Transmission problem

Strictly an 'on-looker' for frame straightening so these "free" thoughts are worth about what you paid.

Temptation would be to involve a frame guy for an opinion.

Stuff to place on the table with the frame guy: -- How was the car tracking, front to rear, on the road? (i.e. going down the road slightly sideways) -- How was the tire wear? -- If the '77 used shim packs for alignment, are their any clues from the number of shims present? -- Any intent to repaint the whole car within the next year or so? -- Wheel-to-wheel measurements, sideways, front-to-rear, and diagonally.

Worst case: Unless a frame guy comes up with a cleaver, 'easy-fix' I'd guess you are staring at some frame straightening with some body panel removal.

Easy-way-out: "Cleaver, easy-fix #1" Move the mount.

Forgot to buy the bubbly for this morning's brunch -- gotta run to the store. Prayer usually doesn't work in cases like this but I'll say a couple of good words for you as I pass the church.

-- PJ

one-quarter to

Thanks PJ. Visibly there doesn't seem to be any sideways tracking. When I have it aligned, it does require some shims in the front: 3 on the passenger side and one on the driver's. I don't know if that's excessive or not. The tires wear normally and show no abnormal distortions in tread use. Looking closely, I can't find any fiberglass repair, however the passenger quarter panel doesn't fit as tight as the opposite one, by which I mean there is about a quarter inch of extra distance where it meets the window frame on the passenger side. Also, the reveal on the passenger side door seems to have a larger gap than the driver's side. At a glance, nothing is out of whack, but those little things might indicate you're right about the frame. Hell's bells.

The car actually ran down the road without a glitch until I noticed the mount problem and put a new one on. I'd take the easy fix you mention if I could. The problem is the threading for the bolts for the mount is in the crossmember itself. Given that nothing was wrong until I fixed it, I think I'll loosen the crossmember and see if I can adjust the quarter inch that way. I suppose I'll pull the tranny and have a look at that while I'm preparing to paint. Might as well have the seats redone at the same time. Looks like I may be out of wheels for a while.

How tough is it to put a new rear seal in a tranny? Can it be done in place?

Thanks for the prayers. I'm looking at my wallet and doing the same thing.

Easy job and can be done in place. Don't forget to take a good look at the yoke for a groove or a rough surface that may be the cause of your leak.

Whew. Thanks, Dad.

Be prepared to catch the tranny fluid after you pull the shaft out.

Thanks (I probably would not have thought of that), and I really like your screen name.

When in wrecks, it is common for the motor mount horns to be bent. When the frame is straightened, frequently, body mounts and solid things like engine/transmission mounts are unbolted so that straightening the frame doesn't crack fiberglass or crack aluminum cases. As such, engine mounting positions sometimes get left crooked.

Taking a "Deadman's Curve" ride through a cornfield could bottom out the engine and bend the engine mount horns and cause the same problem. Odds are originally, the incident broke the transmission rubber mount or it was already broken (common) and so the transmission pivoted to one side, bending the horns.

Very good frame shops are aware of this, and then fix that after the frame is right, but since the mounts on regular cars are different than on Corvettes, sometimes this gets overlooked.

Not really a big deal, just be sure the shop knows what you are after. Then you probably have the rear transmission shaft seal bad, maybe the yoke bushing is bad, and the yoke may be bad, from running out of alignment for some time.

I rebuilt the engine for this one and put it in (I had professional friend help doing both) about two years ago. In the hussle and bustle, I don't remember if we changed the mounts or not. If there had been the problem that you note, would replacing the mounts have taken care of that? We didn't look for any damage, so there could have been some.

Would a shop need to look for this, or is it something a neophyte (me) could recognize?

I'm just remembering something else. I picked up the car about six or seven years ago, did a few things, and then for reasons not important here, it sat for four years before we did the engine, and started cleaning it up and buying what was necessary. That's my excuse for forgetting that the hydraulic steering assist ram bracket had to be welded back on. It must have taken a smack to do that. Dang it.

From underneath, I don't see any glaring bends or crunches in the frame. Flattened a little where the jack would go if it were jacked up from the side, but nothing that looks like accident damage. Except that bracket was broken. I welded a new one on and forgot about it. Till now.

Can I tell within reasonable limits if the alignment of the whole car is off with the home measurements PJ mentioned? I know there is a relatively inexpensive device that Eastwoods has for doing the measurements, but I had it into the best shop around, and there was no mention of it not being right.

Would they have noticed a problem when they were aligning it, or is that something they would have to be looking for in order to find?

Ultimately, I guess I'm asking if this is a problem that an alignment expert could diagnose, or do I need to get it to a frame specialist for diagnosis if the other "fixes" don't work?

Measure the "X"s, find a identifiable point on each side and then a pair on the other end of the frame. With a tape measure each leg, then the distance in the shape of an "H". They should be the same within

1/4 inch, with the tolerance of up to 1/2 inch on some dimensions. If your frame is tweaked it will show up quickly on the "X" measurement. That works for the ladder measurement but it takes a frame shop to tell if it is in a straight plain and not twisted. Even that can be done with a spirit level or a good laser. All of this would be a bit easier with the frame dimensions if you can get them somewhere.

I think there's a hesitancy on the part of alignment guys to not, "pick the scab off" an earlier shop's work. That sort of unsolicited comment isn't helpful to anyone unless it involves a safety issue (or in the chain outfits, a big sales opportunity.)

-- PJ

Gotcha. This is like squaring a building or slab or whatever. I understand the plane problem also, but I wouldn't know what the procedure is to check that. I've got laser levels though - a few of them. I'll check using the "X" tomorrow. Thanks.

Professional courtesy -- don't bad mouth the competition. Makes sense. Whoever did the work on the car wouldn't be around here, though. I brought the car in from a distance. However, if the other things don't work (the X and checking the engine mounts, etc.) I reckon I'll get 'er to a frame shop. Or, maybe sell it if there isn't any real problem. I keep looking at other ones, and where I am, it suddenly seems like they're giving Corvettes away. From 1968 to 1998 (and one 99), I haven't seen one in a couple of weeks asking for more than $10K and most of them are running around $6K. I haven't checked any of them out, either, but I've never seen prices this low, and I'm always looking. Do the prices seem depressed where some of the others of you are? I'm on the desert in SoCal. This is not a place for bedrock pricing usually.

On Mon, 15 May 2006 22:35:30 -0700, "BDragon" puked:

You guys must live in some alternate universe. I hear bad mouthing of the competition in nearly EVERY trade from car repair to computer repair...

-- lab~rat >:-) Do you want polite or do you want sincere?

I guess we must be opting for polite, eh?

On Tue, 16 May 2006 12:04:27 -0700, "BDragon" puked:

I don't know, but I can't count the number of times I've had someone do work behind someone else and complain about the way the job is done. Maybe it's just the folks in S. Florida, but it seems rampant.

-- lab~rat >:-) Do you want polite or do you want sincere?