This story is about detailing a C6 tranny for Mustang Club of America (MCA) show duty. But more than that, it's a story about detailing a transmission for show. Sometimes as much can be "shown" on a car by the undercarriage as by the topside. Many folks have been seen on their knees oohing and aahing over the freshly detailed undercarriages of some of the best cars in the nation. The transmission, be it C6, C4, three-speed, or four-speed is a huge part of the undercarriage of your Mustang and so should have a high degree of detail to match the rest of the underbelly of your steed. Although one might think that a transmission would be devoid of anything that would require detail, we can see from the shots in this article that that's not really true.
The C6 did not turn out to be as colorful as the four-speed we detailed in the June '99 issue, but it does have its high points, and there are several detailing tricks to pass along. We also worked with Classic Tube to get a set of stainless steel transmission lines to complete our job.
The transmission, like most...
The transmission, like most that come out of vintage Mustangs, was purely nasty. Dirt, oil, and transmission fluid covered the bell housing and tailshaft housing. We used Simple Green and Dawn to clean the case enough to discover several markings.
One was the 10904 that was...
One was the 10904 that was on the driver's side of the case. This china marker number corresponded to the 010904 on the tag attached to the servo on the passenger side.
Another mark on the driver's...
Another mark on the driver's side of the aluminum case was this 7817 that must have been either stamped or stenciled on. It was worn to the point that we were not sure which method was used, although we were sure it was not handwritten.
The transmission was rebuilt...
The transmission was rebuilt to stock specs by a local shop that cleaned the case and tail shaft further. This transmission still had its R servo and CJ valvebody. Our transmission guy said that the tranny was all-original inside as well.
After the rebuild, the transmission...
After the rebuild, the transmission was placed on an engine stand and cleaned even more thoroughly with mineral spirits and a nylon brush so as to not disturb the look of the aluminum.
After the mineral spirits...
After the mineral spirits dried, we used a paper towel soaked in Matrix brand paint's K9000 Wax and Grease remover to make double sure we got all the oils and grease off the case. The shift and kick-down arms were painted Cast Coat at this time. After the Cast Coat dried, we taped off everything we could not remove.
We then used some Eastwood...
We then used some Eastwood Alumablast to coat the entire case. Be forewarned, however, that when the C6 is on its "back," the trans may leak fluid from the overflow tube on the passenger side. Better to leave the tranny upright and use a strong light to illuminate the underside while you paint. After the Alumablast dried, we applied a dust coat (shown) of Cast Blast to knock back the finish to a more correct dull color.
The case, after casting and...
The case, after casting and machining, would have had bright areas where the factory machined the metal away for mounting pads and mount points. We duplicated this look by using Bright Silver paint. The contrast is correct and adds that final touch to the case.
After the case dried, we went...
After the case dried, we went back over the exposed hardware that we had taped off using a brush and some Duplicolor Cast Blast. We used this paint because it tends to be glossier than the Eastwood paint and therefore better-suited to the heat-treated hardware. Note the red shift rod positioner (arrow); this piece is often missing from or broken off of C6 transmissions that have seen a couple of rebuilds.