This car was in a field for 2 years so I'm not suprised. Anyways none of the gears were engaging. I topped of the tranny fluid and now it goes into reverse. But acts like N in D 2 1. Am I going to need to take it out, or is there hope? I noticed the torque convertor looked almost new and was painted light blue, so I was hoping the tranny was fairly fresh. It is also pissing out fluid around where the cooler lines connect. I will try to get my hand up there and see if a line is loose or broken in a bit.
Madman21, your leak is probably a rusted line. The engagement problem is in the forward clutch. Sitting for that long has probably put a "flat-spot" in the piston seal for the forward clutch. You might be able to get the fluid warm enough to make the tranny go into the forward gears but it won't be right until it is rebuilt. Look at it this way, you can make the transmission as strong as you want when you have it out.
Thanks Paul. I knew I could count on you. I just ate the cost of engine rebuild and was "hoping" the tranny would work... The lines look ok. It almost seems that it may be dripping from the dip stick tube or the servo?? I will try to track it down. Steve
While you are looking for the leak, have it running on the blocks, in reverse with the e-brake on. It should get warm enough to force the forward clutch to operate - at least for a short time. It may correct itself but usually things like that are terminal.
Thanks Paul. You have given me a glimmer of hope. I will be happy if I can drive it in and out of my garage for now. Me and the wife have a hell of a time pushing it and it has a flat tire lol.
Sounds like my '74 Grabber when I first got it running. It had sat for 13 years in a field. I managed to squeeze 2,684 miles out if it before it would no longer pull itself forward. Would go fine in reverse though.
This car has been very depressing. I'm ready to sell it. I rebuilt the engine. It runs like crap. The car leaks every fluid imaginable, except engine oil I did a good job on the rebuild. Its running extremely rich and the oil always smells like gas. I changed it yesterday. Ran it some today and oil stinks. It leaks tranny fluid from like five different spots... Powersteering fluid from somewhere. Water from the rad. I want to shoot it. It is a frankinstien anyways. I used a carb and distrib of an old 351w. Rewired the distrib. I'm still waiting on a throttle cable I bought on ebay. If it wasn't in such good shape, I would part it out.
The transmission is easier to rebuild than the engine and the cost is less than $300 if you do it yourself. Get the master kit, rear servo piston, front band, and a TransGo -2 reprogramming kit. You will love it!
Thanks for the encouragement. I will repair it. It just seems a lot more intimidating than an engine... and I'm dreading pulling the old one out...lol I'll build up the C10 and then do a swap. I have a kit on the way, I'm just trying to track down a cheap (as in used) 2100 stall converter. I was a bit overwhelmed when I posted above, but I just let the car sit for a week and am ready to get back at it.
2100 stall is pretty low for a high stall converter. Where in the RPM range does your engine get peak torque? If it is stock that would be a good range but if you have added a bigger cam then you will probably need more stall. A new converter is always preferred because you never know what kind of crap went through the old one. Anything that went through it is always going to endanger your transmission. Paul
Then you need a stall speed of 2500 to 3500 depending on the weight of your vehicle and the rear gears that you are running. Lower for light car and High numerical gears (4.11, 4.56, 5.56) and higher for heavy car and lower numerical gears (2.92, 3.0, 3.50). The average would be 3000 to 3200 stall.
