Gary Lewis Posted January 31, 2020 Author Share Posted January 31, 2020 I'm fortunate that through work I have access to Ford rebuild guides that go through everything piece by piece, nut by nut and tell you every tool you need,s o you literally can't mess it up. However, I'd be nervous myself. I can rebuild you an engine or axle all day but transmissions and transfer cases scare me. I will admit that I'm a bit nervous. And mostly in getting things like the old bearings and seals out w/o hurting the case halves. The two big ball bearings came out pretty easily by tapping with a plastic-tipped mallet. But the little needle bearing is yet to yield. As for the seals, one down and two to go. Made the seal pusher shown on the left and found the piece of tubing on the right that will receive the seal in the press. Back in a bit.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted January 31, 2020 Author Share Posted January 31, 2020 I will admit that I'm a bit nervous. And mostly in getting things like the old bearings and seals out w/o hurting the case halves. The two big ball bearings came out pretty easily by tapping with a plastic-tipped mallet. But the little needle bearing is yet to yield. As for the seals, one down and two to go. Made the seal pusher shown on the left and found the piece of tubing on the right that will receive the seal in the press. Back in a bit.... I forgot to say that I think I have plenty of documentation on how do the jobs I'm doing. In most cases I have the FSM, but in this case I also have Borg Warner's manual - both on our page on t-cases in Driveline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted January 31, 2020 Author Share Posted January 31, 2020 I forgot to say that I think I have plenty of documentation on how do the jobs I'm doing. In most cases I have the FSM, but in this case I also have Borg Warner's manual - both on our page on t-cases in Driveline. Ok, got the bearings and seals out. The biggest problem was the needle bearing, and I had to make a spacer to pull the bearing into. Here's the bearing coming out, with the heat gun expanding the aluminum, which was necessary to get it out: And here's the bearing out: That took a lot more time than expected, but then I turned to cleaning the case halves. The hot Simple Green got a lot of the yuk off, but I'm not pleased with the results. Tomorrow I'll do some more cleaning, including with brake cleaner, but I'm tempted to put the halves together, plug the holes, and put them in the blast cabinet. That will clean them up much more quickly. No, I'm not going to powder coat them. I'm just wanting to get them clean, and the yuk is well stuck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted February 1, 2020 Share Posted February 1, 2020 Ok, got the bearings and seals out. The biggest problem was the needle bearing, and I had to make a spacer to pull the bearing into. Here's the bearing coming out, with the heat gun expanding the aluminum, which was necessary to get it out: And here's the bearing out: That took a lot more time than expected, but then I turned to cleaning the case halves. The hot Simple Green got a lot of the yuk off, but I'm not pleased with the results. Tomorrow I'll do some more cleaning, including with brake cleaner, but I'm tempted to put the halves together, plug the holes, and put them in the blast cabinet. That will clean them up much more quickly. No, I'm not going to powder coat them. I'm just wanting to get them clean, and the yuk is well stuck. Why would you want to contaminate your media? And, do you boil the case halves afterward, scrubbing with a stiff brush trying to remove any trace? I guess I just don't get your fascination with shiny, when you're chancing even a tiny bit of abrasive in a gearbox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted February 1, 2020 Author Share Posted February 1, 2020 Why would you want to contaminate your media? And, do you boil the case halves afterward, scrubbing with a stiff brush trying to remove any trace? I guess I just don't get your fascination with shiny, when you're chancing even a tiny bit of abrasive in a gearbox. It won't contaminate the media any more than rust does. The stuff that's on the case is hard. It isn't goo, but almost brittle. Simple Green won't soften it, and so far brake cleaner hasn't. And I wouldn't boil the case halves after blasting, but blow them out with air and wash them with brake cleaner. However, I'm not saying I will blast them. My first move will be to try brake cleaner and a brush to see what I can get off. I'm not expecting the t-case to be shiny, but I do want it to be clean. I want it to be obvious that it was rebuilt. It is just the way I am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted February 1, 2020 Author Share Posted February 1, 2020 It won't contaminate the media any more than rust does. The stuff that's on the case is hard. It isn't goo, but almost brittle. Simple Green won't soften it, and so far brake cleaner hasn't.And I wouldn't boil the case halves after blasting, but blow them out with air and wash them with brake cleaner. However, I'm not saying I will blast them. My first move will be to try brake cleaner and a brush to see what I can get off.I'm not expecting the t-case to be shiny, but I do want it to be clean. I want it to be obvious that it was rebuilt. It is just the way I am. Well, I decided to take a two-pronged approach. The first was to put the rear half, which was the dirtiest, back in the parts washer and add a gallon of Krud Kutter House & Siding liquid to the Simple Green. That stuff is specifically made for things like aluminum, so we shall see. The other prong was to put the front half in the "dish washer" that is in the shop and put it on Pots & Pans. What do you think?  