"1958 Rambler Super" mission fix it and drive it.

Third job done! Gently sand up the pressure plate and fly wheel areas where the clutch disc contacts. Farna mentioned using fine sand paper to clean up these areas to make them nice and smooth. While not taking off too much material, he suggested either 180 or 220, I decided to use 220, just to be extra good to the Rambler. Here are the pics....

Edited by 1958 rambler super - Feb/27/2021 at 1:02pm

Well, after talking to forum member here he suggested it was just in a bind and it wasn't anything serious, and in the morning I went under the hood and moved the shifter mechanisms by hand and I guess that freed them up, because it worked as it did before! On the other hand, there was a issue I noticed of the gear shifter not being able to find reverse, so a forum member told me about a method in the tsm for adjusting the shifter mechanisms to solve this issue. As per tsm method: Put the gear shifter in neutral, disconnect gear shift rods at trans shift levers, (close to trans?)put those levers in neutral, put 3/16 diameter rod through aligning holes in gear shift rods and gear shift mechanism(close to steering column) (holes of bearing housing) ,rod can be used(he offered the suggestion of 3/16 drill bit) to align gear shift rods and gear shift mechanism. With rod in those four holes,and trans shift levers in neutral adjust the gear shift rods at transmission, after rods have been adjusted, reconnect to gear shifting mechanism and remove 3/16 rod from gear shift rods aligning them with gear shift mechanism. So, when I went to work on that issue, I removed the gear shift rods at the gear shift mechanism by painfully removing the cotter pins and washers, I got pretty cut up using lots of force to remove them and slipped a few times with the needle nose pliers, I think I'm going to use gloves from now on, then after they were able to be taken out of the gear shifter mechanism at steering column, and it seemed I had to take out the drill bit so I could move each gear shifter mechanism either up or down to make room to be able to push or pull the end of the gear shift rod out of the mechanism. Then with that end disconnected, I went under the Rambler to adjust the other end of the rod at the trans, when I was down there I could see that end of the rod was threaded into a small block of metal connected to the gear shift lever right on the trans. So, I thought I wouldn't need to disconnect them at the trans by taking out those cotter pins, I could simply unscrew or screw the rod through the threads to adjust them. So I got out from under the Rambler, went back into the engine compartment and sprayed rust penetration and lubrication spray onto the threads before trying to turn them through the threads, but they wouldn't turn, so I tried harder and moved my hand down the rod past the bell housing towards the trans, and then the reverse gear I was previously unable to shift into while using the gear shifter at the driver's seat all of a sudden came loose and into play, I clicked it into reverse several times and being happy about it. My memory of exactly what happened isn't completely clear, but I think I moved the gear shift mechanism out if neutral in order to reconnect the gear shift rods, and also moved the gear shift rods out of neutral as well during the process. The space around the shifter mechanism was tight and it seemed I needed the space so that why I moved them. I think after I got the rods back in the shift mechanism I once again put the drill bit through all the holes and then re attached the washers and cotter pins while the drill bit was keeping everything steady. Then I went back in the driver's seat and tried the gear shifter and reverse was still unavailable, but I tried a few more times and then it clicked into reverse! I was happy about that but I was not completely happy since I didn't really know how the issue got fixed, I didn't understand what I did, and also, thinking about it later, and re- reading the message from the forum member, as well as reading the tsm procedure I clearly did the process incorrectly (the tsm arrived in the mail the day after I did the job, the forum member had his own and described the process to me by inbox message here on the forum) so if I did it incorrectly, what happened that fixed the issue? I don't get it. Also, the tsm says "CAUTION be careful not to move trans levers out of neutral as adjustment is being made" and I definitely did that. The tsm does not explain why or what the consequences will be unfortunately. Here are some pictures I took during the big job... Below are trans levers at trans, the threads I mentioned.

