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  #31  
Old 01-31-2017, 10:48 AM
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Electronic M Electronic M is offline
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If the trans is all that it really needs to be useful to him then he ought to just save/pay up for it or go ahead and work on it...Unless he does not really like it or what he could do with it.

If you bought a car to love as a classic then you gotta put the sweat and or money in to keep it on the road. If you buy a car to flip then knowing what your getting into and knowing when and where to quit are essential. If you buy a car for it to be low maintenance you either have to pony up on a classic (for a great original or for restoration before or after you buy it), or get something recent and make sure there are no problems before you buy it.

I feel I was fairly practical in choosing my first car (for wanting something old, cool, and oomphy). I bought something already road worthy, in presentable, but less than perfect shape, and have done basically all the work to keep it moving without resorting to having repair shops do it.
My second I was too cheap/broke and rushed on, but I may make it good enough to be happy with it yet....If not I have the horse sense to cut my losses.
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  #32  
Old 01-31-2017, 02:07 PM
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Could you just pay somebody to put in a used transmission? I bet a local mom-n-pop type shop wouldn't charge much for a relatively easy job like that. At least then your son could drive it then, and fall in love with it, and in turn rekindle his desire to fix it up.

Plus, if you decide to sell it, a car that can be driven home obviously sells WAY better than one that needs towed.
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  #33  
Old 02-01-2017, 12:32 AM
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The trans was rebuilt? By who? Might be past warranty by now, but still, ask them wtf happened.

No forward... did it ever work after the rebuild? Because if it did and you drove it, I'd be tempted to say it might have chewed up a band or something. I'd have to look up the chart to see what's on when it's in drive. I assume you've tried moving it in 1 and 2. Smell the oil, it shouldn't smell burned if the unit was just rebuilt. If the fluid is still clean and fresh, it might be something simple like a stuck valve. Especially makes sense on a project car that probably sits around and never gets driven.

If the oil still seems fresh, and the car can run good enough, start it and let it run for an hour to get the trans nice and warm, see then if it'll engage.

Let me know a little more and I'll see what I can come up with. It's not easy when I'm not there to see it. :/
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  #34  
Old 02-01-2017, 07:46 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Electronic M View Post
If the trans is all that it really needs to be useful to him then he ought to just save/pay up for it or go ahead and work on it...Unless he does not really like it or what he could do with it.
To make it *driveable*, the thing just needs the trans, and some taillight wiring. The seats are vinyl and are torn to shreds, plus the paint and bodywork. Unless you've done worse (which I have), it looks like a long row to hoe.
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  #35  
Old 02-01-2017, 07:51 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MadMan View Post
The trans was rebuilt? By who? Might be past warranty by now, but still, ask them wtf happened.

No forward... did it ever work after the rebuild? Because if it did and you drove it, I'd be tempted to say it might have chewed up a band or something. I'd have to look up the chart to see what's on when it's in drive. I assume you've tried moving it in 1 and 2. Smell the oil, it shouldn't smell burned if the unit was just rebuilt. If the fluid is still clean and fresh, it might be something simple like a stuck valve. Especially makes sense on a project car that probably sits around and never gets driven.

If the oil still seems fresh, and the car can run good enough, start it and let it run for an hour to get the trans nice and warm, see then if it'll engage.

Let me know a little more and I'll see what I can come up with. It's not easy when I'm not there to see it. :/
Trans was rebuilt about 20 years ago by a friend of the former owner. Said it pulled hard after the rebuild, but eventually lost all forward gears...it was driven for only a couple hundred miles after the rebuild and started to slip in the end. Reverse was fine.

I got a bunch of parts "left over" from the rebuild still in the kit box.....and dropping the pan and valve body tell the rest of the story. To make it "pull hard", all the guy did was remove a couple check balls. I was hoping to find some particulate in the pan or a clogged passage in the valve body that would tell me that something let loose. Nothing. Bands looked fine from what I could tell.

