VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1912-1928 1928 Chevy Captial Tranny removal. NEED HELP!!!

I am in the process of doing a light restore on my 28 Capitol truck and while it was in storage, some mice had nested in the bellhousing and rendered the clutch inoperable. We are trying to separate the transmission from the engine and believe that the input shaft is rusted to the clutch disc. I have checked and triple checked that we have all the bolts out. I have pried on it away from the block with all sorts of pry bars. Does it seem possible that the input shaft rusted to the friction disc could make it hang up this tightly? Is there a way to get penetrating oil directly to the splines in the disc?

Has anyone on here had a similar situation? I am looking for any and all answers to help me get this trans off. I have been fighting it for three days now and am getting a little discouraged. Last night I had four guys, one of them a certified mechanic, working on it for over 2 hours and still were unable to get it off. The whole trans and bellhousing will sort of rock/wobble back and forth about half an inch, but will not pull off. I have drilled a hole in the bellhousing in the center above the input shaft to spray pb blaster at the input shaft/clutch disc spline area, but it doesn't seem to be working. I am about to the point where I am thinking of taking it to a shop to let them do it, but I just hate the thought and expense of that, especially when I am so close!

HELP ME, I AM GETTING DESPERATE HERE!!!

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Are we to assume you have broken the CV-joint apart and have dropped the driveline?

My guess is that the clutch disc has glued itself to the flywheel. This is common for vehicles that have been stored for long periods of time. That is why I recommend you hold the clutch in with a board when stored to prevent that problem. It doesn't seam that the clutch plate could rust to the transmission input shaft and be that difficult. Your only option now is to move the bell housing back as far as possible and go into the destroy mode.

I bought a spare engine and tranny. I HAD THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM. Mice had built a nest in the bellhousing and "pee'd" in there freezing the clutch to the input shaft. The only way I came up with to get it apart, was to take a hole saw, and cut a hole in the bellhousing. I cut it towards the top so that i could remove the pressure plate bolts. The hole saw I used was about 2 inches in diameter. Once you get the pressure plate bolts out, simply pull it all apart. Then you can get to the clutch disc and see what the problem looks like. Then simply weld the removed piece of bellhousing back into place and finish it up.

That's genius! I am going to do that. I knew I would find the answer on here! Thank you!

before you cut a hole in the top of the bell housing have you remover the lower bellhousing cover, Ray

Ray,

Are you talking about the one that is on the front side of the bellhousing down under the truck? What should I be looking for once that is removed? The flywheel stays on the engine right? You don't need to pull it with the tranny do you? There is no clip or anything in the input shaft, is there?

I once worked on a 1929 McCormick Deering tractor that mice had done that to. Clutch disc was totally rusted in two at the hub and the hub was so stuck it took an acytalene torch and a sledge hammer plus 3 hours of heating and banging to get the spline shaft out. I hope yours isn't stuck that bad.

Tyler, How did you come out on this project?

I havent yet. I was going to try last night, but something came up. I am going to work on it tonight and if all goes well (which it hasn't wso far!) I should have it out tonight. I will post an update here to let everyone know how it turns out. Check for a post tomorrow or Friday!

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to update this thread with my progress. I got the trans out last night. I ended up cutting a hole in the bellhousing on the driver's side upper corner and got a lucky guess becuase my hole lined up with the pressure plate bolts perfectly! Four of the bolts came out without issue and the other two had to be broke off with and air chisel! After that, we put some pressure on the trans and then just took the punch bit for the air hammer and vibrated the pressure plate with it a bit and "THUNK", the trans popped loose!

We pulled the trans and threw it up on the bench and found that sure enough, the friction disc was rusted to the input shaft! So I shot it with PB Blaster and worked on it with the air hammer for 15 minutes or so and off it came!

I am dropping the parts off at the shop tomorrow to be reconditioned/machined and then it go back together.

Thank you all for your help. Without this forum I would not have figured this out and would probably have taken it to a shop and gotten ripped off because its "old". Plus, I know have the satisfying feeling that I won the battle!

Now, before I get the clutch back, are there any tips I should know to put it all back together?

If part of your clutch repair was or will be the removal of the flywheel, make sure you mark the flywheel to crankshaft so the flywheel can be reinstalled in its original position. Otherwise you risk a five out six chances of getting it wrong. If not properly installed the timing marks on the flywheel will be no value the next time you attempt to time the engine.

I don't know if anyone is still following this post at all, but I wanted to post an update anyway.

I got the clutch back and installed and got everything else hooked up/put back and in the process of priming the vacuum pump I dug up my emails from Chipper and made sure I had the float linkage right on the vacuum pump, and I didn't, so I corrected that (is that why it was running out of gas? YES!), started her up and let it run and run and run and run!!!!!!!!! Finally, success! Now the true test...stepped the clutch (first time ever) and tried to put it in gear...and it slipped right in!!! Let up on the clutch slowly and she started moving backwards on her own!!!

Sorry for all the excitement, but this day has been a long time coming, so much so that I have named this truck "Two Steps Back"!

It is now so gratifying to think that I can hop in any time, pull the ignition switch, start her up and go! All that hard work now seems more than worth it, and if it wasn't for all the help I received from everyone on here, I wouldn't have gotten to where I am with the truck. Thank you all once again for all your help and knowledge!

I can share a little of your excitement knowing that my suggestions help get it running.

Well done,another happy vac tank owner.

Enjoy your chevy

Regards

Ray

Absolutely, and I can't thank you enough! I have thought many times how without your help, I would still be scratching my head and trying to find parts. You obviously have a wealth of knowledge about these great vehicles and I am so glad that I found you on here! Just in case I haven't said it enough yet, thank you for all of your help on this!

Helping to support each other and get more old Chevys in driveable condition is the major reason this site is as popular as it is and is supported by the VCCA and its membership.