The "Whatever" Project

[Monster]

I'll take a picture of the inside of the Whatever project and post it.

[dave.g.in.gansevoort]

My 2¢ worth.
Do the tail housing swap on the T5. Whenever you DO Finish it, you will be doing MOSTLY Car Shows and Drive In Restaurant Cruising with it. A NICE dependable OVERDRIVE transmission is the way to go.

No fun crawling under your car to Pry Crossed Shifter Rods on a old side rods box and that odd one rod usually in the way for reverse.

Captain, I'll take a picture of the inside of the Whatever project and post it. There's no crawling under for me. Everything is accessible from the top. And that's one of the reasons that is causing the consternation over which option to go with. Those rods and levers are going to be next to my ducks feet!

If only someone had told me just how small a T body really is...

[Captain]

My 2¢ worth.
Do the tail housing swap on the T5. Whenever you DO Finish it, you will be doing MOSTLY Car Shows and Drive In Restaurant Cruising with it. A NICE dependable OVERDRIVE transmission is the way to go.

No fun crawling under your car to Pry Crossed Shifter Rods on a old side rods box and that odd one rod usually in the way for reverse.

[dave.g.in.gansevoort]

Here's the question of the day I'm wrestling with: which transmission should be used in the Whatever project? I have a close ratio T10 and enough parts to put it back together with reverse gear. Remember, I acquired this transmission from a friend who took it out of a drag car that didn't need reverse, and needed a short transmission to fit the chassis.

I also have 2 T5 transmissions, one a world class S10 transmission with a granny gear first, 4.03 I think. I have an adapter for it that spaces it back so that modifications to the input shaft are not required. The 2nd T5 is from a V-8 Camaro/Firebird, and is a non world class transmission. It bolts directly on to a GM spec bellhousing, but the shifter is too far back.

This is not insurmountable, as I can swap tailhousings between the two transmissions, getting the forward shifter locatiin of the S10 T5, but losing either of the 2 speedometer mechanisms. One is electrical the other mechanical. That's really not a problem, as I have a quick change rear axle, and likely will use it a little bit. So for a speedometer I'm planning on using a GPS device to get a signal for the speedometer. So the considerations are as follows.

T5: the shifter mechanism is all contained in the transmission housings. This means that there will be no levers, rods, clips, or other mechanical things to interfere with the the driver's legs and feet. This might be the biggest factor in the decision process. The V-8 transmission has decent gear ratios, and the S10 T5 has the forward shifter location. So, with minimal effort to get the tailhousings swzpped, I have a transmission that gives good gear ratios, has a good shifter location, and should be able to handle the power, given that the Whatever project is going to be much lighter than a V-8 Camaro. However the size is a little bit of a concern.

T10: only 4 gears, no overdrive. External shifter mechanism. Has a mechanical speedometer drive. Smaller than the T5 transmissions and the case is smoother. Able to handle the power. Needs to be rebuilt, however I have most, if not all, of the needed parts. Gaskets and seals will be the only required purchases.

So, you may ask, why the diatribe? I'm ruminating over which option to go with, as I will A-start to do the work required to get the chosen option ready, and B-divest myself of the remaining transmission(s). Decluttering the garage is one of the goals this spring.

So weigh in with your opinions. It should be interesting to see what you have to say. And after the decision making process, I'll have some parts available for an interested party. I like swaps in case you are wondering... altho cash will work

[dave.g.in.gansevoort]

Somewhere buried in a old tool box, I have a hand me down "Dowling Jig". Someone gave it to my Dad, and he thought it would look better catching dust in my shop. I don't know if the instructions are in with it.
BUT ....IF.....for some Reason I need to USE It,
I know who to Contact.

Hey, I remember using one of those once. Luckily for the wood it was actually really easy to use. Simple minds need simple tools. I had a rock on my toolbox back at the paper machinery company. It was a really good hammer to beat the parts into compliance. My specialty was precision gears and bearings. A rock just seemed to be appropriate for when the engineer came out of the office to make changes. BTW that was before I got edumacated m'self. Ahh, those were the days, fat dumb and happy! My only concern was Saturday night at the track. Methanol fueled small block Chevy. New tires were the biggest expense, barring instantaneous disassembly.

