Gear Oil - '39 top loader
- Thread starter Ryan
- Start date
Hoop
Well-known member
I found it depends on how badly your transmission leaks. Using straight 140 will help slow/stop the leaking.
The weight of the oil may also affect shifting since it has an effect on the rate of spool up or spool down of the cluster. You may find up-shifts engage better with heavier oil and down-shifts do better with lighter oil. Marginal synchros will usually tell you.
Cold/hot weather of course makes a difference.
Older transmissions, even if they have been "rebuilt," can be cranky.
(I posted the photo below and nobody was interested. I guess everyone has one.)
The weight of the oil may also affect shifting since it has an effect on the rate of spool up or spool down of the cluster. You may find up-shifts engage better with heavier oil and down-shifts do better with lighter oil. Marginal synchros will usually tell you.
Cold/hot weather of course makes a difference.
Older transmissions, even if they have been "rebuilt," can be cranky.
(I posted the photo below and nobody was interested. I guess everyone has one.)
rotorwrench
Well-known member
It's getting harder to find the straight grade gear lubes. A few that have been posted before are the Mobil 600 XP series and Lubriplate SPO series. They are available in all usable viscosity grades. It's also getting harder to find one rated in the good old SAE grade that most of us understand. The ISO or International Standards Organization seems to be the way things are going. Near as I can tell there are about 3 ISO grades for each old SAE grade in the gear lube catagory. 90 weight SAE would be near 220 ISO and 140 weight SAE is near 460. For the old Model A folks the ISO 680 is close to 190 SAE but there is no grade 190 in SAE just the high side of the old 140 SAE.
It's getting damn confusing for this old fart. We use multi grade SAE 85W/140 in some of out helicopter gear boxes and it does OK but they have modern seals. We also use the blue colored Swepco 90 weight SAE in the little Robinson R-22s and it's hard to get in small quantities. Its getting expensive too.
It's getting damn confusing for this old fart. We use multi grade SAE 85W/140 in some of out helicopter gear boxes and it does OK but they have modern seals. We also use the blue colored Swepco 90 weight SAE in the little Robinson R-22s and it's hard to get in small quantities. Its getting expensive too.
Jason in TX
Well-known member
Hey Hoop. I know what that photo is. Those screws are really hard to get out!! Great tool. I don't have one, but that is the way to go!
PeteVS
Well-known member
Well, for the two guys who showed any interest at all,
Back about '67-'68 I bought an impact (hammer on type) screwdriver for the phillips screws on my Suzuki 250cc X6. Used it recently for what you're showing here.
cuznbrucie
Member
Valvoline 90-140........been running it for about 8 years....
CB
CB
Hoop
Well-known member
"Back about '67-'68 I bought an impact (hammer on type) screwdriver for the phillips screws on my Suzuki 250cc X6. Used it recently for what you're showing here."
Glad it worked. If you start removing those things on a regular basis, you'll end up tearing the crap out of some of them. I also have the same tool as you do; would not have made the above gadget if I didn't have to.
Glad it worked. If you start removing those things on a regular basis, you'll end up tearing the crap out of some of them. I also have the same tool as you do; would not have made the above gadget if I didn't have to.
Jay in Mass
Senior Member
Hoop, Thanks for posting the picture and sharing the information on that tool with us.
Hoop
Well-known member
John R, if you're close to Jacksonville FL, come on by. Try this thing out.
The gadget was inspired by Mac Van Pelt. I told him I was having trouble getting the detent caps out. A machine shop friend of his made him a much more elegant, I'm sure, device which solved his problems. This information confirmed my experience and encouraged me to come up with my own tool.
I've done dozens of removals with it. Very few caps come out easily. Most are very hard to remove and are subject to damage when using simple screwdriver type bits. Still others require some heat to break them loose.
The average guy may never go into his shifter top. Some guys might do one or two ... others go off the deep end and really get involved in this stuff.
I just want to help those who wander into a simple project like overhauling their shifter and keep them from needlessly destroying good parts. Like one guy over on the HAMB says, "This ain't as easy as I make it look."
(If Mac is watching, would like to see a pic of your really nice design. And, don't know how "Charlie NY" does it.)
The gadget was inspired by Mac Van Pelt. I told him I was having trouble getting the detent caps out. A machine shop friend of his made him a much more elegant, I'm sure, device which solved his problems. This information confirmed my experience and encouraged me to come up with my own tool.
I've done dozens of removals with it. Very few caps come out easily. Most are very hard to remove and are subject to damage when using simple screwdriver type bits. Still others require some heat to break them loose.
The average guy may never go into his shifter top. Some guys might do one or two ... others go off the deep end and really get involved in this stuff.
I just want to help those who wander into a simple project like overhauling their shifter and keep them from needlessly destroying good parts. Like one guy over on the HAMB says, "This ain't as easy as I make it look."
(If Mac is watching, would like to see a pic of your really nice design. And, don't know how "Charlie NY" does it.)
Reisterstown Ray
Member
Hey Hoop, What is the purpose of the hole in the ring as shown in your picture of the tower with tool attached. I just picked up a 39 tower at a garage sale. I don't need it at this time. The one i purchased has a pin in it. By the way neat tool, I have never seen one like it. RR
rotorwrench
Well-known member
I love the yankee ingenuity. I made bit for those from the smallest drag link type driver that Snap-On sells. The key is getting the driver to fit the slot as perfectly as possible. Having a frame to clamp it in place goes a long way to preventing busted knuckles & parts.
Hoop
Well-known member
"Hey Hoop, What is the purpose of the hole in the ring as shown in your picture of the tower with tool attached. I just picked up a 39 tower at a garage sale. I don't need it at this time. The one i purchased has a pin in it. By the way neat tool, I have never seen one like it. RR"
Ray, the hole in the threaded top, closest to you in the picture, is for a pin like yours which locates the stick when it is installed. The pin fits in a slot on the "ball" that goes into the tower as shown in the pic below. Notice in the pic that there is wear in the slot which needs to be corrected to take any slop out of the stick.
(Rotor, you are correct. The tool makes certain the driver, with a carefully shaped tip, does not jump out of the slot.)
Ray, the hole in the threaded top, closest to you in the picture, is for a pin like yours which locates the stick when it is installed. The pin fits in a slot on the "ball" that goes into the tower as shown in the pic below. Notice in the pic that there is wear in the slot which needs to be corrected to take any slop out of the stick.
(Rotor, you are correct. The tool makes certain the driver, with a carefully shaped tip, does not jump out of the slot.)