Did you solve the ticking problem? Just curious.

I'm not sure if I solved the 'ticking' problem. It is intermittent. I am suspecting that it is the parking brake cable vibrating on the exhaust. It's one of those things on the 'to do list' still.

I don't know how I missed this one! 
Glad ya got it handled, tho.
One thing I would check, as far as the "ticking" noise....check to see that your distributor cap is fully seated on the distributor. Lot of times, when the trans is removed, the engine may hang down far enough for the dist. cap to bump/rub up against the firewall or wiper motor, knocking it a little off center. When you fire it up, the rotor will hit in the wrong places, and "tick" every revolution. Just a thought.

Brudder Joel I wudda never thought of that. I mightta strained for it on a Auto Tranny but wudda overlooked it on a speeder.

Ah guess dats why ya makes da BIG $$$! You Da Man...

Joel, do you work in the automotive business??

[QUOTE=dskopp]Joel, do you work in the automotive business??[/QUOTE]

Whatever gave you that idea?
Actually, I'm a book-keeper in a whore-house....(can I say that here?)

Naw...really...I've been in da arotomobile repair business for....EVER.... I been doing trans-a-missions for aboot 30 years now, and tinker with the rest of it...

I just put together a basket  job 1978 4 speed  road tested it and it seems the trans is noisy in all gears except 4th. Is this normal or?

No! A 4 speed that makes noise in all gears BUT 4th has a bad bearing, or a damaged countershaft and/or input shaft.
It really depends on what kind of noise we're talking about.
Grind-growl-howl-squeal-squeek-,etc.

The one exception to this would be the Muncie M-22...nicknamed the Rockcrusher for the noise it makes...


Welcome to C3VR!!!
Adams' Apple2010-01-06 21:15:50

It's a howling noise, and is completely gone when I shift into 4th.

Well...that's not good!
That will be one of two things...neither of which is fun. You may have a bad rear bearing on the mainshaft, or....more likely, the needle/roller bearings(all 100 or so of them) inside the cluster gear are bad, which would also make the cluster shaft bad.
To explain, the cluster gear is hollow, and has a shaft that runs thru it, called the cluster shaft. To keep the shaft and gear from rubbing, and wearing, there are a series of needle bearings around the shaft, that roll against the cluster gear. These bearings are basically free-floating, and have to be inserted individually into the cluster gear, and then the gear installed into the trans case, then the cluster shaft is inserted thru the case and the cluster gear.
When these bearings, or the shaft itself wears(over time, or due to rust), it allows the main gears and the cluster gear to separate and not run where they should, which increases the clearance between the gears. This is what makes the noise. The rear bearing on the mainshaft, if worn, will cause the same noise, since that also allows too much clearance between the gear sets.
The reason the noise goes away in 4th gear is due to 4th gear being "direct drive", meaning it is a straight shot from engine to differential, with no gear reduction. This keeps any pressure off of the cluster, so there's no noise when in 4th.
If you have a noise like this in all gears, it could be the input(front) bearing, since it has pressure in all gears.
Sorry to say, but your noise isn't going to go away...the trans need repairs... You might be able to drive it like this for a long time, and not have any problems, BUT....the damage will get worse, and more parts will be damaged...

One other thought...if the gear surface of either the input shaft, or the cluster gear is damaged(teeth broken, severe rust, etc.), it could cause a noise in all gears but 4th, also. Gear damage like that, however, usually is more of a grinding, clunky noise. The trans is still in need of repair, either way, imo.
Adams' Apple2010-01-07 06:16:22