555 Torque Converter and Engine Install

[JimFord555]

New torque plate cantered and mounted to a freshly rebuiltrebuilt torque converter at a local one man shop called Island Torque Converters in Victoria BC I was very impressed with.

I needed a new bushing in my transmission hydraulic pump housing and as ford calls for the whole pump to be replaced I couldnt find a replacement bushing

TC guy got a new bushing intended for a Ford atx transmission out of cars like ford escort from the 80s. pressed it into the housing in 5 minutes

Using my dial indicator secured to the block and reading the torque converters rear hub by rotating the flywheel by hand. I continually removed the TC and re installed it one bolt hole over. I was getting measurements like .060 - .015 out. Until I hit .003 . Wanting to stick with this I removed the bolts one at a time applying high heat lock tight and torquing to spec. After re checking Im at .010

Engine Install:

The manual calls for the TC to be left in the transmission and mated to the flywheel after the engine is bolted up to the transmission housing. It says to start the bolts then turn the engine over a few times for proper alignment. This is done through a small access plate on top of the transmissions bell housing.

Bern has said he prefers the engine to be mated to the trans with TC/TP mounted to the flywheel already and uses dowels for alignment.

My plan:
-engine suspended by a neighbours excavator from quite high to allow a long pendulum effect making manoeuvring easier.
-2 slings under the oil pan at each end of the engine attached with a chain jack each to a common point for front to back angle adjustment.
-4 threaded dowls will make alignment easy and avoid damage to the new pump seal

As this is not the procedure in the manual what is an acceptable reading for out of true for the TC shaft ?

Should I loosen the TC bolts to allow a small amount of play and rotate the engine before tightening to spec through the access hole ? Or is this defeating the purpose of this method

Here is a video of where Im at
https://youtu.be/BEj7PumaWS4

Any advice is much appreciated

 

[juniur]

I have split a bunch of those backhoes and loaders
over the years. I install the torque converter in the
pump, with the flex plate bolted to the converter. My
reason is I didnt want to take a chance at
damaging the pump drive or the seal. Then put the
engine back to the transmission there is an access
for the flex plate bolts with the starter removed.

 

[Bern]

Juniur's method assumes that you have centered the torque converter to the flex plate using the factory centering tool. Since you don't have
that tool, and instead elected to center the TC to the flywheel with a dial indicator instead (which is perfectly fine, better in fact), then
you've wasted your time if you pull it back off and slip the TC into the front pump first - you'll have no way to get the assembly centered
again. So, you're forced to use my method of installation.

Before you do that though, I'd try and get your runout below 5 thou. You said you had it at 3, but when you finished you were at 10. That is
still a fair bit of runout unfortunately.

When you go to put the engine back in, make sure that you use two 5/8 coarse-thread dowels, approximately 6 long, threaded securely in
place, one on each side (at 9 and 3 o'clock). Before you start to slide the engine on, however, use a flashlight to carefully note where the
tangs are located in the trans front pump. Then turn the engine until the two mating tangs on the TC are 90 degrees apart from that. So, as an
example, if the tangs in the pump are at 12 and 6 o'clock, then put the TC tangs at 3 and 9 o'clock.

Now then, as you start to slide the engine onto the dowels, when you're still 4-5 away from joining, make sure that the engine is as parallel
as possible to the transmission, in BOTH the up-down as well as side-to-side planes. Use a tape measure to confirm this - get it as close as
you can. Once you're certain that the engine is as straight and parallel as it can be, slowly push it in until it stops. At that point, grab
your 1-1/8 socket and 1/2 breaker bar and turn the engine slightly back and forth to align the splines. Be sure to only turn the engine back
and forth maybe 20 degrees either side of your starting point, so as to not allow the tangs on the torque converter to butt up against the
pump drive slots.

I've done it this way many times with great success. If you follow these instructions carefully, it should go together smoothly, and you won't
have to fight with any bolts through the starter hole and/or the top of the transmission cover. That sounds like pure misery.

Also, I'd be a little leery of using an excavator boom to support this thing. If you have no other choice, I'd use a small chain hoist
suspended from said boom and use that to make your fine adjustments.

Your bushing looks great. I knew that a trans/TC shop would be able to come up with something. I bet that saved you some coin.

 

[Bern]

The older Ford hoes did not have the ability to do that. On his machine, the bolts that secure the TC plate to the flywheel come in from the back, not the front.

 

[juniur]

Bern,
Youre exactly right. I hadnt even thought of that. Im thinking 555B and later had the access at the starter and bolts from the front.

 

[JimFord555]

Thanks Bern and junior I will follow Berns method

After 25 times of loosening and tightening with a range of .007 - .030 I have finally found the .003 and have it torqued in place once and for all.

Im blown away how something with 8 bolts can go from .003 - .010 by removing one bolt at a time then torquing to 32 ft/lbs.

Ill have chain jacks front and back to adjust angle and can measure trans and engine face to face top bottom and side to side before sliding onto dowels.

I have 5/8 coarse thread ready rod that threads nicely into the trans but feels sloppy when put in the corresponding holes in the engine block. I feel the tolerances could be smaller. I could always use 4 instead of 2

 

[Bern]

I use 6-long bolts with the heads cut off for dowels. The smooth (unthreaded) portion of the bolt is slightly larger in diameter by at least .010. Having it smooth will make the engine slide easier as well.

One thing I forgot to mention in my last post: Put some Vaseline on the converter snout so that the seal is not running on a dry shaft during start-up.