[mechanickeith]

Originally Posted by Chiefkey

Keith..I've been following this discussion and was wondering about your last comment regarding the "2 splined pieces and 4 hard rubber squares". I'm nearing the point of installing my drivetrain back into the car after a lengthy rebuild and not sure I've seen the items you're describing. Any chance of a more detailed description or pics of the items in question ? I've got several torque tube shafts as well as the pump drive shaft and coupling that it slides into within the front extension housing Just not sure where the 4 hard rubber pieces come into play.
Thanks,
JK

The coupling will slide apart. Its hard to describe, the rubber pieces are inside of the coupling & a thin sleeve goes inside of the coupling & holds the rubber pieces in place. None of the books show it very well & none have an exploded view. I will dig one out & see if I can get a picture posted up of it together & apart.

[Chiefkey]

Thanks Keith.... I'm looking forward to see what your describing. This has got me a little "spooked" as I don't remember seeing anything like you've described, and I sure don't want to put it back together without all the right pieces.
Thanks,
JK

[mechanickeith]

Here should be pictures of the coupler & exploded views.

[Chiefkey]

Thanks Keith ! What a relief... that coupling set-up is only on the 61-62 with the powerglide transmission according to my parts requisition book. Mine is a 63 with the "Tempestorque" version of the powerglide which apparently uses a different shaft which receives the splined end of the propeller shaft directly into it. Leaves me wondering why the change. Maybe they simplified the design with the updated "Tempestorque", or it was simpler and cheaper, or they determined the first design wasn't working as well as they would like. I'm guessing those rubber pieces may have deteriorated in short order and caused customer complaints about the clunking. Who knows !
Thanks,
Jeff

[mechanickeith]

Are you running the 4 cyl or V8? I was under the impression that this coupler was used in all the 4 cylinder cars because of all the vibrations when the engine was shut off. It was because the torque converter wanted to still spin around while the engine was trying to stop, causing a lot of back & forth rotating vibrations. The torque shaft would absorb a lot of it but not all.

[Chiefkey]

I have the 326/Tempestorque automatic. The Pontiac Parts Requisition book I have shows the set up you showed for the 61-62 coupling and shaft parts and a completely different design for the 63 model. However, it does list two different part numbers for the extension assembly #3818510 for the T4 and #3828925 for the V-8 but all the other parts shown in the exploded view are listed for 1963. But just to make things interesting on page 16 it shows #3829320 for 63 V-8.
What you're saying makes sense though given the odd vibrations the 4 banger must create. Either way, thanks for your help with the photo's, at least now I can proceed with my project without worrying I missed an important piece.
Thanks,
Jeff

[mgarblik]

Thanks for the pics of that coupling. I don't think that assembly is used on the V-8 Tempest Torque unit in 1963. But I have very limited experience with these units. The transaxle I started this thread about will finally be removed tomorrow and I will know for sure how it is coupled together. I purchased some parts from Fastco Transmission parts for this. They have exploded views of the 61-63 units. From the parts page, it appears the 61 and 62 units are very similar. The 63 unit seems to be totally different in almost every respect, both internally, externally and by part number. Almost nothing interchanges, from simple gaskets to internal hard parts. It looks like Pontiac redesigned the 63 Tempest torque from the ground up with the intention of using it for more than 1 year as an orphan transmission. We will see how the project goes tomorrow.

[mgarblik]

Well after a day and a half of work on a 63 Tempest V-8 with an auto transmission, I can say the removal and replacement of the transaxle is fairly difficult and very heavy for it's physical size. If I had to pick a single most difficult step in the process it would be the installation of the six fasteners, three on each side on the upper mounting bracket on the final drive. Those holes have to line up perfectly or the fasteners won't go into the rubber insulators on each end. Other than that, it was fairly straightforward. One other item is that the unit seems like it must have 10 gallons of ATF in it. Every time you move anything, a giant puddle of ATF pours out of some opening. BTW, there was probably a quart of ATF inside the torque tube. It ruined the rubber insulators on the torsion shaft of course, so I had to replace them as well. Quite an oily mess. Hopefully it will be finished tomorrow and the customer can go on his happy way with a truly unique, way ahead of it's time collector Indian.

[mgarblik]

Well, the Tempest transaxle + project is complete and the customer made the 80 mile trip home. The replacement transaxle is much quieter and has excellent shift feel and shift timing. Very happy with it. It took about 9 quarts of fluid so the converter must have had some in it from testing at the rebuilder. The new insulators in the torque tube provide a really nice torque transfer with no vibration. This Tempest has a 455 four barrel engine so the little Tempest Torque is working pretty hard at times I imagine. I would estimate it at a little under 300 HP but lots of torque. Overall, I am very pleased with the results. Total time about 21 hours, including some brake work, oil change and a few other small repairs along with the entire transaxle.