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kramttocs Posted February 1, 2020 Share Posted February 1, 2020 No, I'm not going to powder coat them. Oh, why not? I think you should I detailed my tcase and then painted it with the Eastwood cast aluminum paint and then clearcoated it. Can't say if it will last too long under there but if/when it comes out again, it's getting coated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted February 1, 2020 Author Share Posted February 1, 2020 No, I'm not going to powder coat them. Oh, why not? I think you should I detailed my tcase and then painted it with the Eastwood cast aluminum paint and then clearcoated it. Can't say if it will last too long under there but if/when it comes out again, it's getting coated. Scott - You may be correct that it needs to be coated..... As said, I put one half of the t-case in the dishwasher and the other half in the parts washer and prepared to let them get CLEAN. However, about that time Janey invited me to go to Owasso and, while there, get lunch at the new burger place. How can you refuse an offer to go on a date with your best girl? So I checked that everything was fine and we headed out. When we got home about 2 1/2 hours later I pulled both halves out of the washers and discovered that neither approach had accomplished much. Both still had caked on crusty stuff in the corners, and there are LOTS of those, and were tarnished more than I wanted to accept. And that's after many hours of fussing with them in the parts washer with brushes, shifting the way the Simple Green was flowing, etc. Plus, I'd used brake cleaner - to no avail. So, I protected the bearing, seal, and gasket surfaces and put them in the blast cabinet. And after 1/2 hour on each they came out looking like new castings. But, it is obvious that they are very porous and will stain in a heart beat, and then they'll look just like they did before. So, I believe they need to be PC'd or painted to seal them. (I know that the t-case won't work any better one way or the other, but it is what I want to do, and this is a hobby. ) Paint would be easier. I could use Eastwood's Detail Gray and it would match the tranny. But powder would be more durable. So I'm thinking through which approach I want to take. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salans7 Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 Scott - You may be correct that it needs to be coated..... As said, I put one half of the t-case in the dishwasher and the other half in the parts washer and prepared to let them get CLEAN. However, about that time Janey invited me to go to Owasso and, while there, get lunch at the new burger place. How can you refuse an offer to go on a date with your best girl? So I checked that everything was fine and we headed out. When we got home about 2 1/2 hours later I pulled both halves out of the washers and discovered that neither approach had accomplished much. Both still had caked on crusty stuff in the corners, and there are LOTS of those, and were tarnished more than I wanted to accept. And that's after many hours of fussing with them in the parts washer with brushes, shifting the way the Simple Green was flowing, etc. Plus, I'd used brake cleaner - to no avail. So, I protected the bearing, seal, and gasket surfaces and put them in the blast cabinet. And after 1/2 hour on each they came out looking like new castings. But, it is obvious that they are very porous and will stain in a heart beat, and then they'll look just like they did before. So, I believe they need to be PC'd or painted to seal them. (I know that the t-case won't work any better one way or the other, but it is what I want to do, and this is a hobby. ) Paint would be easier. I could use Eastwood's Detail Gray and it would match the tranny. But powder would be more durable. So I'm thinking through which approach I want to take. In before the microanalysis begins. Case halves look good. We all know you're gonna powder coat them, so just accept it and start prepping them for powder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny G Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 Scott - You may be correct that it needs to be coated..... As said, I put one half of the t-case in the dishwasher and the other half in the parts washer and prepared to let them get CLEAN. However, about that time Janey invited me to go to Owasso and, while there, get lunch at the new burger place. How can you refuse an offer to go on a date with your best girl? So I checked that everything was fine and we headed out. When we got home about 2 1/2 hours later I pulled both halves out of the washers and discovered that neither approach had accomplished much. Both still had caked on crusty stuff in the corners, and there are LOTS of those, and were tarnished more than I wanted to accept. And that's after many hours of fussing with them in the parts washer with brushes, shifting the way the Simple Green was flowing, etc. Plus, I'd used brake cleaner - to no avail. So, I protected the bearing, seal, and gasket surfaces and put them in the blast cabinet. And after 1/2 hour on each they came out looking like new castings. But, it is obvious that they are very porous and will stain in a heart beat, and then they'll look just like they did before. So, I believe they need to be PC'd or painted to seal them. (I know that the t-case won't work any better one way or the other, but it is what I want to do, and this is a hobby. ) Paint would be easier. I could use Eastwood's Detail Gray and it would match the tranny. But powder would be more durable. So I'm thinking through which approach I want to take. I think straight super clean would have gotten it. That stuff is amazing ... and very cheap. I just used it on a antique cast iron pan to strip off 80 years of gunk. Sprayed it down and sat it in the sun in trash bag it came out bare metal. Used it to strip the grease and paint off my valve cover, clean grease off of cloths, in the sonic cleaner to clean all the small truck parts I have off, degrease my grill and smoker you name it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts