Hawk-Rod: The Restoration

[tallhair]

Excellent update, evaluations, and wrapup once again Hawk

 

[NZ 70 RR]

Excellent wrap-up Hawk, great info. . I will be interested in your breather line re-rout as I have had similar issue.

Hope car arrives home soon so you can get some autumn drives in.

 

[HawkRod]

Excellent wrap-up Hawk, great info. . I will be interested in your breather line re-rout as I have had similar issue.

Hope car arrives home soon so you can get some autumn drives in.

Thanks, the car made it's way back safely and is tucked in the garage. Not too many drives though as I have been very busy back at work and at home. Payback for the long trip away, I guess!

Very shortly, I will pull the tranny and then work on the vent line, but first I have to build a small circuit for Coronetdarter. Never any shortage of projects and work, even when the cars are done!

 

[HawkRod]

Update on my Transmission Rating

I have new information that means I need to update my transmission evaluation. Here is what I originally wrote.

O/D Transmission
I stored my original numbers matching A-833 transmission and was waiting for the Passon A-855. I could not get one in time so Jamie built me a A-833 overdrive. Essentially, what this does is reverse 3rd and 4th gears. The new 3rd gear (old 4th) remains 1:1 and new 4th gear (old 3rd) becomes the overdrive. In my case it was .73.
I'll rate the transmission a B and tech support as an A+. On the good side, the OD tranny is fantastic for long trips. It made the car very comfortable on the highway, even approaching speeds of 100 MPH. This would be uncomfortable with a 3.55 rear for any length of time without overdrive. The down side to this type of arrangement is that you have much greater spacing between the first three gears, so acceleration is not as good. I also found it was hard to find that ideal gear if going between 45 and 60 MPH, which happens often around twisty roads.
I lost the 3rd gear synchronizer fairly early in the trip. Of course, this was not a good thing as it forced us to double clutch the tranny. However, Jamie's customer service was impressive. No BS, no excuses, no blame. He immediately offered to build another tranny and send it out to wherever we wanted it. In discussions with him, we decided against that because it would cause a lot of unnecessary cost and hassle to both of us, so we agreed to fix it when I got home. Also, prior to the trip Jamie helped me get some of the parts I needed to fix my clutch rod issue. From a customer support perspective, this was great.


I pulled the O/D transmission out and brought it up to Jamie. The bearing under the retainer was shot, and as a reminder my pilot bushing died during the trip also. As we looked at the transmission, it looks like it was hanging on the input shaft, trashing the 3rd gear (1:1) synchronizer, then the pilot bushing and then the bearing itself.

So the bottom line is that all that seems to point to me screwing up the installation. The odd thing is that Jamie had me check a bunch of specs on my bell housing like out of round and the squareness. The out of round was within spec at 0.004" (max 0.008") and squareness was NOT within spec at 0.010" (max 0.006"). But this isn't off that much to trash the tranny in only 6000 miles. However, in seeing the damage, it all makes sense that the tranny was hanging on the input shaft. Jamie Passon built a perfect transmission, it just got screwed up once in my car. Despite this (and before we knew), his customer service (bolded above) was top notch. And it still is, working with me to be fair and reasonable to get it fixed.

The only thing that really bugs me about this whole affair is the fact that we never found a "smoking gun" as to what caused all this to happen. Was the trans not sitting right and I didn't notice it when I tightened up the 4 bolts? This seems like the likely answer, but I am usually pretty careful...

So my new rating for the transmission is an A- and tech support and A++. The only reason I rate the tranny as an A- has nothing to do with the build or quality of the transmission, but more so because it was sometimes hard to find that ideal gear. This is just because there are only 4 total gears to work with. A 5 speed overdrive would be ideal.

Hawk

 

[5wndwcpe]

Well, that sucks you didn't find the "smoking gun", but I'm glad to hear your issues are sorted out Hawk. Jamie built the trans in my car as well and he is a stand up guy.

-Pete

 

[747mopar]

You may not have found it but I'm quite certain when it goes back in you'll leave nothing to chance. Great to hear they are treating you so well, it take very little for me to turn my back on a company but a company that does buisness like that is sure to gain my loyalty. Can't wait to hear the results.

 

[HawkRod]

...I'm quite certain when it goes back in you'll leave nothing to chance.

You can bet on that!!!

At the moment, I have the original 4 speed back in the car, and will likely run that for a little bit when the snow and salt is gone. But the O/D will go back in so I can continue to use it for long trips in the summer.

For now, it just sits in the cold crypt of my garage... :icon_sad:

 

[5wndwcpe]

I guess it's time to get crackin' on that Silly Putty car in the next bay then. enguins paint pixi

 

[tallhair]

You can bet on that!!!

At the moment, I have the original 4 speed back in the car, and will likely run that for a little bit when the snow and salt is gone. But the O/D will go back in so I can continue to use it for long trips in the summer.

For now, it just sits in the cold crypt of my garage... :icon_sad:

Hawk, I hope all is well. I thought you were in line for one of the new Passon 5 speeds. Any word on that or is my memory failing?

