I call it the Monolith. I have plans for it.

[ootdega]

I remember that being a real PITA and needing a new bushing.

Fabulous!

[Brown_Muscle]

Hmm it wasnt bad for me, this picture shows the part im talking about, you just push the metal rod out of the that conical looking bushing. I put one side of the pliers on the tip of the rod coming out of the bushing on the right, and the other part of the pliers on the bracket its in, and it just popped out

[VicCrownVic]

I always struggle getting that disconnected. I've always been able to reuse the bushing but it would be easy to mangle depending on the separation method. I don't quite remember how I did it. Phil's method at least once. A huge flat screw driver at least once, but I remember feeling like I was going to break something with that methid but it eventually came apart with no damage.

[ootdega]

I priced a new bushing at five bucks, so....



Fuck it. Dremel.

I have no idea how you guys actually managed to do it. From everything I see, there is no way in honey roasted hell this thing comes off without destroying something.

I left a few scuffs on the rod, but nothing significant. Would've been smarter to use a metal blade instead of a diamond disc, if I had any.

[Brown_Muscle]

That works! It's possible my bushing is just very worn, yours looks like it was in far better shape

[sly]

Yeah.. that's the bushing that doesn't tend to disintegrate, but turns to rock hard plastic.

[ootdega]

That works! It's possible my bushing is just very worn, yours looks like it was in far better shape

Completely intact before I got involved, yeah.

Yeah.. that's the bushing that doesn't tend to disintegrate, but turns to rock hard plastic.

It used to be rubber???



I got to Meridian and dropped the axles off. A week later, I got a call from Dutchman. Both axles are bent. One is .030 off, which could probably be straightened, but the other is .080 off, which is out of the question. Complete waste of time. So I just had them ship the originals back to me. I guess using police axles is a bad idea.

I wasn't exactly happy about this development. I'm putting it aside for now.


So it's back to the transmission. I've just about got it out, but as far as I can see, I'm going to have to remove the radiator to be able to get a breaker bar onto the crank. So unless there's another option to rotate and hold the engine, that just added several hours to the problem. This is getting silly.

Maybe I can grab a 3-core from the junkyard to make this worth the effort.

[sly]

It used to be rubber???

Yeah... scary how that works isn't it.

[VicCrownVic]

Need to rotate the engine to get each nut off the torque converter? I just put my ratchet and socket on one TC nut and spin it until two nuts are accessible. Remove one nut then spin again with the other accessible nut.

[VicCrownVic]

An image to help explain what I mean.
Put the ratchet and socket on nut 1 in the picture.
As you try to loosen that nut, the TC will want to spin counter clockwise.
Once the socket reaches the top right of that dust cover opening, the TC can't spin any more and you can then loosen nut 1. (If you can get the nut off before rotating all that way, go for it as long as nut 2 is now accessible.)
Once nut 1 is off and nut 2 accessible, repeat the same process as nut 1 for nut 2 rotating the TC CC until the socket prevents rotation by contacting that dust shield opening edge.

[ootdega]

Hm. I see what you're saying. I'll give that a try.

[ootdega]

It worked great. Better than using the bar on the crank. I would honestly say it's the optimal, even definitive way to do it. The plate keeps the socket on the nut and also prevents the ratchet from traveling far enough to smash your knuckles.

Using the other method, I almost rounded off one of the nuts, and tore my hands up. The nuts are shaped in such a way that the socket tends to slip with leverage. Your method worked flawlessly. Can't thank you enough.



I went and got an F250 radiator anyway while I had the drive to do it. It also had a transmission cooler, a sizable stacked plate type. The integral brackets on it should make it pretty easy to install, barring the lines I'm gonna have to make. I have the 7-blade Lightning fan, but I just remembered last night that I need the reverse flow pump setup for it. That's fine, that can wait as long as it has to. There is no shortage of F150s laying around.

I also found a driver's window on an 83 Grand Marquis. I am stuck on getting the rivets out until I can get a drill bit badass enough. I need a new driver's window because mine is scratched to shit, like the door was filled with sand at some point. Also confirmed that all doors have provisions for speakers, so that makes those plans a lot easier.

On that note, I have spent four days this week in 100-degree weather. 90% of that was trying to get the window out. The radiator trip took less than an hour.

You could have accomplished the same thing with a normal bolt and a giant washer, Ford. Why are you like this?

I'm going to use a giant washer and a 12-point bolt when I put it back together. This is silly. The window motor is attached in the same way.

[VicCrownVic]

Glad that worked out for the TC bolts. I've pulled and replaced a few AODs, but didn't know any of the tricks the first time. Now I have my own "special tool kit" lol. A spare slip yolk to keep from dripping ATF all over, box panther brake caliper slide pins to help line the trans up on install, appropriate size plugs for trans ports for dip stick tube and cooler lines, all in its own box in the shed.