1984 Bronco build thread

[Gary Lewis]

Hey guys! Work is coming along on the transmission. Its fully disassembled, the case and the shift mechanism have been cleaned. The press fit items on this trans are as follows, along with how we got the old one off and the new one on.

Input shaft tapered roller bearing - pressed off with bearing separator and hydraulic press. New bearing pressed on with a long (6-8") pipe nipple equal in diameter to the race of the new bearing.

Input shaft tapered roller bearing cup located in input bearing retainer/snout - old bearing pressed out by opening a blind hole bearing puller (reverse collet type tool) between the cup and the housing with the stem pointed away from the snout. Lowered press ram through the snout until resting on the flat face of the blind hole bearing puller, and pressed it out. I know that sounds bad, but novak tells you to just buy a new input retainer, that removing the old one is too hard. We were proud to have MacGyvered a way to do it. The new bearing cup was tapped in to start with an old bearing race of slightly smaller diameter (you could use a dremel or die grinder to reduce the old bearings od a little) and a finishing hammer. After that, the whole assembly went to the hydraulic press.

Countershaft rear bearing, retained in the aluminum housing on the rear of the transmission - pulled out with a blind hole bearing puller and a slide hammer. New bearing started in with a jumbo cast iron pipe nipple of matching diameter and a finishing hammer. Afterwords, the whole assembly went to the hydraulic press.

I think coming up with a way to remove and install these press fits is probably the hardest part of the rebuild. Im sorry, I didnt think to take photos of all of this. Ill keep you all posted! I hope to have the transmission back together this week. -John

John - Thanks for those tips. Doing those kinds of things gets the creative juices flowing and it is amazing what you can come up with given the right tools and lots of bits and pieces.

You mentioned using a Dremel to reduce the size of an outer race, but I've found that placing the race on the bearing and then holding the race up to the bench grinder using the bearing to let it turn takes off just a little bit of the race and lets you use it to press the new one in. So there are lots of ways to do things, you just have to think through it and use what is at hand.

[StraightSix]

John - Thanks for those tips. Doing those kinds of things gets the creative juices flowing and it is amazing what you can come up with given the right tools and lots of bits and pieces.

You mentioned using a Dremel to reduce the size of an outer race, but I've found that placing the race on the bearing and then holding the race up to the bench grinder using the bearing to let it turn takes off just a little bit of the race and lets you use it to press the new one in. So there are lots of ways to do things, you just have to think through it and use what is at hand.

Gary,

its also a great reason to hang on to a pile of old bearing races, bearing cups and a variety of little "bits". a shoe box full of that stuff can be a great asset.

[Gary Lewis]

Gary,

its also a great reason to hang on to a pile of old bearing races, bearing cups and a variety of little "bits". a shoe box full of that stuff can be a great asset.

Yep! I have quite a few old races, etc. They seem to come in really handy when pressing things in.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Gary,

its also a great reason to hang on to a pile of old bearing races, bearing cups and a variety of little "bits". a shoe box full of that stuff can be a great asset.

Horrid Fate also has a $10 steel seal driver set that is gold for anyone who owns a hydraulic press.

I usually poke through my big sockets (front axle and the like) looking for something that fits.

 

[Gary Lewis]

Horrid Fate also has a $10 steel seal driver set that is gold for anyone who owns a hydraulic press.

I usually poke through my big sockets (front axle and the like) looking for something that fits.

One of my front axle sockets has been turned down in the lathe about .020" to serve as a driver.

[StraightSix]

Horrid Fate also has a $10 steel seal driver set that is gold for anyone who owns a hydraulic press.

I usually poke through my big sockets (front axle and the like) looking for something that fits.

dont forget large male pipe nipples and female black iron pipe nipples from the plumbing section while we are at it!

I've heard of people welding a bead around the inside of a bearing cup, causing the cup to contract and then be easy to extract. has anyone ever tried this or seen it done?

[ArdWrknTrk]

dont forget large male pipe nipples and female black iron pipe nipples from the plumbing section while we are at it!

I've heard of people welding a bead around the inside of a bearing cup, causing the cup to contract and then be easy to extract. has anyone ever tried this or seen it done?

I've run a hot bead on many a bearing race.... and it does work a treat!

On my old BMW motorcycle it was the only way to get the lower headstock race out.

