There are two tasks that give even ambitious amateur restorers pause: upholstery and transmission work.
They're more alike than you might think at first glance. Both require tidy, non-greasy and decidedly un-shoplike facilities--some old shop guides recommend a "surgically clean" bench for transmission work. Both require a steady hand. And if something goes wrong with either job, you can't simply beat the workpiece with a hammer until it starts functioning again.
From our personal experience, though, much of the hesitancy that accompanies the prospect of transmission work has to do with not fully understanding how the concept -- delivering adequate power to the wheels while permitting the engine to operate within an optimal range -- is simple enough. But it's difficult to wrap your mind around how, exactly, a bunch of spinning gears transfer power from the engine to the rear wheels. Throw in a reverse gear and all bets are off.
Enter the 1936 film reel "Spinning Levers." Produced by Jam Handy for Chevrolet, it uses a series of increasingly complex models -- much like those used in "Around the Corner," which dissected the differential -- to make both the concept of a multispeed transmission and its actual operation easily accessible.
Once the basic concepts are out of the way, the film explores the idea behind multispeed transmissions and synchromesh gears, which make smooth, quiet gearshifts possible for less-experienced drivers. It even adds in reverse gear for good measure.
This isn't a highly technical guide to transmission rebuilds, but that's exactly why we like it so much. You're still going to want to find a shop manual and scrub down your workshop before cracking your transmission case, but at least you'll have a better grasp of how the gears contained inside work in concert to keep you moving efficiently down the road. Just don't ask us what dark magic makes automatic transmission possible -- that's a topic for another week.
There are two tasks that give even ambitious amateur restorers pause: upholstery and transmission work.
They're more alike than you might think at first glance. Both require tidy, non-greasy and decidedly un-shoplike facilities--some old shop guides recommend a "surgically clean" bench for transmission work. Both require a steady hand. And if something goes wrong with either job, you can't simply beat the workpiece with a hammer until it starts functioning again.
From our personal experience, though, much of the hesitancy that accompanies the prospect of transmission work has to do with not fully understanding how the concept -- delivering adequate power to the wheels while permitting the engine to operate within an optimal range -- is simple enough. But it's difficult to wrap your mind around how, exactly, a bunch of spinning gears transfer power from the engine to the rear wheels. Throw in a reverse gear and all bets are off.
Enter the 1936 film reel "Spinning Levers." Produced by Jam Handy for Chevrolet, it uses a series of increasingly complex models -- much like those used in "Around the Corner," which dissected the differential -- to make both the concept of a multispeed transmission and its actual operation easily accessible.
Once the basic concepts are out of the way, the film explores the idea behind multispeed transmissions and synchromesh gears, which make smooth, quiet gearshifts possible for less-experienced drivers. It even adds in reverse gear for good measure.
This isn't a highly technical guide to transmission rebuilds, but that's exactly why we like it so much. You're still going to want to find a shop manual and scrub down your workshop before cracking your transmission case, but at least you'll have a better grasp of how the gears contained inside work in concert to keep you moving efficiently down the road. Just don't ask us what dark magic makes automatic transmission possible -- that's a topic for another week.
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