Read up some and at this point would prefer to replace stock flywheel/clutch with a non conversion from the DMF Dual Mass Flywheel. My current ones are toast. And I need this shipped now...
Intent is drag racing, road course, and open road races...plus I take 600mile trips often.

So I assume I need the this one for flywheel:
https://www.summitracing.com/search/...s?fr=part-type

• https://www.summitracing.com/parts/f...model/corvette FINDANZ 198501
• https://www.summitracing.com/parts/r...model/corvette RAM 2534
• https://www.summitracing.com/parts/c...model/corvette CENTERFORCE 70017

Clutch:
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/m...model/corvette

 

I just went through all of this with my 96 LT4. Had to replace flywheel, clutch, fork and ball stud, master and slave. I did everything but the bellhousing and the clutch lines.
I went with the Fidanza. If you go that route you will need to use some paint thinner and clean off the green or blue coating they have on the mating surface. The surface is steel and they coat it so it wont surface rust when waiting to be sold. I didn't clean it off and had some issues with it.
I have been told, and you will read here, that all pressure plates come from the same place in China and are not always made properly. I went with a Carolina Clutch stage 2 setup with throw out bearing included. It was recommended to me to send it to the ZFDoc and he found mine needed work. He did his magic and sent it back. They don't all clamp evenly. He can make so they will. The flywheel will come zero balanced so keep your Dual Mass and take it and the new flywheel to a machine shop that can match the balance of the old one onto the new one. Then you will probably want to replace the slave and master cylinder. But that's up to you. After it was all said and done I have $1,100.00 in that setup for a stage 2.

If I do it again I am going this route. Hell I might do it just for the just because.... Hahaha!

https://ramclutches.com/c4-corvette-conversion-kits

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/r...+5d261f405691b

Here is a link to a guy installing it.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...tail&FORM=VIRE

 

Side question, but where did you get your ballstud from? I only found one place selling it, and they listed it as "Universal" for LT1/LT4/LT5 applications.....but the ballstud on the LT5 is actually different, and when I tried to contact them to ask what spec it was, they never bothered to respond. So if you have a source, that'd be great!

 

My issue right now is Im traveling a lot for work, so I cant run things around to machne shops. And Im not doing the work myself.

It just needs to bolt in and go, and Id hate to pay for labor on stock replacement parts when Im going to beat on this hard.

 

So you are collecting the parts to have the shop install?

Since you can't run around in circles like I did for a couple weeks getting it all sorted before I installed it I would give Bill at http://www.zfdoc.com/products.htm a call and tell him your situation and your goal. He can certainly point you in the right direction on how to get the parts you need and in the proper condition prior to giving all the parts to your shop.

If your shop is sourcing your parts then it's on them to get it all correct. You just want to make sure they do it, like the balancing and the pressure plate setup.

 

I'm ordering the parts and having them shipped.

"Reputable" shop, knowledgeable well raced person but not necessarily Corvettes much less the LT4 and zf 6 speed. He know automatics well, though. I said dual mass flywheel and it didn't ring a bell with him so that was alarming.

I may just have the flywheel resurfaced. Father offered to run it to a shop to check. Seems like going to Single Mass flywheel I may need additional work ??? and such. And install a McLeod or other clutch.

I may have to let the car sit and call the zfdoc. Might as well.

Thank you for the feedback

 

If you install a single-mass flywheel you need to make sure you go with a sprung clutch disc in order to somewhat reduce gear chatter. It won't reduce it as much as the dual mass flywheel did coupled with the unsprung clutch disc, but it'll be a lot better than nothing.

In addition, regardless of what pressure plate you go with, they're all manufactured in the same foundry in China, and they're almost guaranteed to be out of spec. It's highly, highly recommended to send it to ZFDoc to have it corrected before attempting to have it installed.

Further, the OEM dual mass flywheel is balanced to the engine it's attached to. So if you go about replacing it, make sure you have the new flywheel balanced to match the old one.

Good luck!

 

I got my new fork and ball stud from Melrose Corvette. I think it was around $165 for the pair. But they work.

 

Another vote for Melrose. I used the fork/ball stud from them and have not had any issues. Although, I did have to grind the ID of the fork down a bit to fit over the bearing.

 

If you are going to stay with the original DM flywheel you will need to check the rotation amount to make sure it is not worn out. Your shop can do this. Problem is you wont know this until you take it apart. If it is bad then you are stuck waiting for the new one and you WILL have to have it balanced to the old one. The FSM states the Secondary flywheel, the mating surface, rotates around the primary flywheel, the inner section that mounts to the crankshaft. The secondary flywheel should NOT rotate more than 35mm. If it does then you need to replace the flywheel.

I used a sprung clutch disc as mentioned above and I installed the thicker shim on the secondary shaft, $60.00 for a shim and dust cover. I only hear chatter just off idle. The rest of the time I don't hear anything. If you are going to drive it hard and track the car some don't worry about it. Everywhere you read it says this gear chatter is not a problem. The ZF6 was used in buses and being quiet was not a priority of the manufacturer. But when Chevy opted for this thing in their flagship car they had to use something to get it quiet, incomes the DM flywheel. Those originals worked well but now when they are bad we are out of luck. Mine was bad.

