transmission slides a half inch but will not seperate from motor????? any help?? clutch disk frozen ??? 1928 chevy truck motor and trany and not been apart in long long time. any help will be great..
I know these ideas might sound too simple and you already have addressed them.
Are you trying to separate the transmission from the clutch housing or the whole assembly from the engine? On some of these older Chevy’s it is a easier to pull the transmission from the clutch housing first.
Make sure you have removed all the hardware! On some of these old Chevy’s there are bolts that you can only access when the flywheel is removed.
Are you properly supporting the weight of the assembly as you slide it to the rear? If the rear of the unit drops that can put a real bind on pulling the transmission input shaft out of the pilot bearing and clutch disc.
As you have by now discovered the only access to the transmission bolts from the end of the cone clutch era up until 1931 is from inside the stamped steel clutch cover.
I have an original '28 engine and transmission pulled out of the car as an assembled unit that is in the same or worse condition. It has sat in the garage of the person I bought it from for many years. Unfortunately a family of mice made their home in the top of the clutch cover. As they have defecated in there for years on the clutch and disc it has thoroughly locked it together with rust. I took a hole saw and carefully made a 1-1/2" hole in the clutch cover so as to gain access to the bolts holding the pressure plate to the outer edge of the flywheel. I wanted to save the clutch cover with the engine as the early engines used the bell housing, and clutch cover, mounted on the engine block to align bore the original engine main bearings. I have heard of some drive train assemblies where the components were from different cars that were up to 1/8" off center. I wonder how long it will run while being that far off center under stress? Certainly can not be good on rear main bearings or transmission bearings.
My idea was after rotating the flywheel and pulling all of those pressure plate bolts was to pull the clutch disc apart with leverage and just destroy the disc itself. It won't be savable anyway. I have 2 bolts remaining in that process that are so badly corroded that a socket will not fit on them. I may have to take a cutting torch to them. I have other flywheels and pressure plates but the other components are an original factory assembly. I can easily weld the 1-1/2" hole saw slug back into the stamped steel clutch cover after getting it apart.
Perhaps you or someone else can come up with a different solution. Keep us posted as to your progress and outcome.
Art’s post made me think more about this situation.
I wonder if the splines on transmission input shaft are stuck in the clutch disc. The movement he is seeing is the clutch disc pushing the face of the pressure plate. The pressure plate has limited movement until the springs are compressed solid.
I also support the clutch disc rusted to the input shaft on the transmission. I suggest trying to get a top quality penetrating oil to the interface. It will take some time and multiple applications but eventually it will come apart.
Art's procedure will work as well and might be faster but requires repairs for any damage to components (except the clutch plate which is toast).
. To picture the situation, The rodent feces may have accelerated rust at the front of the main drive gear #590273, causing it to swell and not be removed from clutch disc #348951. If you remove the inspection cover at the bottom of the bell housing, you should be able to access the bolts holding the pressure plate #363938 to the Flywheel and remove them from the engine. (1925 and newer used disc clutch and not cone clutch.) . Good luck with your endeavor, . Lou . .
Unfortunately that was not the case. If you look at picture 1 you can see the clutch cover is stamped in a shape that covers the pressure plate to flywheel bolts. That inspection cover only gets you to the front side of the flywheel. I looked at that possibility before using the hole saw. Like I said even a 6 sided socket is not working on the last 2 bolts. Usually it will work on most heavily rusted bolts. These are in bad shape. It is on the back burner right now anyway. I will get back to it when we get our new house and shop built.
. Hi Art & Smiley, I confess to have never been faced with this problem on a 28. I was able to stick a 9/16" ratchet box wrench thru the clutch fork hole but would have to rotate the engine as there is no room to rotate the wrench. I think Art's method is the best solution. . . Prying on the bell housing may bend it. If the transmission is out of line from a bent bell housing, it would never stay in High gear. Using the weight of the transmission as momentum, yanking back and forth a half inch several times might release it. This may damage the bearing retainer on front of trany I imagine you've tried this a few times already. . I would probably tap the 1-1/2" hole drilled in the bell housing and install a pipe plug for possible future use. This would ruin the originality of your vehicle. . Lou . .
I had the same problem on my 28 woodie,mice hotel, I ended up putting a brace across the frame on the rear of the car a chain around the cross brace on the transmission and tightened it up with a come along then used a piece of 2x4 with a large hammer after a couple hits it broke loose. I had already took the ball joint apart. Be sure to put a couple long bolts through the bell housing into the block so it won’t hit the floor if it comes loose.
1917 490, 1928 Depot Hack, 1925 Buick roadster, 1978 Vette pace car, 2002 Z06
I would say your spline is worn and sticking in the clutch plate as suggested, I have had the problem and it took 2 crowbars between the bell housing and the block to get enough pressure to pop it off, your other option may be to remove the lower flywheel cover and undo the flywheel bolts at the crankshaft flange and remove the lot! but if the engine is still in the car you will need to have your torque tube well out of the way and a trolly jack under the gear box to hold the weight as they are heavy buggers. ray