With the lift installed the only thing to do was put it to use. I’ve been stalling on tackling transmission leaks for three years. Tackling this job with the car on jackstands would be close to impossible. With the lift it should be merely difficult.
What transmission leaks? When the transmission was rebuilt I got a packet of O-rings to seal various cables and tubes going into the transmission. I was told to make sure I replaced them, as the old ones would probably leak.
I misplaced the packet, got in a hurry when putting the engine and transmission back in the car, and used the old ones. They leaked. Of course I found the O-rings long after everything was back together.
The transmission pan also leaked. There is an updated pan gasket that is supposed to cure this problem. It helped, but didn’t eliminate the leak.
Aftermarket transmission pans have much thicker flanges than the stock factory pans. This helped further reduce the leak, but didn’t stop it. At least the extra two quarts of capacity in the new pan makes it less likely the transmission will be damaged to due to low fluid.
So, up on the lift and start tackling the problems!
The job quickly turned into a nightmare.
With the car fully assembled it was difficult to get to everything. Removing and replacing the buried cables was slow and painful, but finally done.
Put everything back together, fill the transmission, and test operation. Mostly works, with the exception that the parking lock doesn’t release. 1963 was the first year that Imperials had a parking lock inside the transmission. I’ve had trouble with this mechanism before, but got it to work. Run the lift up and start playing with adjustments. Couldn’t get it to work. Krud.
Drain the transmission again and take the parking lot actuator apart. Play with it a while, put it back together, and try it out. Now the transmission is unlocked – but it won’t lock!
Spend three days fighting it. Take it apart, tweak, put it back together, test. No change. Try every adjustment I can find in the manual. Nothing. Try every possibility that I can come up with. Nothing. The lock/unlock mechanism works perfectly when I do it manually, but using the parking lever in the shifter will not move it into the locked position.
Krud on a shingle with a side of despair!
Sit down and glare at the Imperial with heartfelt hatred while reviewing every failed attempt over the last three days. A tiny still voice in the back of my head casually remarks cables have two ends.
The shift mechanism on the other end of the cable is deeply buried in the most tightly packed and inaccessible part of the dash. Crawl under the dash, contort into a position where I can see the end of the park lock cable and the lever that moves it. Shine a flashlight on it.
The cable is partially broken with several strands sticking out. And it is bent to the side, kind of mushing around when the park lever is moved rather than moving in and out to operate the parking lock mechanism. Yeah, that would explain the problem…
Further contort my tortured body to the point where I can get my hand on the end of the cable and straighten it as much as I can. Work the parking lever and the cable goes in and out more than it did before. Carefully wiggle out from under the dash before my entire body locks up into a single massive cramp.
Try the parking lever. Lock and the rear wheels don’t move. Unlock and the rear wheels move. Try it several times with the same results. And there was rejoicing!
But not much rejoicing. The parking lock cable is failing and needs to be replaced before it strands me someplace. Finding a new one is going to be “entertaining”. Replacing it will be a nightmare.
With any luck this repair may be illuminating. Foreshadowing?
And I haven’t said anything about the nearly stripped bolts securing the transmission pan…
Let’s call this job half done and take a break.