Bead blasting transmission gears

I have an older T-14 V-6 tranny I traded for and it had water in it at one time and has some rust. Was thinking of glass bead blasting to smooth them up. ANyone ever do this? Also thought of Walnut Shells also as it would be a little more gentle on them. Most rust is on the sides and synchro's. I could maybe put in and run to clean up, but was thinking of doing something else to clean most of the stuff up.

 

Also, where is the best and who makes the best small parts kit for the T-14?

 

I can say I had good experience with crushed walnut shells. Electrolysis could be an option as it is a simple process and clean.

 

I would lean towards electrolysis or have an engine rebuilder hot tank them for you and follow it up with a good wire brushing. A lot of gears are case hardened after they are cut and its not that thick you could abrade it off exposing the softer metal which will wear faster. Pay attention to any areas where needle bearings ride as these shouldn't be pitted from corrosion. T.J.

 

Don't use any sort of abrasive material on the gears it Will damage the hard facing on them. use a wire brush or have them hot tanked.

 

I did my 360 manifolds with electrolysis and they came out great.

 

You can bead blast them. Just make sure it is on 40 psi or so. I have done a few like this , even did the tooth face. There wasn't any issues with them after the fact. My t18 has 20k on it after the rebuild and it's alright.

If you are using aluminum oxide as the abrasive you aren't going to hurt them.

 

What is the "recipe" for the electrolysis? Is that a stainless rod or will copper work...like 4/0 bare? I can Borrow a piece of that from work.

I was leaning towards the Walnut Shells but aluminum oxide may be OK also. The electrolysis would do a few more parts also

 

Evapo-Rust works very well, no material removeal...

toolman_ar

 

My first T-90 had water in it for a long time. All the gears had varying degrees of rust. I put a wire wheel on a drill, buff the rust off, put new bearings and synchros in it and drove it for years until I sold it.

 

I am sooo going to do this. I know it won't be hard for me to find some rusty parts around here. I make more every day.

 

I recently removed the T-14 from my '70 jeep to fix second gear. Second gear would grind, whether upshifting or downshifting. I was pretty sure the synchronizer was to blame. I used the Novak T-14 rebuild kit:



The kit came with good instructions and I followed them, with lots of questions to ITLKSEZ. I used Herm the Overdrive Guy's online instructions for removing and reinstalling the overdrive.

The Novak instructions have the rebuilder inspect the gears and bearing surfaces for any rust or pitting. The instructions say if the hard outer layer of the gears is pitted, the transmission will wear quickly and it's not long for the world. Some of my gears were far beyond the lightly pitted phase. It looks like the transmission must have sat open in a junkyard in a nearly horizontal position. The part of the gears submerged in oil are fine. The parts above the oil line, exposed to water and air, are heavily pitted.



At this point, the transmission is what it is. The amount I drive it, it'll probably last a long time. Indeed, the old 2nd gear synchronizer would spin freely on the second gear shaft cone. The new synchro correctly slides on the cone and engages 2nd gear.

Here's the rebuilt transmission about to be re-mated with the transfer case.



I haven't reinstalled the transmission/transfer case back in the jeep yet, so I can't claim victory. Hopefully, soon, I will. This is the first time I've ever opened up a transmission.

 

I got a gallon of Evapo Rust today. I am going to try that and try the electrolysist of some and see how it goes. No biggie on the rebuild end, just looking for decent parts. I used to carry a complete set of parts for one in case I broke it at a race and wanted to get it going again. I later just brought another whole tranny/transfer with me in case. Did swap the input shaft one afternoon that I broke but after that it was a spare. Also sold the spare at a race also...got enough to buy 2 more.

 

If you use the electrolysis, when your done put the gears in a tray in the oven and heat them to about 170-200* for several hours to drive the gas bubbles out of the steel from the process, it will cause hydrogen embrittlement if you don't. This temp will have no effect on the gear hardness.

 

Does anyone know how novak creates their rebuild kits? I think going by look alone they just use a crown cheap rebuild kit and throw in their hardened shafts and call it a kit. but I don't know. does anyone here know the real answer?

 

Call them and ask? Eric is an honest and forthcoming guy...

 

Wow, Hydrogen embrittlement, I haven't heard of that since the 60's. When building custom motorcycles we would get our spokes chromed. The owner of the Chrome shop we used would tell us to do what you just mentioned, or our spokes would break. I did it, never broke a spoke, but always wonder if it was true. It must be, you are the first person I have heard say it in 40 plus years. Thanks.