Early 79 FLH 4 speed trans build

By Dan R

Click on pictures for larger view.

It has what are called caged rollers and a ratchet lid top.
Same trans was used late 77 to 79.
It has no kicker but one could be added at any time.

These are the sealers and thread locker I used on this and every build......


From the left, hylomar (blue goo) and it is used on all paper gaskets here.
Center is an anorobic sealer in the blue tube (red goo) and this is good for metal to metal joints and also makes a good thread sealer.
Last is bearing and stud mount loctite (known as red weld here) that I used to set all studs in the case with. Why loctite the studs? A few reasons, first it keeps the studs from backing out if you have to remove the trans and also to seal the studs into case, stopped many a leak this way.
After all the studs have been pulled and replaced with loctite it's time to install the maindrive gear caged roller. Made a simple press tool that will remove and install the roller to the proper depth. Always press on the lettered/numbers side of this type of bearing. it is pretty easy to crush the outer case of this type bearing pressing from the wrong side.



The bearing is just below the flat side thrust surface inside and outside of the case. it's not a good thing to rub the bearing shell sides with the maindrive gear or the seal sleeve. note the step on the press tool.

Next in line is the seal in the main drive gear. I had to make a tool to press the seal in it's bore. Don't even ask how many seals I screwed up before the tool, I will just say lots and lots. It also has a small (.050") step to put the seal just inside the end of the gear.....

After the seal is in the maindrive gear, slide the gear through the bearing in the case.
next in is the mainshaft and all it's parts.....

Press the gear, ball bearing and bearing outer retainer shell on the shaft. Install the lock tab and nut to hold it all together on the shaft.
It's very easy to bend the shield of the bearing, use care bending the lock tab.

The shaft bearing and gear slide in from the kicker end, passing through the 3rd gear, thrust washer, snap ring and the 3-4 shifter clutch. Third gear wont pass through the hole in the case so this is the only way. Note the thrust washer and snap ring is in place here......



Once the mainshaft with all it's parts are in, install the retainer plate and oil deflector (top screw)

Now is the time to install the mainseal and sleeve.
I like to use the red goo on the case to seal press fit. The idea is to make sure oil can't leak past through scratches in the bore made by others seal fix it jobs.


Pressing the seal with a Jim's tool.

The countershaft group of parts are next. note this one from an FLH has the speedo drive gear...


First on is the bushing, countershaft second gear, thrust washer and snap ring...

Next is the countershaft first-second gear shifter clutch, thrust washer, bushing and then the countershaft first gear.

Here is the countershaft and it's parts ready to go in the case. note the groove for the "o" ring in the shaft.


Once the counter shaft gears are in, the proper thickness thrust washer must be found.....

Now install the lock plate, nut lock and nut in the kicker end of the case...

Lots of stuff in a ratchet lid huh? I even left 3 parts out of the pic.......


The 2 points shown on these gears will need to show through a hole at the same time when the gears are meshed right with the drum and shifter gear in neutral. (oops, bottom scrib moved up just a bit)

Install the spring, gear, shaft and cotter pin into the lid. the shaft must line up with the notch as shown (shaft) and the small rib on the gear at the neutral switch hole....


There are timing marks on the shift shaft gear and the shift drum, both hard to see. Best way I found to make sure all is timed right is to look in the drum detent hole (far left hole) neutral switch hole (right hole) and have them all fall in line with the shift shaft groove in the spot facing forward like this.

Clear as mud huh?
Next up is the ratchet back steel plate. this plate has a slight adjustment possible to time the ratchet parts.
With the shift drum turned to the third gear spot align the notch of the plate with the shaft notch like this...


Pack the spring channels with a good waterproof grease and pop the springs in....

Next is the shifter pawl carrier, pawls and springs. Don't over load the pawls with grease, just a light coat here. Sluggish shifting will sure happen in cool temps. note there is a groove in each pawl, it lines up with a roll pin in the bore that it slides into and keeps it from spinning, these pins wear off and cause all sorts of shifting problems.....

Once the pawls and springs are in, install the cover and screw to keep them in.
Install the forks on their shifter clutch and slide the pin in. make sure not to loose or drop these rollers in the case now....



Now to check and adjust the shifter forks. start by placing the gauge on the dowel holes of the lid. adjust the blocks to align with the long grooves in the shift drum and lock them down with the thumb screw....

Place the gauge over the rollers on the forks and make sure the dowels locate the gauge.....

Doing this will make sure the shifter clutches are centered between their gears in neutral.

If they are not exact centered, the forks can be shimmed either direction.....

Just move the shims from one side to the other or ad more if needed.

No better time to install the sprocket than now before the lid goes on. I lock the trans in 2 gears at once (low and high) to keep the main drive gear from turning. use loctite (red weld) on a "NEW" nut (left-hand thread) and nut lock, used stuff will bite ya here and work loose.....

Geez, ya think this will ever end?

I oopsed again here and ran out of batteries and didn't get the throw out bearing and push rod pic before I buttoned up every thing.

Here is a shot of how I test for leaks....

It's nothing trick here, just an old clutch hub, belt and a 1/3 hp electric motor. I fill the trans with car automatic trans fluid for testing. Atf does a few things for me here. First it cleans all the grease out of the rollers so oil can flow in easy, it's red so leaks will show quick and it's thin so the electric motor spins it easier. U let it go like this for a half hour shifting into all gears a few times. Then I drain all the atf fluid and refill with a full synthetic 75W90 gear oil.