352 Gearbox Reverse Indent Mechanism

[jlmullen2]

I am attempting to remove the rear gearbox chassis bracket on my 352 gearbox. The car is a 1973 Twin-Cam and I've removed the engine and gearbox. The gearbox is separated from the engine. According to the shop manual (Section F, page 6), to remove the chassis bracket from the gearbox you first remove the three bolts securing the bracket to the rear of the gear box. You then remove the nut securing the reverse indent cam and knock out the pin from the cam. This is where I'm stuck, I can't drive the pin out of the cam. It's a very small diameter roll pin and I've tried using penetrant spray, then attempting to drive it out using a drift. So far all I have done is slightly mushroom one end of the pin. I'm hesitant to hit it much harder as I'm afraid I'll damage it further.

My purpose for removing the chassis bracket is so I can clean and prep the gearbox for painting while waiting for my engine to be rebuilt. I can clean and paint the gearbox with the bracket still mounted but it would be much easier to do it if the bracket were removed.

The other roll pins (shift linkage and half-shafts) came out much easier and I'd rather not damage this roll pin and possibly make the situation worse.

Has anyone had this issue when trying to remove the roll pin? Any secrets or tips on doing it?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Larry Mullen

[jlmullen2]

Just to bring this to a close, I was able to get the bracket off my 352 gearbox this evening. I was chatting with Joji (Grumblebum) and he suggested I look at Certified Lotus restoration postings as he did quite a bit of work on his 352 gear box. I found several photos which helped guide me in what to do (Thanks, Glen!)

The secret is to just make the access hole in the gearbox bracket big enough to allow removal with the reverse indent arm still in place. About 20 min with my Dremel and a cut-off wheel and I now had a hole big enough to allow the bracket to be removed. I think I noticed on Certified's car that the bracket had a slot cut into it essentially doing the same thing.

This is yet another example of how valuable this board is.

Larry