Pedal Play and Trans Rebuild

The Mustang Steve pedal bearing kit worked as expected. I simply drilled out the old bushings and welded on the bearing keepers and reassembled everything. That said, I did deviate some from the instructions. I moved the pedal spindle toward the rear of the car 1/2 inch. This was to allow some wiggle room for my hydraulic clutch master cylinder. Before, the adjustable push-rod was set at its minimum size and I still had to shim the MC off the firewall 1/4 inch to get it to work. Now, the MC is flush on the firewall and the clutch works great.

The old bushings were worn out and I had substantial lateral pedal movement. Now, the pedals only move in the plane that they are supposed to move in.



My Tremec 3550 had slightly less than 10,000 miles on it before its rebuild. Tremec transmissions enjoy a well deserved reputation for being solid transmissions. My friend at Mr. Transmission was skeptical that my shifting problem was transmission related since I have a custom clutch actuation setup. After all, it is much more likely that I messed that up than getting a faulty 3550.

Note: I do not abuse transmissions. I am past the age where street racing and power shifts are fun.

Once they tore it apart, it was apparent that I was not the guilty party. I was told that the run-out for second gear was twice the maximum called for in the specifications. That led to the dogs being able to pass each other which ground them down, or at least that is my understanding of what they told me. Also, 5th gear was missing one of its needles in the needle bearing, and it was not found in the case. I guess my transmission was the last build on Christmas Eve at the factory. With the fresh rebuild, the trans works great.

Winter in Florida often makes for perfect top-down driving, so I am once again thoroughly enjoying driving the car.