It literally fell out as it was cooling off.

[StraightSix]

I've run a hot bead on many a bearing race.... and it does work a treat!

On my old BMW motorcycle it was the only way to get the lower headstock race out.

It literally fell out as it was cooling off.

My friend has an extra NP435 input retainer with bearing cup still in place, but the casting is broken so the whole thing is trash. We will try welding a bead around the inside with my miller ac machine to see what happens. Seems Like a great trick.

my transmission is all but assembled. We dont have enough shims for the 3rd gear/3rd gear synchro fit so Im waiting on those in the mail. I would be amazed if there is more than 1.5 hours of work let, including making my homemade rebuild tag that Ive been making a practice of hanging on stuff I rebuild. I would not hesitate to build another np435, or any other 4 speed manual gear box. I would say this is at least an order of magnitude less involved than hanging a gear set, and you dont even have to spend two weeks rolling around in the floor to get it done.

I also got my new throttle bracket drawn up and sent off to a laser cut/bend/fab shop in town. And the new gage panel. hopefully Ill hear back about a quote on these in the next few days.

the slot in the throttle bracket is how the whole thing is held on to the manifold. its held on by two bolts just below the throttle on the carb, for you 300 guys, they are the two through holes in the offy manifold for holding the heat plat to the bottom. the two reliefs are for casing features on the intake. this one features space for two throttle cables side by side, that way I can get my cruise control working again. it worked when I bought the truck but has been disabled since last November.

the gage panel will house the AFR from innovative as will as a mechanical oil pressure gage. It will also be the mounting point for a mechanical choke cable, at least in the short term. the whole thing will mount on the bottom edge of the dash in the location of my original rear glass heat control switch.

I wont be opening the transfer case until the transmission is done so Ill be working on "mini projects" like cleaning the engine bay, fixing up my "powered by ford" valve cover and repairing my alternator harness (heat off the exh melted the plug, harness side only. alt seems to be fine). probably need to come up with a home brew heat shield for the alt while Im at it.

finally, my buddy and I made a road side rescue last night. a motorist had lost a tire and their scissor jack collapsed about the time they got the bad wheel off. luckily the rotor was sitting on the recently removed wheel so we were able to use my bottle jack to get him off the ground and rolling on the spare. Dont trust those cheap OE scissor jacks! the only good place for them is in the recycle pile!

I hope everyone is doing great! thanks for reading, stay safe.

[StraightSix]

My friend has an extra NP435 input retainer with bearing cup still in place, but the casting is broken so the whole thing is trash. We will try welding a bead around the inside with my miller ac machine to see what happens. Seems Like a great trick.

my transmission is all but assembled. We dont have enough shims for the 3rd gear/3rd gear synchro fit so Im waiting on those in the mail. I would be amazed if there is more than 1.5 hours of work let, including making my homemade rebuild tag that Ive been making a practice of hanging on stuff I rebuild. I would not hesitate to build another np435, or any other 4 speed manual gear box. I would say this is at least an order of magnitude less involved than hanging a gear set, and you dont even have to spend two weeks rolling around in the floor to get it done.

I also got my new throttle bracket drawn up and sent off to a laser cut/bend/fab shop in town. And the new gage panel. hopefully Ill hear back about a quote on these in the next few days.

the slot in the throttle bracket is how the whole thing is held on to the manifold. its held on by two bolts just below the throttle on the carb, for you 300 guys, they are the two through holes in the offy manifold for holding the heat plat to the bottom. the two reliefs are for casing features on the intake. this one features space for two throttle cables side by side, that way I can get my cruise control working again. it worked when I bought the truck but has been disabled since last November.

the gage panel will house the AFR from innovative as will as a mechanical oil pressure gage. It will also be the mounting point for a mechanical choke cable, at least in the short term. the whole thing will mount on the bottom edge of the dash in the location of my original rear glass heat control switch.

I wont be opening the transfer case until the transmission is done so Ill be working on "mini projects" like cleaning the engine bay, fixing up my "powered by ford" valve cover and repairing my alternator harness (heat off the exh melted the plug, harness side only. alt seems to be fine). probably need to come up with a home brew heat shield for the alt while Im at it.

finally, my buddy and I made a road side rescue last night. a motorist had lost a tire and their scissor jack collapsed about the time they got the bad wheel off. luckily the rotor was sitting on the recently removed wheel so we were able to use my bottle jack to get him off the ground and rolling on the spare. Dont trust those cheap OE scissor jacks! the only good place for them is in the recycle pile!

