I tend to get overwhelmed easy so I decided to break this into 3 separate steps on my truck. I dropped my transmission first and just finished a complete rebuild and clean up on it. It looks brand new now. I even painted the stamped servo cover and the pan in gloss black. I cleaned and painted the cross member also.

My motor is somewhat of an unknown to me although it cranks right up and doesn't burn any oil. At any rate my second step is to pull my motor, clean it, regasket and repaint. I'm also going to install a new rear main seal just in case and check the cylinder walls for ring wear and also take a look at some of the bearings and the crank surfaces. I don't expect it will need a rebuild but this will tell me about how much longer I can expect to run it before having to go through the motor. Regasketing will hopefully ensure it never gets as cruddy down in there as it is now. I plan to clean up and go through the carb while its off as well.

While the motor and trans are out, the third step is to completely clean up the engine compartment, front frame area, front suspension and around the transmission where it has slung oil and power steering fluid for years. Once that is done I'm going to stab the engine and trans back in together which makes that part a little bit easier.

If you sit one of these cars up for a length of time without running it the transmission pan gasket will dry out and crack or shrink up. When you start running it again its sure to leak across the front. Sometimes people crank down on the pan bolts to try and fix this which just bends that part of the pan around the bolt holes up. Then it won't seal up properly. I had to tap all my trans pan bolt holes back down with a hammer because of this.

 

I would pull the whole deal out as a unit. The time you won't spend on your back or getting up and down is worth it. You don't mention where the leak it but if it's the transmission (toploader?) then it's probably in the front where the idler shaft is inserted. Make sure to put some silicone there before you put it back together.

 

I have just pulled my 4sp trans out of my 66 during my Holiday vacation. I had to put the car up on car ramps on all 4 wheels to get enough space and keep the car level. Then did all the work while rolling around on my back, it worked, but not a lot of fun. I would suggest pulling it all out at once.

 

Pulling the trans. laying on your back is a pain. It can also be painfull. If you can get a cherry picker, pull engine and trans. together.

 

If you have a capable friend and a nice set of ramps & jack stands, pull the tranny by itself. Otherwise, pull the whole thing at once. I've pulled it and put it in by myself (4 speed), but it was a hell of a job and left me hurting for a week; bench pressing a toploader into place while simulataneously stabbing it thru the t/o bearing & into the pilot bearing AND attempting to get 2 bolts started is not much fun; with 2 people it's not too bad.

 

The car has an automatic transmission. I'm not sure of the orgin of the leak, but it appears to be toward the front of the tranny. I'm thinking pulling them together might be the best. Especially since I'm detailing both the engine and the engine compartment. Thanks! Kevin