Transmission

A year ago I rebuilt my Perkins 4-107 engine complete with new sleeves and pistons.  She run like brand new.  Poor ole rusty Borg Warner transmission has been sitting beside it for yet another year.  It's time to get it also rebuilt and get the power plant on board the boat.  Early last week I called Stewart Marine in Seattle for rebuild parts.  Not having cracked the casing open yet I didn't know the condition of the reversing plates.  Would they have to be replaced, too, which is normal not due to using them but from not using them.  The teeth wear from not using them.  ...  Great news :-) when I opened the case, after at least 25 years of idleness, the inside looked as if were brand new.  All the clutch plates were in perfect condition.  A tiny hase of rust on the inside top of the case but other than that ....
After removing all the parts I've been cleaning up the outside of the case, which wasn't "like new" at all.  There was no paint left on it.  There was no scale but was covered with rust.  The lighter parts i could wire wheel at the polisher.  I got a container of CLR and let the parts soak for a spell, then I put them in a heavy duty degrease to clean them.  After washing and carefully drying ... I'm ready for the first coat of self-etching primer.  ...  It's been cool and raining so I brought the casing in the motorhome, stood it up in front of my little heater to completely dry out the metal and keep it warm.
Yesterday was paint day.  ...  Oh, what's it standing on?  I needed to paint both the top and bottom so I stood it on a length of pipe with a couple in the middle for support.  Hope it doesn't tip over.  Hey, my new welding table works pretty good.