T-20 Upgrade

[whipper-ag]

I'm sure everyone feels the same about those horrible U channels that control the plungers. They rock back and forth and snap against the T-20 case.And add all kinds of slop and play to your laterals. The old Borg-warner trans used steel levers that pivited on a dowel pin pressed in the case.I figured out a way to achieve the same smooth operation using your existing U-channels.I drilled and tapped the case at the right angle to accept a 1/2" shoulder bolt. then drilled a 1/2" hole in the U-channel to fit the shoulder bolt. And made special spacers to shim the U-channel up to line up with the plungers.BINGO! Works absolutly perfect. It now pivots without a sound.Now you can use a hiem joint mounted inside the U-channel so it pulls the levers straight. Any one who owns a max knows how annoying that snapping is because RI set up the control rods on one side of the U-channel so it tries to pull it sideways,and the spring is hooked to the other side pulling it the other way.Any adjustments needed are done as before.
I will bring this T-20 to the Ledges so everyone can check it out. Think about it the next time your T-20 is apart.

Whipper

T-20008.flv - Video - Photobucket - Video and...

[mudbug3]

Whipper ,

Thats a great mod for those of us who own T-20 machines . Can you post a picture showing how the heim joint inside the U-channel works ?

[whipper-ag]

Originally Posted by mudbug3

Whipper ,

Thats a great mod for those of us who own T-20 machines . Can you post a picture showing how the heim joint inside the U-channel works ?

I'll post a picture when the heim joints get in.

Whipper

[mad_max_500cc]

not a bad idea at all !!!! the other thing ive seen done is to actualy drill the case for the dowel pin and use the old style linkage. the u-bar style case halfs are cast a little shallow where the boss is that you drill the hole in, but the dowel pin still goes in deep enough for it to work just fine. id like to take a closer look at that set up of yours at ledges!

[George]

Very cool Whipper.

I wonder if RI is watching.

[mad_max_500cc]

what i like most is its like having the best fetures of both styles the old style bar setup always gave solid push and pull on the plungers with the piviot point solidly mounted with more of a true nutural feel in the center but a pain in the but to adjust and easy to lose lock clips......where the u- channel was easy to adjust but all that slop and not directly pushing the plunger back kind of gives you less feel plus the side loading of the channel because of the spring on one side and the linkage on the other..... this sounds like a great soulition for for the problems of both setups!!!!

[budresiew]

I have the old lever style Borg-Warner design in my Max II. Works great! It is amazing that a 37 year old t-20 still works perfect...I put new bands in two years ago along with a seal and gasket kit...everything else is still 37 years old. I bet the change to the brake channel design (the current max style) goes hand in hand with the addition of the lever return springs. I don't think many machines using the t-20 back in the day had the return springs....so they would have needed a more positive acting linkage. Just my guess.