What To Do With My Saginaw

[KyleSeal]

Tore my truck down around July because my transmission blew a gasket and left gear oil in the iHOP parking lot, always told myself if anything with the drivetrain goes I'll redo everything, so here I am.

My question is, should I just replace the seals? Rebuild? It grinds going into 3rd unless I find that sweet spot, is that a common thing? I'd heard of non synchronized trannys that do that, so is that weird it does that? If I have to live with it I can, but if it's a simple rather inexpensive fix then why not. I have not torn into it yet to see what shape the gears are in, but I will soon.

its just a little saginaw 3 speed (used to be a tree, now its a floor shift.)
it also sits behind a 350 sb.
in a '70 C10 LWB.

[AcampoDave]

When you say re-do everything what did you have in mind?

[KyleSeal]

Repaint, new wiring, rebuilt motor (mostly), fixing rust, new rubber, carpet, rebuild heat, radio, basically a truck to drive, no huge flashy rims or paint job, just a nice cruiser.

[KyleSeal]

Something I can be proud to drive, in short.

[frankslagoon]

It's hard to tell lookin at the pics. is there any metel in the bottom of the tranny case? check the other shift fork and make sure they are not bent. I'm surprised it leaked that bad all at once. unless the tailshaft bolts came loose or something weird like that. Look at the syncro rings. pretty cheap for a rebuild kit really. Just a thought. might be a good time to think about putting a 4 sp. in. a sag. 4 sp. will pretty much go right in place of the 3 sp.

[KyleSeal]

frankslagoon, I did not see any metal in the bottom of the case from when I looked earlier but I will be sure to check again. If I recall theres a magnet down there to catch all metal shavings so I will locate that and check. All other bolts are tight, it can from the side cover. The side cover seemed to blow a seal, but upon looking I saw a hole in the side of the side cover which looks factory, but goes all the way through and basically let the fluid pour out (last photo). Should there be a plug there? Or a bolt? Doesn't look threaded to me. My other theory was the breather clogged up and pressure built and blew the seal.

[KyleSeal]

AcampoDave, normally I do the couple fix at a time thing but since the tranny blew a seal and my motor ate about 2-3 quarts of oil over a month with little driving I decided to get most my problems out of the way. The other problem I always ran into was I had to disconnect the battery when the motor wasn't running, or else it would die. I honestly prefer your method because I enjoyed driving it to high school but I guess it just didn't like going to college much. A lot like me you could say.

[KyleSeal]

Photos

[KyleSeal]

More
The last photo is of the cover plate, is it supposed to have that hole there?

[AcampoDave]

I dont know much about rebuilding trannys, but fixing it would allow you to check off many of the goals on your "re-do" list while still maintaining a functional vehicle. I personally find it more enjoyable to do upgrades litlle by little while still driving the truck. This route also works better for my budget. (kinda like an installment plan) just my 2 cents. Best of luck

[frankslagoon]

That third hole is where the pivot pin for the detent lever goes. this is a 4 sp. cover but the 3 sp is basically the same I think

[KyleSeal]

Interesting, didn't see that on mine, last guy probably forgot it. Thanks!

[KyleSeal]

Do you happen to know where to find one of those? I can't find one anywhere

[frankslagoon]

Well that's probably why it grinds a little. your lucky your shift linkage is adjusted perfect or you'd really have trouble. Maybe somebody has a sag. 3sp. for parts. you should just get a whole shift plate ass. I'll look around I think I might have one. but we are a long ways away. GM used that tranny in a lot of cars. The 4 speed parts might be the same I'll check that out tomorrow . all in all I'd say this is a pretty easy fix.

[KyleSeal]

So - just checked the gears and let the transmission roll freely.. gears look fine and the synchros looks actually good too, but down at the magnet, LOTS of shavings, looks like its growing hair theres so much. Also found the spring that goes on the cover, a bolt and some weird tube looking bolt on it too? Not sure, weird. So much shavings, but no sign of where it came from? This whole build gets weirder and weirder.

[frankslagoon]

there are some complete cover ass. on ebay for about 25 bucks.