If you really want good usable parts for your mechanic to install there will be some leg work in getting the total package all in one box ready to go. I am one who likes to "while I am in there..." change stuff so I don't have to go back to it. That's why I did opt for the new fork and ball stud plus I saw some rub marks on it. Plus I installed a new slave cylinder as well since mine had sat for years. I went with the Napa one. Well it turns out I have had that transmission out 3 times so far. I can do it in my sleep...I am not proud of that by the way. Original pull with the engine overhaul. When I replaced the shim on the counter shaft I accidentally not knowing cut the dust cover seal. Its coated in soft rubber. Once the whole thing was back together and sat there for a day there was transmission oil on my driveway. Replacement requires removal of the transmission. I did pull it all apart and put a new one and it is not leaking. You cant just buy that dust cover by the way. Yeah I had to buy another shim kit at $60.00. When I installed the new flywheel I did not clean off the green surface covering material. Fidanza states it will wear off in about 20 shifts when the flywheel is up to operating temperature. When I first started the car after a complete overhaul of the motor and new clutch my son and I were ready to drive it. It had been a long time coming. We roll down the driveway I hit the brakes and the pedal slowly goes to the floor. Pull around the block slowly and back into the driveway. Park the car. Come out the next day and it wont go into gear. I start messing with the hydraulics. Spent a week messing with it. Bleeding and changing and bleeding and bleeding. Turns out the clutch disc was glued to the flywheel surface. I had gotten the flywheel coating just hot enough to get it sticky and it stuck the disc to it when sitting there clamped over night. I had to take it all apart again. A simple tap with the nylon hammer and popped loose. Clean the surface of the flywheel and the disc. Back together and so far it's been working good. Smells bad sometimes but that is going away with use.

Since these cars are no longer a normal day to day driving vehicles all over the place finding good parts and knowledgeable techs to work on them can be challenging to say the least. I have found just getting under the car and figuring it out myself has been the best way to go. I understand you don't have the time so it would be best to use a mechanic that has had a shop open for at least 25 years. Or someone who has been in the business a long long while and has first hand experience working on LT1/4. These setups were in Impalas Camaros and Corvettes. I am very lucky to have a friend, now retired, who owned a shop and spent 100s if not 1000s of hours on these cars, not as much on corvettes but tons on the Impala and Camaro. His knowledge and understanding of these cars and their quirks has been priceless through my rebuild of this very expensive free 96 LT4 I have. LT1/4 are very close and most of the diagnostic stuff is the same. And now that he is retired he doesn't mind pouring over my little issues and actually diagnosing and locating the problem before just chunking parts at it. He is teaching me alot about how to be my own tech and not just some guy chunking parts at my car. I still have an idle issue I cant resolve but that is whole different story.

 

Thanks.

I will not be using the original DMF. A local established clutch shop said no on resurfacing.

I am still trying to nail down the correct flywheel/part number, though. Since it's the LT4 and zf6speed 96. And I will plan to have it balanced to the original DMF.
I may try to get away with the stock hydraulic assembly for now.

This is the 1st I've heard of the shim kit. From the zfdoc I presume. I left a voicemail with him on Friday. That may be something I do a bit later. I need to take the exhaust back off soon anyway.

I'm still planning to get the Super Street Pro McLeod clutch...I think its a sprung clutch... but I'm not a clutch/flywheel/tran guru by any means.

I'd much rather be working on this myself and will be able to make time soon...I was just trying to get it back on road quick and thinking it was a minor issue....I was letting my 17yr old son drive it to school. That's one way to find the weak spots in your car I take it. ha. And my ex isn't happy about the vehicle situation for my son at the moment.

I really enjoy the car and was thinking I had money to play with instead of paying up for a c6. This LT4 gets no respect I think. It's growing on me. I was considering the LS swap at some point but I'm thinking I'll see what I can do with this. Also, this mechanic said I should throw it all out. ha. He wasn't very happy getting that clutch/flywheel off. There were parts everywhere... I'm not looking forward to this labor cost.

 

The shim kit is incredibly common; it adds some preload to the shaft so that it doesn't rattle as much. If you're going to have the trans off anyway, it's highly recommended to just go ahead and do it. Especially if you're switching to a single-mass flywheel.

It's also easy to tell if the clutch is sprung or not. Look at the clutch disc. Are there visible springs around the middle of it? If so, it's a sprung clutch. If not, it's unsprung.

 

That McLeod should be a sprung clutch.

This is the shim kit.
https://www.carolinaclutch.com/produ...te-c4-shim-kit
The trans has to be out of the car to change it out so now is the time to do it.

If the hydraulics aren't leaking then keep moving and dont worry about it.

Keep us posted. I am curious how the McLeod clutch works out and what it looks like prior to going into the car.

 

Jesus, was this a year ago? time flies.

I didn't get photos before. Pretty happy with the setup. No new test runs or track times. I was waiting on Torqhead to get back into business making parts for the 1996. I didn't want to go with optispark on any tuneup...and it needs one pretty bad. Car runs alright normal driving but definitely skips, runs rough when temps get to 205/210 or above. And drag racing with no real way to cool car down it sits at 215 or above most of time. Super interested in HPDE days or track days so Im going to start prepping the car for that.

Clutch after break in works great imo. Different than stock but I no longer remember how stock was...seems like shorter clutch pedal travel overall. Before break in of new clutch, trying to let out the clutch pedal slow wasn't easy. Car would shake (kind of cool actually) and it would catch and move quick. Had to tell my son (17) to let cars in front of him get moving before he even tries to take off in normal traffic. After about a year...shake is still there, and a "chatter" comes with it. Odd thing is if car is warmed up that shake and chatter is much less prevalent. Regardless, shifts great, works great.

Flywheel: I didnt go aluminum. Don't recall at moment which lightweight steel flywheel I used. Definitely makes the sound in neutral, but it doesn't bother me at all. Kind of enjoy it actually.

Bought this car with 55k miles. Its got over 80 now after owning for almost 2 years. It gets driven a lot.