VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 37 Chevy transmission to torque tube assembly

The ball joint that surrounds the univeral joint has a set of gastkets and a oring to seal the aft end from leaks. The transmission gasket set came with several gaskets for the ball joint assembly. Are all those suppose to be used or how do you set the take-up or tightness of the ball joint? Cannot find any specs. I assume that as long as the ball joint is free to move and the aft oring seal doesn't leak all is good. Or is there a tolerance that needs to be checked with plasti-shim or similar for the ball joint.
Thanks.

You mentioned a O Ring? My new gasket set had a beveled gasket for the ball/bell and 5 "flange" gaskets to be used as an adjustment for tightness. The more flange gaskets you use the more loose it will be.I used two and everything seemed to work and remain tight. I don't think there will be a spec for this assembly. Every situation will be different.

The most important part of doing this job is pre filling the bell/ball housing BEFORE making the parts active. Remove the battery ground nut and put a small amount of oil in the hole to pre fill the ball/bell housing. The ball/bell will fill itself by getting oil from the transmission but it takes a while. If you don't pre fill the parts may run DRY before this happens.

http://www.findmycd.com/torquetube.html

The O ring you mentioned may be a better fix but not mentioned in the manual instructions.The O ring may become slippery and not end up in the correct postion. Just my 2 cents.

Thanks. I guess I assume this to be an oring. I ordered it for the mechanic I had do some work (inspection and gasket replacements to stop oil leaks). He was asking the question on the gasket count. I was of the same position you described, place enough in that the assembly feels good, not tight, not sloppy. Was hoping maybe there was some spec on what the gap should be between the two halves. Thinking about it some more, it should stay fairly well lubricated so as long as it can be moved with slight resistance dry it should be more than fine in operation. I did know about the ground lug lube aspect and told the mechanic to ensure it got lubed. I really appreciate your attention to detail and help. Speaking of the lubrication, what have you used in the trasmission? I had been running a Hypo-C 85-90 hydraulic oil (over the counter at most auto stores). I have not had any problems and all components looked real good. Thanks much. Ducky

The process to determine the correct number of gaskets is described on page 81 of the 1937 Shop Manual. It is a trial and error procedure to first get a good fit without the cork seals. Then you need to use some type of adhesive sealer to hold the cork seals in place for the final assembly.

https://www.chevsofthe40s.com/detail/6244/Chevrolet_Transmission_Gasket_Set_3Speed.html

I used 90/120 transmission gear lube from NAPA.

Don't fill the transmission and THEN add to much lube to the Ball/Bell housing. This will OVERFILL the transmission with lube and cause a problem. After you drive the car a few miles I suggest you check the transmission again to see if it has the correct amount of lube. Also don't OVERTIGHTEN the slip nut on the driveshaft. The threads are fine and could be stripped by using a huge pair of channel lock type pliers.

Not trying to be bossy just thinking of things that could go wrong..smiles

Thanks much. I will direct him to that page. I didn't find it myself.

Thanks, will certainly check the transmission level a few times. Need to ensure the torque tube seal wasn't damaged as well which would drain the tranny.