Edited by 1958 rambler super - Feb/04/2021 at 12:23pm

Looking through the tsm, online google searches, searches here on the forums and one or two questions asked to members, have helped very little or not at all.  At this time I have currently clicked through tomj's upload of the 1960-65 parts catalog f14063 r1, finally at page 759 and 760, I see pics of bell house, clutch assembled detailed ,but neither  of them are a match, one has same bolt hole pattern, but lever opposite side, another dead end. It has not enlightend me as much as I'd hoped, I know the catalog is for a later year, but I thought maybe some of the engine trans parts might be the same and I could learn how the bell house and engine connect.

Edited by 1958 rambler super - Feb/27/2021 at 3:53pm

It's been awhile since I contributed to the progress with new posts, so I'll try and catch up... I work on the rambler each week, and focus on learning how to work on it or locate parts each day. on my weekends, about 85percent of my weekend is spent towards the rambler, either reading about working on cars, or watching videos on youtube, or reading the tsm either the mechanical or body tsm, even if I'm not pysichaly working on the rambler I'm focused on the big jobs, walking or taking the bus down to hardware store back and forth to buy tools or things I can use. Usually it takes me the whole weekend to get not much done unfortunately.... Since I got the big job done of putting in those new bearings, and repacking the old ones, I have bot a flux core welder, grinder and wire wheels to wire wheel off the rust, welding helmet, welding gloves, wire for the welder, bot exstension cords and realized through research I would not be able to use them since the voltage drop in 80 feet of distance with 12 gauge size cord will not help the welder be able to have the amount of power to weld properly, so I will need to rent a 9600 watt generator before I can use the welder to fix the exstensive rust.  The engine has been at the rebuild shop since dec23 and last week they told me the only part they were waiting for was the cam, so it might be done in another 3 weeks(?) So now I have this plan..... Make two priorities : 1-paint engine and 2-install engine after painting is done. I've done some simple planning and wrote down a step by step scenario for each priority, what will happen to get the paint job done for the 195.6, and following that the step by step scenario for installing the engine into the rambler. I wrote it all down beginning with the phone call from the engine shop telling me the 195.6 is assembled and ready for pick up and then go rent a u-haul pick up to pick up the 195.6, then go to sunbelt rentals and rent engine hoist and stand, go back to the house, use hoist to mount 195.6 to mounting part of stand then lower 195.6 to the rest of the stand, then return hoist and then return pickup, go back to the house and begin prepping and cleaning and masking off pump flanges and other openings on engine, set up tarps over make-shift over spray tarp structure I will make out of unwanted wood planks I found in the back yard to keep over spray from getting on neighbors parked car, then paint engine. 1 priority big job done. 2- instal 195.6.... go rent engine hoist, while 195.6 is still on stand put on harmonic balancer, use balancer instal tool if necessary, put on fuel pump, but use a small amount of silicone on flange then mount pump, it might not go on easy since the part of the pump works against the lobe of cam shaft, don't use silicone on oil pump flanger, pack oil pump with vaseline as per tomj's advice on his rambler 195.6 part of his website " this oil pump will not prime on its own ". Set distributor to fire at 1st cyl to properly set distributor timing as it goes into 195.6, put paper thin silicone to exhaust manifold mating surface as per farnas advice due to broken fastner location, attach exhaust manifold, put on timing chain cover (before harmonic balancer) and put on oil slicker, put silicone to gasket seating surfaces for timing chain cover and oil pan, torque all nuts to right torque, put engine on hoist, put flywheel on, torque in criss cross pattern, put in pilot bushing with a small amount of oil to slick it for input shaft, use clutch alignment tool and put on rebuilt disc and serviced pressure plate, tighten bolts in crisscross pattern then tighten to right torque, leave in tool untill 195.6 is close to transmission just to be safe it stays alignment, check everything over again to make sure I didn't forget anything, (like starter motor/generator) maybe sit down and have a coffee and think about it for awhile, then if I'm sure it's ok to be lowered into rambler engine bay, begin with that process, mate engine to transmission after taking out align tool, and 195.6 is on engine mounts, torque bellhouse bolts to right torque, torque engine mount bolts then disconnect hoist.... Then seal bellhouse to engine connection with flux core welder.

sometimes it's best not to track the costs during the project.