I hope everyone is doing great! thanks for reading, stay safe.

Hi Guys!

While junkyard hunting with my friend I found an awesome "powered by ford" style 300 valve cover in almost perfect condition. It will replace my "ford oval" style valve cover on the engine for my build. Im not normally one for cosmetic stuff, but that powered by ford valve cover on an inline 6 screams "greatest generation going to the moon, welcome to the 60s" to me. A cool homage to the fact that the engine is essentially 60s tech.

in the meantime, Im stumped by another piece of "60s tech". Im working on getting the shims correct for my synchros in the np435. for those who are unaware, they control the useable space between the front face of 3rd gear and the rear face of the input gear that the synchro mechanism "lives in". more shims, less space. less shimes, more space for the synchro mechanism on the shaft. I guess my confusion is multi tiered because I havent seen a very detailed description of the measurement methodology (and there seem to be two ways), and acceptable range for the measurement varies between .030' - .075' for the low end value and .070" and .095" for the high end value depending on the source of the information. as for the two ways to take the measurement - some manuals or instructions indicate that you measure between the rear face of the rear synchro cup and the front face of 3rd gear. the other method is to measure between the front face of the front synchro cup and the rear face of the input gear. in my mind, these measurements are quantifying the same thing.

I can probably muddle through picking out upper and lower tolerance values that I like, and Ill probably measure between the front face of the front synchro cup and the rear face of the input gear because I find that measurement easier to perform. the part Im really stuck on is how to position/prep the synchros for this measurement. most of the written instructions say in one way or another to compress the synchros and their cups together, with little expansion beyond that point. my ford shop manual provides absolutely no input or instructions on this, which seems like a big deal to me because the synchros and cups can vary in thickness as an assembly by.. I dont know, atleast .100" based on what exactly you do with them.

if anyone has further guidance on this problem, Id really appreciate the input. Thanks!

[Gary Lewis]

Hi Guys!

While junkyard hunting with my friend I found an awesome "powered by ford" style 300 valve cover in almost perfect condition. It will replace my "ford oval" style valve cover on the engine for my build. Im not normally one for cosmetic stuff, but that powered by ford valve cover on an inline 6 screams "greatest generation going to the moon, welcome to the 60s" to me. A cool homage to the fact that the engine is essentially 60s tech.

in the meantime, Im stumped by another piece of "60s tech". Im working on getting the shims correct for my synchros in the np435. for those who are unaware, they control the useable space between the front face of 3rd gear and the rear face of the input gear that the synchro mechanism "lives in". more shims, less space. less shimes, more space for the synchro mechanism on the shaft. I guess my confusion is multi tiered because I havent seen a very detailed description of the measurement methodology (and there seem to be two ways), and acceptable range for the measurement varies between .030' - .075' for the low end value and .070" and .095" for the high end value depending on the source of the information. as for the two ways to take the measurement - some manuals or instructions indicate that you measure between the rear face of the rear synchro cup and the front face of 3rd gear. the other method is to measure between the front face of the front synchro cup and the rear face of the input gear. in my mind, these measurements are quantifying the same thing.

I can probably muddle through picking out upper and lower tolerance values that I like, and Ill probably measure between the front face of the front synchro cup and the rear face of the input gear because I find that measurement easier to perform. the part Im really stuck on is how to position/prep the synchros for this measurement. most of the written instructions say in one way or another to compress the synchros and their cups together, with little expansion beyond that point. my ford shop manual provides absolutely no input or instructions on this, which seems like a big deal to me because the synchros and cups can vary in thickness as an assembly by.. I dont know, atleast .100" based on what exactly you do with them.

if anyone has further guidance on this problem, Id really appreciate the input. Thanks!

I don't know what Ford shop manual you have, but have you looked at the excerpt we have on site: Documentation/Driveline/Transmissions/Manual Transmissions/NP435? It has the page below on measuring, showing both in the case as well as on the bench methods.

And later it says "When the input shaft end play has been established, re-check the synchronizer clearance. It should be 1.77-2.41mm (0.070-0.095 inch). Adjust, if required."