tomek Posted April 25, 2021 Share Posted April 25, 2021 (edited) So I was disassembling rx7 gearbox today. There is vibration dumper on the output shaft. held in place by big ass 50+ mm nut. It had to come off. How do you take it off without factory tool? Well, that is how. Put transmission in gear, lock input shaft with old clutch disk and vise, use pipe wrench and decent size hammer. One whack and Boom, it is lose. Brilliant example of redneck style problem solving. Btw I stole it from internet. Dumper is that silver thing on the right side of the picture. Edited April 25, 2021 by tomek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomek Posted April 25, 2021 Author Share Posted April 25, 2021 (edited) Reason for all that trouble. Broken 5th gear synchro. Gold thingy in the picture. Edited April 25, 2021 by tomek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockmeupto125 Posted April 25, 2021 Share Posted April 25, 2021 I've used a pipe wrench on more automobiles than pipes. I ain't no steamfitter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhawkxx Posted April 25, 2021 Share Posted April 25, 2021 Where there is a will, there is a way. If you stopped breaking stuff you wouldn't have to think of ways to fix them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superhawk996 Posted April 25, 2021 Share Posted April 25, 2021 Anyone who uses pipe wrenches to do automotive work is a total fucking hack!!! I'm no steamfitter either, and I have a large array of pipe wrenches; sometimes it's the 'right' tool for the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomek Posted April 25, 2021 Author Share Posted April 25, 2021 Pipe wrench has not really been that shocking to me but clutch disc + vise as a input shaft locker - I can't stop laughing when I look at the pic. So hillbilly shade tree mechanic style. But it does work wonderfully. 5th gear synchros on both gen of turbo rx7 break due to relatively soft trans and engine mounts. They twists to the left at WOT, so when going from 2nd to 3rd at 25 psi of boost it is very easy to get into 5th gear instead of 3rd. Do it couple of times and BOOM- broken synchro. Mazda updated design like 275 times but they can still brake. About 170 K miles on that tranny. Everything else was in excellent shape. I change oil every 20-30 miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomek Posted May 6, 2021 Author Share Posted May 6, 2021 (edited) Another example of special tool 3rd World style. Since tranny was out anyway I decided to replace most of bearings. The one on main shaft presented a problem since I don't have a puller with locking jaws. The room to inserts jaws is limited and you can't get them behind bearing. The ring on outside races gotta do. After couple failed attempts I decided to lock jaws with a strap that was laying around. It work like dream. Edited May 6, 2021 by tomek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhawkxx Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 Hose clamps works on smaller pullers. I have used ratchet straps to hold/pull things I couldn't get any other way. Do you do automatics also? I have always wanted to try rebuilding one but never did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomek Posted May 6, 2021 Author Share Posted May 6, 2021 I won't touch "normal" automatic, or one with torque converter and planetary gears. I have very foggy idea how they work. Basically I'm clueless about them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superhawk996 Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 9 hours ago, blackhawkxx said: Do you do automatics also? I have always wanted to try rebuilding one but never did. I got to do it in school way back, it was fun. In many ways it's very simple, and many of them have 'secrets' where you could successfully rebuild it to work, or rebuild it to work really well for a really long time. Almost all of them require some level of specialty tools. The worst part might be the fact that you won't know if it works 'till it's back in the car. I have a pretty solid understanding of how they work and have repaired several, but I generally won't go any further in than the valve body. If you're at all interested, I still have the manuals from my auto tranny class you can have. Not the same as doing it, but they do show the full procedures. IIRC it's two fairly thin manuals, the classroom one and the shop manual, shouldn't cost much to ship. They're probably littered with my ignorant scribbles professional notes. I took the class around 1988-90 so there won't be any later stuff in the manuals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhawkxx Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 5 hours ago, superhawk996 said: I got to do it in school way back, it was fun. In many ways it's very simple, and many of them have 'secrets' where you could successfully rebuild it to work, or rebuild it to work really well for a really long time. Almost all of them require some level of specialty tools. The worst part might be the fact that you won't know if it works 'till it's back in the car. I have a pretty solid understanding of how they work and have repaired several, but I generally won't go any further in than the valve body. If you're at all interested, I still have the manuals from my auto tranny class you can have. Not the same as doing it, but they do show the full procedures. IIRC it's two fairly thin manuals, the classroom one and the shop manual, shouldn't cost much to ship. They're probably littered with my ignorant scribbles professional notes. I took the class around 1988-90 so there won't be any later stuff in the manuals. Thanks for the offer but I'm past that point now. I used to hop up valve bodies also as well as other bolt on things like performance servos and modulators. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomek Posted May 7, 2021 Author Share Posted May 7, 2021 Btw, real man don't drive automatics. Lol. In all seriousness days when manual transmission offered superior performance are long gone. It is the other way around now. Sad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhawkxx Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 8 hours ago, tomek said: Btw, real man don't drive automatics. Lol. In all seriousness days when manual transmission offered superior performance are long gone. It is the other way around now. Sad. True but it is still more fun to row the gears in any kind of performance car IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superhawk996 Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 6 hours ago, blackhawkxx said: True but it is still more fun to row the gears in any kind of performance car IMO. And if you're good at it it's probably still quicker than a 'normal' automatic transmission, DCT is a different story and probably can't be beat by anyone shifting manually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomek Posted May 9, 2021 Author Share Posted May 9, 2021 It is never gonna happen but I wish they would build sport cars for enthusiast with lightweight flywheel, no synchros and sequential shifter. Synchros slow the gearchange big time. Trucks don't have them and one can change gears almost as fast as in the car despite the fact transmission is physically million times bigger. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superhawk996 Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 6 hours ago, tomek said: It is never gonna happen but I wish they would build sport cars for enthusiast with lightweight flywheel, no synchros and sequential shifter. Synchros slow the gearchange big time. Trucks don't have them and one can change gears almost as fast as in the car despite the fact transmission is physically million times bigger. I got to drive a buddy's car that had a 'liberty shift' manual trans, no clutching or lifting the throttle, just slam the next gear at WOT when the shift light came on. It felt wrong to do, but worked great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon haney Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 16 hours ago, superhawk996 said: I got to drive a buddy's car that had a 'liberty shift' manual trans, no clutching or lifting the throttle, just slam the next gear at WOT when the shift light came on. It felt wrong to do, but worked great. Also, cool. Does it work the same way down-shifting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superhawk996 Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 1 hour ago, jon haney said: Also, cool. Does it work the same way down-shifting? I don't think so, but don't know. AFAIK that style trans is aimed only at the drag racing world. I think it's the same or similar as used in pro-stock cars, but this car has a traditional shifter instead of individual levers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon haney Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 2 minutes ago, superhawk996 said: I don't think so, but don't know. AFAIK that style trans is aimed only at the drag racing world. I think it's the same or similar as used in pro-stock cars, but this car has a traditional shifter instead of individual levers. Yep. Individual levers was usually a Lenco. Loved to watch Bob Glidden grab those levers with the precision of a robot. I saw an episode of Finnegan's Garage that showed a true, 6-speed w/reverse, sequential transmission for (mostly) roadrace cars. He and the builders were talking about it like an info-mercial. They didn't mention how much it costs, but guessing it was north of 8 grand. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhawkxx Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 3 hours ago, jon haney said: Loved to watch Bob Glidden grab those levers with the precision of a robot. Bob Glidden was the man. He is the only person I ever got a autograph from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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