000 RPM give or take. I am now wondering if I pushed a needle bearing out of the inside of the input shaft where the output shaft meets it on assembly and it caused the transmission to be tight with front to rear clearance. I also noticed that the yoke on the output shaft was very tight when I was removing the driveshaft and I had difficulty (read this as required help with a large ball peen) to get it forward enough to disengage the U joint caps from the yoke & rear end for removal.


As a side note, I routinely have clutch discs stick to the flywheel. I just warm the car up in neutral, put it in gear, crank it in gear, and ride down the road with the clutch pedal in blipping the throttle. As much as my junk sits around I have to do it with most all of 'em every once in a while. Off topic: my Ferrari buddy has an F40 and the clutch stuck in it. He called the dealer and they were sending a rollback (90 miles one way) to get it and told him they'd have to pull the engine. When I heard about it I'm like, oh crap, hand me the key. It unstuck before I ever got it out of the driveway, probably saving 10 or 12K. That's the easy stuff. Welded up 3rd gears and cracked surround panels have got me hard between the ears.

Dominic, car was running when it suddenly lunged.

[Domenic T.]

Re: Bad day in the shop with '63 Coupe

Norris,
Thanks, hope you get it fixed and to what caused the problem. That was a freak accident and I'm glad you or anyone else were not between the cars when it lunged.

DOM

[Timothy B.]

Re: Bad day in the shop with '63 Coupe

Norris, Take that transmission apart and inspect all those parts because it sounds like someone was there before you and the parts may not be correct.

Thankfully no one got hurt, the transmission is the easy fix, the surround panel is another thing, I hope the glass is not damaged.

[Peter M.]

Re: Bad day in the shop with '63 Coupe

Norris,The same thing happened to me 40 years ago. It was a 1960 FI with T10. The car had been apart for along time. The transmission had been gone through and was in perfect condition. It had also sat for along time after being torn down. We attributed it to lack of lubrication from the extended storage. The transmission repair was minor and the shop needed a new front window anyway. The car was stopped in time and not damaged. It never gave anymore trouble.Hope things work out for you.

[Ray K.]

Re: Bad day in the shop with '63 Coupe

Norris,Many years ago, as in the mid 60's, I purchased and repaired at least two broken B-W T-10 4 speeds where third gear had mated (welded) itself to the mainshaft due to lack of lubrication. Not knowing all the circumstances of how they seized, I believed the problem to be not enough gear oil in the transmission.Ray

[Timothy B.]

Re: Bad day in the shop with '63 Coupe

Norris,

After it's apart check the run out and third gear OD on the main shaft and the ID inside the third gear.