I'm looking forward to more Lime green Mopar ****

 

[Bladecutter]

Hey Guy's, been a minute....just sayin hey, ill be @ Van Nuys SF this coming wknd......good luck w/ gears Hawk.
Spking of gears, the bug has a 67 911 S t-axle init....decided to look on ebay to see the general ask.....i definitely do NOT want to break it.....10-11K on avg.....good news is they are good for 350 lbs tq as long dont stand hard on in first, and of course no clutch abuse, speed shift..
Im super diffing it, beef ring & pinion & kicking the final drive to the moo maybe 2:10.....make the power nice & usable, long throttle travel, keep the nose down, with radi, oil tank and coolers,,little added dead ballast, i think ill get a 55r-45ft bias, no worse than 60-40.....im really going to try for Bonneville next year.....strictly fun, have always wanted to go, now i have fun car, what better way to exp it? A couple decent angles here
Adios Amigos.....jimi

 

[HawkRod]

Hawk, I hope all is well. I thought you were in line for one of the new Passon 5 speeds. Any word on that or is my memory failing?

I'm looking forward to more Lime green Mopar ****

I am still on his list for a Passon 5 speed. He has continued to have supplier issues though, so they are not shipping. As a small business, I think it has been taxing to get serious vendors to make parts needed for it. He has been trying to build a 100% USA made transmission, but unfortunately the parts he has been getting so far have been crap. I would LOVE to get my hands on one, but it might be awhile still....

 

[HawkRod]

Hey Guy's, been a minute....just sayin hey, ill be @ Van Nuys SF this coming wknd......good luck w/ gears Hawk.
Spking of gears, the bug has a 67 911 S t-axle init....decided to look on ebay to see the general ask.....i definitely do NOT want to break it.....10-11K on avg.....good news is they are good for 350 lbs tq as long dont stand hard on in first, and of course no clutch abuse, speed shift..
Im super diffing it, beef ring & pinion & kicking the final drive to the moo maybe 2:10.....make the power nice & usable, long throttle travel, keep the nose down, with radi, oil tank and coolers,,little added dead ballast, i think ill get a 55r-45ft bias, no worse than 60-40.....im really going to try for Bonneville next year.....strictly fun, have always wanted to go, now i have fun car, what better way to exp it? A couple decent angles here
Adios Amigos.....jimi

Thanks for checking in Jimi!

Your bug is cool as hell with some really neat work on it; I'm enjoying your thread. BTW, I thought I heard that the salt flats were having some issues and conditions have not been good to drive on it for a couple of years. You might want to check before you go!!!

 

[Bladecutter]

Thanks for checking in Jimi!

Your bug is cool as hell with some really neat work on it; I'm enjoying your thread. BTW, I thought I heard that the salt flats were having some issues and conditions have not been good to drive on it for a couple of years. You might want to check before you go!!!

Thanks Hawk, no plan, just desire..ill check

 

[747mopar]

Just cut that tunnel up and put a T56 in it.............. 80mph hour @ 1,800 rpm ahhhhhhhh.

I really hope they get the supplier issues sorted out because there's a long waiting list.

 

[Bladecutter]

Just cut that tunnel up and put a T56 in it.............. 80mph hour @ 1,800 rpm ahhhhhhhh.

I really hope they get the supplier issues sorted out because there's a long waiting list.

I had an 88 LX moostang, yeah in 5th (od), tach showed 1900 @ 80...had the car to 135 a couple times, worst brakes ever ..

 

[HawkRod]

Just cut that tunnel up and put a T56 in it.............. 80mph hour @ 1,800 rpm ahhhhhhhh.

I really hope they get the supplier issues sorted out because there's a long waiting list.

I hear you. I am not thrilled about how long it has taken, and there is no real date yet when I could expect to get one. Having said that, I already paid for an overdrive to be built into a 833 4 speed. The gear spread sucks since there are only 4 total gears, but the OD part works great on the highway with a .62 OD. Not quite as impressive as yours, but I am not sure I can now justify another interim solution. I don't want to cut up my tunnel, and my only other real option is to get a Gear Vendors for my original 4 speed. But the OD on that is only .7 so I don't like that either.

So for now I make do with what I got. The car is not a speedster but more of a cruiser. Until the kids get out of college, I may have to live with that!

Hawk

 

[HawkRod]

I had an 88 LX moostang, yeah in 5th (od), tach showed 1900 @ 80...had the car to 135 a couple times, worst brakes ever ..

Around here, the ability to really get the car up above 80MPH aren't so good. Too much traffic, too many cops, roads are really not good for it, etc. But when you do, having brakes, suspension and steering set up right is a must!

 

[tallhair]

Hawk I really want one too when they are available and being produced as I don't want to cut my floor either. What is entailed and what is the cost to be on the waiting list btw

 

[HawkRod]

Hawk I really want one too when they are available and being produced as I don't want to cut my floor either. What is entailed and what is the cost to be on the waiting list btw

Tall: There is no cost to be on the waiting list. I just called and said I wanted one and got my name on the list. I am still pretty far down the list, but my hope is that once production starts many who are on the list will no longer be in the market for one.

 

[747mopar]

I hear you. I am not thrilled about how long it has taken, and there is no real date yet when I could expect to get one. Having said that, I already paid for an overdrive to be built into a 833 4 speed. The gear spread sucks since there are only 4 total gears, but the OD part works great on the highway with a .62 OD. Not quite as impressive as yours, but I am not sure I can now justify another interim solution. I don't want to cut up my tunnel, and my only other real option is to get a Gear Vendors for my original 4 speed. But the OD on that is only .7 so I don't like that either.

So for now I make do with what I got. The car is not a speedster but more of a cruiser. Until the kids get out of college, I may have to live with that!

Hawk

I'd prefer your .62 over my .5 6th any day although 5th in mine is wonderful, .62 would be about perfect for 3:55's.