stratplus

Wouldn't ya think that there should be a grease fitting in the clutch z shaft. This would supply grease to both ends??

Has anyone installed a grease fitting?

wmf62

many of us have. just drill and tap it (or get a self-tapping zerk) in a spot you can get easy access to it.
Bill

Plasticman

Best to remove the cross shaft and clean it out, so that metal shavings from drilling/tapping don't aggravate the situation.

But yes, add the Zerk fitting! GM really screwed up there.

Plasticman

chris ritchie

Pumping grease in that cavity seems like it'd be awfully messy. There's a lot of volume in that bar. And it's open on both ends. There's felt washers that blocks off the ends some. It gets warm in there, so the grease would be runny.

Anybody done this?

wmf62

yes..
Bill

Plasticman

Yep, on all my early Vettes. Had my 70 Vette for 247K daily driven miles, and always greased it, and never had an issue with the clutch (other than replacement once of the disc and throw out bearing).

If you use a good quality moly fortified EP grease, grease runout is very minimal (if any). Besides, which would you rather have, grease that has "run out" (or is past it's "prime") and is no longer doing the job, or a way of replacing that grease without removing the cross shaft?

Plasticman

tentuna

If I remember correctly there is a felt oil wick on the frame side, why not oil the wick and by the block grease it with your finger and avoid the mess and haslle of the grease fitting and filling the cross shaft.

Plasticman

Huh????? Oiling and greasing with your finger is not going to put the grease where you need it. There is just no way of effectively forcing grease into those ends without removal of the cross shaft or via the added grease fitting.

The felt is more to keep the grease in, and dirt out. Oiling it will not lube the ball stud one iota. But grease does get "worn out", so if you want to play "remove the cross shaft" to properly grease it, so be it.

I would rather remove it once, and never have to do it again (to add the Zerk fitting).

Plasticman

67L36Driver

It would be simple to slip in a wood dowel 1/16" smaller in diameter than the tubing bore of the bellcrank. Take up space and use a lot less grease.

JohnZ

That's what I did on my C1's and my Grand Sport - used a wood dowel about 2" shorter than the tube, cut a groove along its length to connect a 1"-long cavity at each end with the grease fitting hole at the center (instead of filling the whole thing with grease), and it worked like a charm.