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Rebuilding the 46rh aka 518

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Old 03-11-2008, 11:54 AM
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Rebuilding the 46rh aka 518

I'm rebuilding my transmission and posting the progress to my blog. I thought posting it here would be redundant since BC has such an excellent write-up on his build. If you want to follow along you can find it over at my blog at Joel's Garage. It's got tons of pictures and lots of step-by-step. Comments welcome here or on my blog.

This is what I've done so far:
Rebuilding the 46rh, AKA the wimpy A518, Transmission
Transmission Bands
Tear Down
Cleaning Up
Mr. Delivery Man Arrives in a Van
Part 1 Rebuilding the O/D Section: The Governor
Part 2 Rebuilding the O/D Section: The Output Shaft and Planetaries
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Old 03-11-2008, 12:14 PM
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That's a nice write-up Joel.
Old 03-11-2008, 12:17 PM
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Thanks BC. My intent is so that people surfing the web, like us, can find the info they need to do this on their own. I never would have had the guts to tear into this before I started reading the posts on this forum. Thanks guys!
Old 03-11-2008, 05:22 PM
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My guy in Wichita wants to exchange a rebuilt(better built) 518 for 2497.50. He says that some are lockup. 2 wire or 3 wire. Wanna; does that make sense or not to anyone?
Old 03-11-2008, 05:28 PM
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2 wire is non-lockup. 3 wire is lockup. BUT...there's no such thing as a lockup 518/46rh. Don't know about a 46re. I know that was never an option. A 47re or a 48re are lockup.
Old 03-11-2008, 08:09 PM
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JD, BC, and others,

What's the "intermediate shaft spacer"? Is this a snap ring? Just before you measure for the overdrive thrust spacer I'm supposed to measure for the intermediate shaft spacer with a special tool. Do I need to do that? BC, you make no mention of it in your writeup.
Old 03-11-2008, 08:34 PM
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If memory serves me correctly that selection of spacers is no longer available. Mine was within tolerance so I left well enough alone.

Mike (JD730) may know better.
Old 03-12-2008, 09:16 AM
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Ok, but how did you figure what you should have? The "special tool" is basically a shaft of a certain length you put down into the planetary and over-running clutch of the O/D.
Old 03-12-2008, 10:21 AM
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Originally Posted by Tuckerdee
2 wire is non-lockup. 3 wire is lockup. BUT...there's no such thing as a lockup 518/46rh. Don't know about a 46re. I know that was never an option. A 47re or a 48re are lockup.
There were gas 518's that had lockup.

Originally Posted by Tuckerdee
Ok, but how did you figure what you should have? The "special tool" is basically a shaft of a certain length you put down into the planetary and over-running clutch of the O/D.
I made my setup tool, the diameter is the same as the intermediate shaft where it slides into the overdrive, the length is 5.500", I will confirm that with the one I have at home later. There is another post here somewhere with that information in it.

I would check that spacer, I've seen too many of them worn right out. There's supposed to be 4 different thicknesses.
Old 03-12-2008, 10:25 AM
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JD, thanks. That's the dimension I was looking for. I'll check it for sure.
Old 03-12-2008, 10:44 AM
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Another post to my blog:

Part 3 Rebuilding the O/D Section: Assembling the O/D Direct Clutch
Old 03-13-2008, 05:17 PM
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Another post to my blog:

Part 4 Rebuilding the O/D Section: Readying the O/D Case
Old 03-13-2008, 08:27 PM
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Joel,
Thanks for posting your rebuild on your A518! This will be a help to me, as I plan on pulling my A518 this coming fall - for a winter rebuild.
Old 03-14-2008, 09:00 AM
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Hey no problem. Glad I could be of some amount of help.
Old 03-14-2008, 11:20 PM
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Another new post to my blog:

Part 5 Rebuilding the O/D Section: Installing the Output Shaft/Planetary Gear/Overdrive Direct Clutch in the O/D Case


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