540 vette

Put one in my 502 last night and then put the bell housing and clutch assembly together. Tried the trans and it wouldn't slide into the bushing. Took it out and bought another one. Put it in the freezer and then installed it, tried the trans again. Won't slide in. Read everything I could find. Any ideas.

Jebbysan

The clutch disc is slightly off center....binding it up at the spline when you install.......
See if somebody has a cutoff input shaft you can borrow to center it up if you are not already using one.....the clutch tool that comes in most kits is garbage......

Jebby

540 vette

The problem is when I try to put the shaft in without anything on the flywheel. It still won't go in. I am going to clean it up inside with a grinding stone and see what happens. I saw it in a thread on here when I was searching. Thanks.

Ryan Menzies

Have you tried the bushing on the input shaft to check the fit before you installed it ? Perhaps a bellhousing alignment issue ?

540 vette

Yes I did. Slide on and off very easy. So did the first one. I am working on the bell housing issue now.

Jebbysan

Ah.....your first post said with clutch
Maybe the input is slightly mushroomed....I agree, stone it.

Jebby

The Punisher

Had the same issue with my 4 speed swap. I ended up ( not recommending it ) bolting the trans in and letting the bolts pull it in

540 vette

If I jiggle it it slides in.

Gordonm

I hope you are talking about your input shaft

540 vette

That one to.

0Willcox Corvette

Go to the crank shaft pulley bolt with a strong arm and turn the engine slightly... It sounds to me as if you have a splining issue and that might cure it.

540 vette

I'll try that. What do you mean by splining issue.With the engine on the dolly it went in when I jiggled it. You know when I do it under the car it will be a pain in the butt. Thanks.

Ryan Menzies

So Flywheel on the engine and NO clutch assembly, jiggling the trans will allow you to slide the trans in flush to the bellhousing or is the bellhousing installed on the transmission and then trying to install the trans/bellhousing assembly onto the back of the engine ?

Also, I think Willcox is assuming that you have the clutch on the flywheel as well. Spline issue he is referring to is the clutch disc to input shaft splines (I believe.)

540 vette

I set up the clutch with the trans. The trans wouldn't go in just the flywheel.

Ryan Menzies

Huh ? I'm confused.

540 vette

When I set up the clutch I used the trans instead of the aligning tool they give you. I had the engine on a dolly. At that time I had cleaned up the inside of the pilot bushing so the trans now slide in.

The trans wouldn't go in just the flywheel, I meant it wouldn't slide into the pilot bushing. Sorry for any confusion.

69ttop502

Could the bearing retainer be hanging up in the bellhousing flange? Sometimes having someone press the clutch pedal while you push it in that last little bit will work, if it is indeed a spline issue.

540 vette

The bearing retainer was also a problem. I had to clean that up to get it to fit. All new parts nothing fit right.

centralcalvette

The pilot bushing has a beveled edge that faces the transmission. Is it installed correctly?

Make sure the clutch disc moves easily over the transmission input shaft before you continue.

Use a clutch tool with splines to set the clutch disc. Before you tighten the pressure plate bolts, and the clutch plate will move with the clutch tool, notice that the clutch tool has some play. That is to say that you can move the clutch tool somewhat due to the slop involved.

Move the clutch tool so that the disc is centered on the tool and the same amount of slop exists at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock positions. Tighten the pressure plate and make sure the tool will go in and out of the disc with very minimal friction. Put a small dab of grease on the inside of the pilot bushing, excess grease will cause a hydro lock and prevent the pilot shaft from entering the bushing.

Use a large floor jack (try to avoid one of those chinsy "trolley jacks") or transmission jack to install the transmission. Set it up so that the transmission is supported, at a similar angle as the engine, most importantly, make sure that the transmission moves easily on the jack,allowing up, down, left and right movement as you insert the transmission.

Should go easy easy as pie...

ignatz

How are you supporting the transmission? My strategy and others around here is to cut the head off of four long bolts and screw them into the bellhousing. This provides a nice guide path. Not perfect but close. You only want a bolt with a short length of thread and the rest smooth. Also I cut a slot in the end so I can get them out with a screwdriver. A bit of setup work but definitely makes the job go more smoothly. If you want more info about what size bolts, I can head out to the garage and see what I have.