arcticcatmatt

^ No idea on miles. I was told it was a drag car in Flordia for alot of its life. I am just going to get a new pressure plate and clutch and throwout bearing. Might as well, I am sure they were abused. Flywheel is getting redone at a shop tomorrow for $50. They will tell me if its saveable with the holes being messed up.

I need a new pressure plate and clutch combo and there are a million choices. Some are SCI? certified and some are not. Is that a scam? The setup is a 11" clutch. I need 26 spline 1 1/8 dia clutch disc. There are so many choices of pressure plates and clutch disc material I don't know what to do or how to pick what I need. One place told me my car is probably max 450 lb/ft torque. I see organic, kevlar, and others.. I see centerforce (dual friction, centerforce I and centerforce II), american powertrain, hays.. ugh

gkull

SFI As parts blew apart and maimed and killed people. Sanctions like the NHRA decided to require certified tested parts. It is kind of like if your head is not worth much, why put a helmet on it?

Everybody has their favorite clutch. My advice is to get the best stuff you can within your budget. I just hate cheap stuff because in the long run it fails and it cost you twice as much.

I saw your crank stripping bolts. They were rusted from the back side and you removing them (I think) stripped out the holes. I've sprayed and soaked stuff for days to try and not ruin threads

You can drill out and tap to a threaded steel insert

arcticcatmatt

^I agree with all that. Thanks for the explanation
Curious if anyone has any input on that stuff.. going to place an order today most likely

gkull

I have had the Centerforce DFX 11 inch. I have beat it up for 4 years now.

http://www.centerforce.com/clutches....n=clutchtypes#

http://www.lethalperformance.com/tra...spline-p-14106

arcticcatmatt

Thought I would toss in an update here.. Parts have arrived and work is progressing.
I bought a brand new hays 10-130 30 lb steel flywheel and installed it. The bolts are 7/16 so the paperwork said torque to 70-80.. I torqued them to 80 with blue locktite. I sandbasted my bellhousing and painted it, I went to dial it in but my dial indicator is too big and I can't even mount it with the bracketry, to big. So I need to get a test indicator and that is holding me up. My HAYS flywheel that came off it is going up for sale. A local auto machinist shop resurfaced the flywheel and helicoiled 2 holes so it is good to go. I would be running it if I didn't jump the gun and order this new one UGH but it was too late to cancel my order. New the hays 10-130 is $275 on summit. Asking 140 obo for it.. all resurfaced and ready to go as soon as I pay my bill on it and pick it up tomorrow.

Crossmember blasted also and painted. Bracket on and ready to bolt into car

New dual friction centerforce pressure plate and clutch disc. The clutch disc looks different than the one I took out

New centerforce throwout bearing. Its a little shorter than what came out and I do not know why

Lots of new parts from Wilcox. As usual FAST shipping and great people with a good price. My car didn't have most of this stuff in it, I am sure the heat getting into the car will be brought down alot!


As soon as I get the proper test indicator for dialing in the bellhousing I will bolting together like a mad man. I hope someone is enjoying following along here and the photos. This is starting to cost me much more than I had anticipated

EDIT - I forgot the pilot bushing! That was a pain till I figured out the trick. I had a round piece of metal turned down to the inner dia of if and filled it with wet paper.. a few wacks and it came out! Grease was NOT working and was a nasty mess. Here is the youtube video I found on that for those that have to do this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xuR7T8G1Ys just tapped in the new bearing with a hammer

MyRed69

I couldn't find a small enough gauge so after talking with the guys at A/P they told me the indicator does not have to fit ALL the way inside. The back end can poke out (mine is riding on the inside in the pix) as long as you set up the angle to keep the plunger riding along the hole. I used a shorter post on the magnetic hold down to attach the gauge. It took a bit of time and finesse but it worked. I ran the numbers at least half a dozen times (even brought the wife in on it to confirm the numbers) just to be sure. I removed the gauge, and re-attached it and then ran it again. All that because i didn't want to pull the trans in a couple of thousand miles for a bad shaft or bearing...

flyingman21

gkull

Do a search. I posted pictures of dialing in my Lakewood bell housing.

I also couldn't use my big mag base dial indicator until I figured out that all I needed to do was bend the arm on the base. Then it road over on the machined surface and the rod came through the hole

arcticcatmatt

I forgot to thank you for the pictures. THANKS!!
Well figured I would update this thread for those interested. I had another thread going about my runout on my bellhousing. After installing .007 offset dowel pins I got it within spec.. the worst it is is .004 total and it has to be less than .005 for the TKO install so I am good to go

Ran the tranny thru the gears as it says to do in the instructions, good to go

Note to people reading.. install the clutch fork and throwout bearing BEFORE putting the bellhousing back on. I had to do it twice
I am trying to research if I am supposed to lube the face of the throwout bearing where it rides on the fingers. I am thinking no, its a bearing for a reason.
I had to put in a new tunnel insulation clip and install the new insulation.

tranny install tomorrow I hope. Inlaws bathroom remodel has been interfering

tshort

Hate to say it but you might have to remove that insulation. My TKO sits up against the top of the tranny tunnel w/o the insulation. Another thing, I had to notch the trans poly mount holes to allow me to push the tail of the trans over to the driver's side. I have the upgraded yoke with billet caps and the caps were hitting the passenger side of the tunnel. It only took a few millimeters. You may have better luck since all these cars (especially the body) were essentially hand made and they all have little differences.