[Captain]

Somewhere buried in a old tool box, I have a hand me down "Dowling Jig". Someone gave it to my Dad, and he thought it would look better catching dust in my shop. I don't know if the instructions are in with it.
BUT ....IF.....for some Reason I need to USE It,
I know who to Contact.

[DanStokes]

Mine are beachwood and they swell up when the absorb glue. Not flaky or yummy but they DO work to join (or rejoin) wood.

[dave.g.in.gansevoort]

Just like metal only you use glue and sometimes biscuits.

You'd never use my biscuits, they're too flaky! And buttery! Mmm, biscuits! And honey!

The system is acting weird! Just took a look after watching the last 5 laps of NASCAR (yes, I was napping), and it was asking if I wanted to discard or restoe previously saved content. That's it above, same as the previous post. It's not me! It's the ghosts in the machinery...

[dave.g.in.gansevoort]

Just like metal only you use glue and sometimes biscuits.

You'd never use my biscuits, they're too flaky! And buttery! Mmm, biscuits! And honey!

[DanStokes]

With age comes wisdom and patience. 2 commodities for wood working that I am sorely lacking! I have made a few things, just to be able to say that I can. But it was a lot of frustrating steps that just cannot be hurried. And like Captain said, I don't got no wood welder! Or board stretcher.

Just like metal only you use glue and sometimes biscuits.

[dave.g.in.gansevoort]

I do a little wood work in addition to the stuff you guys see on here. I enjoy it all. Here's a plant bench I made for ME. I also made our dining room table and a game table for ME's studio - and a bunch of other odds and ends.

With age comes wisdom and patience. 2 commodities for wood working that I am sorely lacking! I have made a few things, just to be able to say that I can. But it was a lot of frustrating steps that just cannot be hurried. And like Captain said, I don't got no wood welder! Or board stretcher.

[DanStokes]

I do a little wood work in addition to the stuff you guys see on here. I enjoy it all. Here's a plant bench I made for ME. I also made our dining room table and a game table for ME's studio - and a bunch of other odds and ends.

[Captain]

Only if they made a "Welder" for wood,
I could maybe then make something more than Wheel Chocks!!

[dave.g.in.gansevoort]

Well, I think that all of you have conjured up an image of how my mind works (or whatever you want to call it), and of course Dan knows from being exposed to the vagaries of the workings and also partially responsible for some of the odd musings. This leads me to the following: about a half hour ago, I was brushing my teeth and glanced at the mirror while the foam from the effort was frothing from my mouth. It reminded me of the comment Dan made about gluing and screwing the 2x6 base together for the English Wheel.

And I got to chuckling to myself over an image that popped into my head if I had done that. Can you all remember kindergarten, when you got to use the white paste glue? And the mess you made with it? Yeah, that would be me even today working with wood glue. So, no, it's not glued and screwed. It's just bolted together with a bunch of carriage bolts. Safer that way. No mess that way, and plenty strong enough...

Remember, I am not a woodworker. Wood trembles whenever I pick up a saw. It knows that it won't end well...

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

[dave.g.in.gansevoort]

World Wide Auto Parts of Madison www.nosimport.com

Thanks Dan. Those prices, even without a core, are below reasonable. I'm going to make an effort to get them to fit, and maybe later this year, off they go. And I am going to inquire about the possibility of converting to adjustable damping. I've seen it scanning the internet for Armstrong lever shocks info. It certainly could be done given a lathe and a few of the valving mechanisms to modify. But if the bits and bobs are already available, then it's just a matter of money...

And I got nothing real done today, because I had to move stuff around to be able to get the daily driver into the garage. We're likely to get Snowmageddon tonight! Well, at least the doomsayers meteorological people are. Prognostications are anywhere from a couple of inches to upwards of a foot of snow. But I left the snowblower in the garage just in case, so it will turn out to be a big nothingburger. But as we all know,

A failure to plan, is a plan for failure . And we both remember that happening back in the A-squared days.