Since it worked in reverse we know that the front pump and TC are okay. I've rebuilt a TH350 before, but I was 10 years younger and I'm not yanking the thing on my back like I used to do.....I'd just send it to a tranny shop for repair.
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  #36  
Old 02-01-2017, 07:54 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CoogarXR View Post
Could you just pay somebody to put in a used transmission? I bet a local mom-n-pop type shop wouldn't charge much for a relatively easy job like that. At least then your son could drive it then, and fall in love with it, and in turn rekindle his desire to fix it up.

Plus, if you decide to sell it, a car that can be driven home obviously sells WAY better than one that needs towed.
Thought of that too. But if I'm going that far, he will learn the lesson of "once it's gone it's gone"

I'll probably hang on to it and work on it. I just bought and sold a Philco chairside radio bar for almost enough to give him all of his invested cash out of it
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  #37  
Old 02-01-2017, 08:28 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kamakiri View Post
To make it *driveable*, the thing just needs the trans, and some taillight wiring. The seats are vinyl and are torn to shreds, plus the paint and bodywork. Unless you've done worse (which I have), it looks like a long row to hoe.
It is best to pick your battles and know how to space work out. In his shoes I'd fix the trans and lights, search the junk yards for one with good seats to swap in, then gradually start the other ~4/5 of the body work/paint.

Granted given that it is winter and your in the north this is not a time most sane people want to work on cars....Unless you are one of the lucky few with a heated garage.
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  #38  
Old 02-01-2017, 08:42 AM
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Just a car and a half garage that gets pretty damn cold

Scrap yards around here don't have anything older than the early 90s/late 80s...I had thought of a front seat out of a Durango or some such, but I decided I could recover the interior myself by re-learning how to use a sewing machine, making a pattern, and making a new custom seat cover out of black corduroy.

Just like TVs or any restorative work, when you work on them you need to remember that many years down the road after you're long gone someone in the future will curse you or thank you for doing things the way you did.
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  #39  
Old 02-02-2017, 02:57 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kamakiri View Post
I've rebuilt a TH350 before, but I was 10 years younger and I'm not yanking the thing on my back like I used to do.....I'd just send it to a tranny shop for repair.
Fair enough.
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  #40  
Old 02-02-2017, 12:06 PM
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Originally Posted by Kamakiri View Post
I knew that when I got the car. And now, my son understands this....but it's things like this you can't explain....you have to experience. I told him that this past summer was the last summer he will have for the next 50 years all to himself.....from there, he'll have an employer that owns a good share of his time.
Until that dumb cracker decides he's no longer needed and kicks him to the curb. He may prefer running his own show rather than being kicked around and ultimately discarded. Big savings in taxes in not being a low-wage lemming too, up here anyway.

Power to the underdogs y'all. I'm outie.
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  #41  
Old 02-02-2017, 02:44 PM
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You will be surprised how easy upholstery is. I recovered all the seats in a VW beetle with materials from JC whitney, twas very simple, no sewing required just "hog-rings".

My experiences with cars taught me one thing: If the car already looks good, complete, clean, etc....the added effort to make mechanical repairs will seem very small.
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Last edited by DavGoodlin; 02-02-2017 at 02:48 PM.
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  #42  
Old 05-31-2018, 11:42 PM
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"Fixing a new car is like going to war, A 35 or more year old car is like fighting a Land War in Asia" to use your language. Best wishes on this project.
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  #43  
Old 06-02-2018, 09:34 PM
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Geeze, I never did update this thread!

Had a friend look at the transmission, and it was toast. Whole forward clutch was blown apart. I ended up getting a long tail 350 out of a '72 Impala in exchange for cash and some electrical work on a '72 MGB.

My son decided that he didn't want to bother with it anymore, so I gave him all of the money he invested in the car, and I installed the transmission on my back last August. Had to shorten the driveshaft to get the long tail in (it had a short tail 350 in it) . Ended up selling the car back to the guy I got it from, for a little more than I had wrapped up in it.

With the car now driveable, starting, and stopping, he felt that he could easily finish the car up and get it back on the road. That was last September. I don't think it's moved from its spot in the garage since....but not my problem
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  #44  
Old 06-03-2018, 05:28 AM
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So, what's he driving?
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  #45  
Old 06-07-2018, 07:39 AM
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Nothing. No job, no ambition = no ride.
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