If you haven't already (wasn't apparent in the last pic), run your new speedo cable before trying to get the trans up in there. I see your old cable hanging down.

arcticcatmatt

^ Thanks I just re-ran the speed down the driver side of the bellhousing. I just worked on it for 4 hrs.. that sucked. I am working alone but managed to get the tranny up 4 feet onto my tranny jack and up into the bellhousing but I just can't get it that last 1/2 inch. I don't know if its not going in my pilot bearing or if the TKO is hitting my bellhousing. The TKO has a "boss extrusion" on the front of it that I seen was hitting my bellhousing. I am going to go out and mess with it again right now. I know its getting into the splines as I used the alignment tool. I just rechecked it and it still goes in fine.
Someone told me to finish installing the clutch Zbar and have my wife get in it and depress the clutch pedal while I insert the transmission.. don't know if that is true or not.

gkull

No don't hook up the clutch. If you are the last 1/2 inch it is just the tranny shaft hitting the edge of the pilot bearing. You need another person to muscle the tail shaft around until it stabs in


Don't be tempted to suck it in with a bolt


When you tighten the PP to the fly wheel is when you have to ensure that the clutch disk is perfectly centered with the alingment key

arcticcatmatt

^ Yeah I was tempted but I know thats a no no. I just spent the rest of the evening trouble shooting. Props to American Powertrain for answering their 24/7 365 tech help number and giving me advice.
I tore everything back apart to check things one at a time.
My bellhousing does fit the transmission and it fits tight, there is NO wiggle room or play on it.
The input shaft of the transmission does go all the way into the pilot bearing.
I put the clutch/pressure plate back together with the alignment tool and the tool easily slides in and out of the assembly. I put the bellhousing back on and then tried again and still.. 1/2 inch to go ugh!
Now I just did a bunch of searching on here and I read a guy having the same problem. He had someone push in the clutch pedal while he was at that last 1/2 inch and it then went in the rest of the way. That makes sense to me because this plastic clutch alignment tool is 'sloppy' in comparison to the precise numbers this process entails. It wiggles around and is then held wherever tight where you last wiggled it by the pressure plate. Ideally, there would be a tool that precisely lined up the pilot bearing, clutch disk, AND bellhousing together before tightening down the pressure plate, but of course you can't get to those bolts with the bellhousing on.
I am thinking I am going to assembly the Zbar linkage and have my wife press the clutch pedal while I have the input shaft inserted in there. Perhaps if the clutch disk would wiggle a little bit that would get me into the pilot bearing easier.

I was hoping to be done with this by now. It is very discouraging, especially after going to carlisle this weekend and looking at everyone elses cars.

Gordonm

I have done it a few times that way and had no problems. Just have her push it down adn wiggle it in there. It should go in no problem. Just don't pull it in with the bolts as said above.

AzMotorhead

A tip I have for stabbing the trans is. Get some 4" bolt the size thats used to mount trans to Bell housing. cut the heads off . Thread those into the bell housing. Now bring trans up onto those.
Using the studs like that I've done several clutch jobs and it really aids in installation. You can let the trans rest on the studs when your arms get fatigued.

gcusmano74

Make sure the ID of the new clutch disc is clean of paint. It can bind on the trans input shaft, and then you cannot shift the trans. I put a Hays disc in my 74 last year without checking that. I had some trouble getting the trans onto the bellhousing and didn't think.
Guess who did the whole job over again the next day?

iokepakai

Just finished my TH350 to Richmond 6 spd swap and also used the press the clutch trick for the last inch or so.Here's my write up..http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...am-change.html Good luck...

brando1118

arcticcatmatt,
I may have missed this suggestion earlier in the thread, but when I was struggling with a T-10 on a 71 Trans-Am 20 years ago I faced the same issue you are facing now. I just couldn't get past that last 1/2 inch. All holes lined up, but no dice. Well I jacked up the front of the motor one inch by placing a small piece of wood under the front of the oil pan being careful to avoid the dampner. If you have soft motor mounts, the motor will tilt backwards and angle down just a tad. The T-10 slipped right in. Oh, and be careful of your distributor!!
Good luck!

arcticcatmatt

It worked! Transmission now in. I had my wife press the clutch pedal and it went in that last 1/2 inch after I wiggled it. The top driverside bolt was a pain!! but I got it. Crossmember is also now bolted in. Driveshaft going in tonight. I'll post a photo later tonight I hope. Then headers and sidepipe install and I can test drive this...$8,500 later (lift/tranny kit/vette parts/clutch/flywheel/pressure plate)

gkull

I thought about the depressing the clutch idea. All I can think of is if the clutch disk is skewed slightly it could hold the tranny input shaft slightly out of centered. Depressing the clutch frees up the disk to move and now the shaft is free to be centered