1952 M38 - T-90 transmission rebuild

jsnwalker · Post by **jsnwalker** » Mon Mar 27, 2017 5:14 pm

Adding to my cluster gear mishap, Kaiser Willys sent me a whole new T90 small parts kit to replace the wrong washers so if anyone needs stuff from a small parts kit, let me know and I'll sent it to ya!

4x4M38 · Post by **4x4M38** » Tue Mar 28, 2017 6:52 am

I'm just curious why your rear bearing has a snap ring groove.

I would also get all of that paint off your adapter plate.
You don't want it inside, it being in the bore can't help your
spacer issue, and you don't need it on the back. It's covered
by the transfer case when everything is assembled and not
exposed.

4x4M38 · Post by **4x4M38** » Tue Mar 28, 2017 6:57 am

Ok sorry I went back and see where you ordered a replacement
adapter plate. Unless there was something really wrong with the old
one I'd try fitting it to the spacer.

jsnwalker · Post by **jsnwalker** » Thu Mar 30, 2017 1:49 pm

Got my new bearing spacer yesterday and turns out, it truly has a .011" smaller OD than the spacer I pulled out, all other dimensions are the same. Put the new spacer, new adapter plate and bearing onto the shaft and pressed it all together with no problems. Bearing nests into the adapter plate, adapter plate nests into the tranny housing and bearing spacer keeps 1st gear from sliding into the adapter plate. Still don't understand how that OD dimension changed from the original, but it all works so I'm rolling with it.

And the orange stuff is actually a thin rubber coating similar to a gasket. Won't interfere with the tranny operation but should help with leaks. So they say. Thanks for your help once again!

Post by **wesk** » Thu Mar 30, 2017 6:32 pm

The orange or reddish/brown interior coatings found on gear boxes for the last 75 years is there to cut down on oils absorbtion into & through porosity of the casting. In the old days we used a Glyptal coating/paint. It had a reddish/brown color. Even back then you avoided using it on machined surfaces that were required to mate with another machined surface.

4x4M38 · Post by **4x4M38** » Thu Mar 30, 2017 8:31 pm

Glad you got it together.

Feels great, right?

jsnwalker · Post by **jsnwalker** » Thu Mar 30, 2017 9:11 pm

Ha, more like it's ready to be put together. I'm struggling to get everything in the housing correctly now. Mostly those thrust washers don't want to stay put.

4x4M38 · Post by **4x4M38** » Thu Mar 30, 2017 10:11 pm

Use grease. And plenty. You did make the tools Rick describes, right?
Reach into the case and pull the cluster up in the case with one hand, and start feeding the shaft in. Once you find the holes lined up, and it may take a screwdriver to align the washers one at a time, work the shaft into the cluster, pushing the dowel out the other side of the case.

Hope you wired the main shaft and gears up and forward so they can't fall out the back of the case.

jsnwalker · Post by **jsnwalker** » Tue Apr 04, 2017 8:59 pm

Yes, I did make the tools in Rick's guide. I just got back from a trip down to Moab and took another stab at it and got it all together in a few minutes. Apparently I was just working myself up! The T90 is finally back together and ready to be bolted back in.

Thanks again for the help everyone.

4x4M38 · Post by **4x4M38** » Tue Apr 04, 2017 9:11 pm

Looks good! Bolt her up to the transfer to check your end play
Then some OD and you are good to go!

jsnwalker · Post by **jsnwalker** » Tue Apr 04, 2017 9:31 pm

Hoping to get that all bolted up this weekend! I'm gonna be pissed if something turns out to be wrong and I have to tear apart the puzzle again...

4x4M38 · Post by **4x4M38** » Wed Apr 05, 2017 6:18 am

Again,
Wrap a piece of wire around the mainshaft and a couple of tower
screws so the whole mess doesn't slide back out of the case.

jsnwalker · Post by **jsnwalker** » Sun Apr 16, 2017 7:00 pm

So I got the transfer all buttoned back up, just needed some new gaskets and I replaced the shims, and got it attached to the tranny. Should I be able to spin the whole assembly by hand to ensure everything is lined up correctly? The tranny worked by itself, the transfer worked by itself but it seems that it is getting locked up somewhere when they are attached. Or maybe the end play is off? All I did was measure the thickness of the old shims and used new shims with matching thickness.

Maybe I accidentally switched some of the bolts around which causes an interference or maybe now that all the gears are lined up, you need more power than my one arm to spin? In addition to me not being able to spin the gears by hand when connected, I seem to no longer be able to install the tranny shift levers onto the gears. Technically speaking, I have never resinstalled the tranny shift forks to the gears before so maybe it is always tricky, but I'm leaning more towards something binding the gears together so they aren't in the exact spot they need to be for install.

4x4M38 · Post by **4x4M38** » Sun Apr 16, 2017 7:42 pm

Tranny: The new blocking rings can be really tight where they ride onto 2nd
gear. I had to work a little assembly lube down in there and work
the ring back and forth and around before it would move much.

Before that it was like the tranny was locked up. If it worked ok before you
attached the transfer then you have something else going on.

There are a couple of issues that can cause problems when putting the two
units together. Go back and read both Rick's guides on reassembling the
T90 and D18.

And yes, you have to have those two shorter bolts in the two low holes either
side bolting the transfer to the tranny.

4x4M38 · Post by **4x4M38** » Sun Apr 16, 2017 8:14 pm

It helps if the tranny and shift rod are in neutral getting the tower back on.