Christi@n

In your opinion what are ram clutch benefits?

Or is it just a clutch standard swap when stock dual mass flywhee, that is not long available, is worned out?

ChumpVette

The benefit of Ram is getting away from crappy built components. The clutch slave, pressure plate and throwout earring being three of them. The Dual mass flywheels will eventually break down at the rubber seal and leak sludge all over the bellhousing. And there is no replacement dual mass.

Christi@n

Got it. Except for no replacement of dual mass, so who of us decide to keep the car over the decades, soon or later, replacement of flywheel will be necessary.

Tough after this swap from DMF to single billet piece, you don't get more vibrations?
​​?

ChumpVette

You can run a shim which helps the cluster rattle. Sprung clutch disc helps as well.

1993C4LT1

@grandspt Did you remove the aluminum spacer on the bell housing?

grandspt

Do you mean the thin spacer that goes in between the transmission and bell housing? If so I did not remove that. I cleaned it as well as the bell housing and took measurements with that thin spacer installed to figure out the shims I would need.
I needed to use all the included shims with the RAM kit to get the correct hydraulic bearing spacing .

1993C4LT1

Thank you very much!!

I forgot to say, the trans was just rebuilt by the bill b/zf doc. I went with his shim kit. He says it shouldn't have any gear rattle. But I do have it at idle and acceleration.

Anyways, took my dad and I 3-4 hours to get it on all 4 stands and get the trans out.

We noticed the rear wheels would spin on their own in neutral, when the car is in the air. That normal to have happen?

There was really nothing obvious. Other than a shim that appears to have some type of rubbing on it.

1993C4LT1

9T3VETTE

It's fine for the wheels to be spinning in neutral. Likely friction with the new pilot bushing

grandspt

The rear wheels spinning in neutral is normal, no worries.
The shim helps the gear rattle a lot but it does not eliminate it. My car still has some noise at idle until I press on the clutch. I also get more noise when I lug the car. I have owned my car since new and to me the dual mass flywheel is a miracle working device for quelling transmission noises.
Is my car a bit more annoying after elimination of the DMF? Maybe a little but it is not my daily driver and because it is a performance car I don't mind it at all.
I have driven many 60's muscle cars and they were all pretty damn noisy. So the Vette is not really that bad.
The biggest plus of the RAM conversion is everything that ChumpVette has said. Better quality parts for sure.
But one huge benefit is that the RAM clutch grabs really hard. There is no hesitation in the hydraulics when you engage the clutch and let it out it bites right now! Speed shifts with the clutch are immediate.
When my car was new there was always a slight slow engagement when speed shifting between gears (felt like the clutch was slipping a microsecond before it engaged). I think GM did this deliberately to cause less shock to the drive line. I have driven a '92, '94 and three '96 ZF6 Corvettes and they all felt the same.
The RAM conversion kit eliminates this slipping feel between gears.

1993C4LT1

Here is why we took it apart. The sound when the clutch pedal is pressed. You guys rock, thanks for the info.

grandspt

That is not the normal sound after converting to a single mass flywheel. Something is rubbing or not right with the hydraulic throw out bearing or shims.

1993C4LT1

yes, the slave lines were rubbing the pressure plate

1993C4LT1

I do want to re measure the shim clearance. Which I believe, I'll have to remove the bell housing to measure again. But my brain is half dead at the moment.

pedricd

I bet your shim spacing is fine... the hoses need to be parallel or preferably angled towards the surface of the bellhousing (remember that bolt that is removed and replaced with a "flush" bolt?)... This ensures the hoses do not touch the PP when the TOB extends fully. That's probably all it is...I had a problem with this too the *second* time I put things back together (I don't know why I messed with the hose angle but did). I was able to twist the fittings towards the bellhousing without pulling things apart and had no further issues.

Since you have it apart you can rough double check your measurements but I doubt it would be out enough to cause this.

Sorry for not hopping on this thread to help for a while, have been super busy personally and haven't been able to jump in.

pedricd

I drilled two holes (yeah nobody shoot me please). Because my first hole on the passenger side was in a bad spot (documented in my other threads). The other is on the OTHER side of the bellhousing (driver's side) so shouldn't effect strength at all. This allowed me to fix my hose fitting angle without pulling everything back apart...I didn't mention it because the first time I installed I had everything fine etc... but when I went to pull things apart again I somehow yanked on the hoses and angled them towards the PP (noticed it but didn't think it mattered WHOOPS).

I also have suggestions for hole plugs that work really well:
1960-1970 Body Rubber Plug - For 1.25 Hole Diameter, Eckler's part number EK-41-14193-1

1993C4LT1

All good, you have been lots oh help! Here is what Mike, from RAM, told me. "

You could 'cheat' this by measuring from:Face of the bell (trans side) down to the clutch fingersFace of the bearing fully retracted to the face of the transwhere it bolts to the bellhousingThe second measurement should be .1 50-.200" shorter than the first."

1993C4LT1

So the first measurements we got, we didn't use a dial caliper. Just normal ruler. This time, an electric dial caliper.

The instructions say once clutch is bled, the trans in 1:1 gear, the driveshaft should 'spin freely with clutch pedal depressed." It did.

But these new measurements, are way off from the first. The new measurements, with all 3 shims, we are .216 slave travel. Which is still above the .200 max RAM specify for slave travel.

I spoke to Mike, from RAM, and he says I should be fine. Still, I'm very paranoid now lol.

1993C4LT1

So my dad and I finished up the install.

Wayyyyyyy less gear rattle now. Almost non existent. That said, my trans was rebuilt by zf doc. Blueprinted and shim kit. Not sure why there is less gear rattle, but it was apparent right away at first start.
@pedricd @grandspt Did you guys only bleed it at the bleeder line coming from the slave? We bled it there, with me pumping the clutch and my dad at the bleed line. I know ZF Doc says we shouldn't have any bubbles in the clutch master when the clutch is pumped. I do get the smallest bubbles, but not many. The car doesn't shift butter smooth. Bill says it should. Sometimes the shifts are smooth, other times it isn't.

So far, I fave put around 50 miles on the car.

I'll post up my thoughts and install tips later this weekend. And video as well.

grandspt

When I had the stock setup I only bled at the slave and used a Mighty Vac for bleeding. When I switched to the RAM conversion I bled at the braided line (RAM supplied bleeder screw) coming from the hydraulic throw out bearing. I installed Teflon tape around the Bleeder Screw threads to eliminate any potential air that comes from around the threads when bleeding. With the RAM conversion I used my Mighty Vac also. For me the Mighty Vac was the way to go as I was alone doing the job both times.
Glad you got it working!