KJL

I decided to swap out my rear gears to 4.10 and in the process, while everything was off, decided to swap the dual mass flywheel to a Ram dual disc clutch and lightweight aluminum fly wheel on my 95 ZR1 back around March 2016. I could write a small book regarding my journey down bolt-on performance lane. I plan on documenting my experience here a bit at a time. I doubt there are many here that would try this at home but those of you considering it, I recommend an inexpensive Harbor Freight scissors type mechanical transmission jack for the rear differential, a hydraulic low profile somewhat more expensive transmission jack that allows the transmission to be angled front to back and side to side (you may need to buy two before you get one that works correctly so save the receipt). I also recommend a simple mechanical scissor jack to keep under the engine for support. The car will need to be at least 20 inches above the floor. I purchased a set of tall Race Ramps to get the front up, then jacked up the rear and placed jack stands at locations that were sound and out of the way, then I jacked up the front another couple inches and used truck jack stands there. Never rely on hydraulics. Always use the proper jack stands before getting under any car. Be mindful when you are under the car with your legs wrapped around the transmission attempting to get it to move forwarded that last inch, you may also be rocking the car and the stands. That will not end well. The first thing I learned is my metric socket selection is grossly inadequate. Back to Harbor Freight to purchase some 6 point impact 1/2 deep and shallow sockets....yes..yes I know china crap, spare me the lecture but they work great.
You will need a good torque wrench as well. I think the batwing mounting bolts are the highest values at 90 lb-ft. All others range from 17 to 55 lb-ft. I purchased an AC Delco digital torque adaptor model ARM602-4. 4-147.6 ft-lbs. This model requires a ½” drive but offered a larger range. It is accurate but easy to overshoot the set point if you can’t see the display. It requires some getting used to the different beep sounds. We could debate torque wrench types for hours, I have used them all, clickers, beam, digital, dial… any of these is better than nothing at all. I use them where I can, especially on aluminum, and trust my feel in those areas that won’t allow their use. Another good tool to add to your arsenal is a beam style in-lb torque wrench.
Before you start unbolting stuff, you will need to remove that part of your center console dash around your shifter.....but before you do that, you will need to remove the shifter ****....good luck with that, mine had already been replaced with an aftermarket screw-on unit. My guess is a disgruntled GM engineer design the shifter ****. The same guy who decided it was a good idea to hide yet another fuse block up under the passenger side dash with no access panel..... Anyway, once you get all that off, you may as well remove the rubber boot, just pry's off once you remove the 4 nuts which hold it to the transmission. It’s a bitch to get back over the lip on the driver’s side because it is tucked up under the console there. You can try to keep it attached but will likely get pulled off and possibly damaged as you wrestle the transmission back into place.
If it weren’t for those nuts that fasten the rubber boot to the transmission and the c-clip, one could drop the transmission without having to disassemble the center console dash.
OK, everything dash stuff is off and of course you bagged and tagged everything right? Trust me you will never remember where everything goes 6 months down the road when you finally are at the reassembly stage.... Now measure the height of the shift shaft above some reference point and be sure to mark it because you will forget for reasons mentioned above. You will also need to measure the distance at the transmission yoke between the C-Beam and the tunnel (horizontal and vertical) this is important to insure you are close to the original location when you tighten up the C-Beam bolts. Mark where you check on the C-Beam or tunnel. OK..... Now on to the exhaust removal... I would like to add, that I did all this work myself with the exception of replacing the rear diff gears (Marc Haibeck). I am 55 years old and in reasonably good condition.
Get that high quality scissors type transmission jack and place as close to the spot you think is the center of gravity so the complete exhaust system will balance on it. I have an after-market exhaust so I removed the hangers and band clamps from the cat to header connection, using a dead blow hammer and a block of wood, managed to slide it off the headers. I will need to rent a 3" pipe expanded from Autozone and use on the cats in order to get them back on. That should be fun (ended up purchasing from H.F.). Worry about that later. I then rolled the complete system out from under the car, placed bags over the cat ends and gently leaned against the side of the house. It was heavy and recommend some help with that and the re installation for sure. Now the fun begins! Be sure to get lots of rags, paper towels and Simply Green, you can do lots of cleaning while you are there. Get some Band-Aids as well.
Be sure to have a pad and pen handy to record all those bolt sizes as you remove them. That way in 6 months after you forget what wrench you used, you won’t have to play musical wrench/socket again until you find the one that fits. A pneumatic air wrench helps speed things along. I only use to remove stuff. Disconnect the negative terminal on your battery.
Because I removed the rear diff at the same time as the clutch work, removing the C-Beam was fairly easy. I have read many ways to do this, one even suggests removing before removing the drive shaft. If you have normal size man hands...good luck with that. You need to remove the drive shaft first, but there is a twist, you can't. At least in my case there is a body seam weld in the way. I will post a pic showing this. It must be gently "bent" out of the way for the shaft to slip out. At least on the removal, all I had to do was drop the rear diff down a few inches to get the C-Beam nuts, but I will need to bend the seam weld when I re-install. You will of course need to remove the u-joint strap bolts first, a gentle push forward on the joint should disengage. You may need to pry or tap it some as the bearing cups like to stick in the yokes. Once disengaged, slide rearward and out of the C-Beam, just past the seam weld joint. Recommend before you do that, drain the transmission fluid to minimize the amount that flows out of the tail shaft. (Actually, not much comes out if you chose not to drain, maybe a cup if that) Also, leave the drain plug out. If you leave it in, the transmission will not sit level on the transmission jack which only adds to alignment frustrations. It will leak some so don’t freak out and think it is your jack that is leaking oil in the middle of the install like I did…. Once the drive shaft it out, place a mechanical type jack under the oil pan and be sure to use a decent size wood block 2" x 4'" between the jack and the pan to distribute the weight of the engine. This jack will be your friend throughout as you will need to raise and lower the engine many times during the process. It will be there for the duration, so make sure it is not a jack you are planning on using within the next 6 months...... getting to the C-Beam nuts now is at least possible but still tricky oh yes surprise!!....not metric! 11/16"....go figure. At this point you may want to remove the MAP sensor that mounts just behind the intake plenum to avoid possible damage as you sandwich it between the firewall and intake. Also remove the intake boot from the throttle body.
Dropping the rear diff was quite easily. Remove the spring, the three bolts that holds the tie rod housing the rear diff cover, then, remove the lower control rods from the rear diff, three bolts each and the ujoint straps from the front yoke yoke and side yokes. You will also need to remove the two c-beam bolts as well. Place a transmission type jack under it and then remove the 2 bat wing bolts and she should drop down. You may need to jokey the c-beam around to get it clear. I removed the cover and drained in the process then shipped to Marc for the 4.10s. A gasket is not used between the rear diff housing and the cover.
Now would be a good time to order replacement u-joint straps and bolts. Because of the low mileage of my car, I reused them, cleaned up with a wire wheel and painted the straps. When I reinstalled, I used a medium strength blue thread locker on my half shaft joints and "red or blue" on the drive shaft joint. I did not use a torque wrench on these, just tightened them snug with a 1/4" socket, ratchet and 6" extension for the half shafts and a simple wrench on the drive shaft joint. I believe they are 5/16". I always recommend using 6 point sockets and wrenches whenever possible on 6 point fasteners. After you have rounded a couple and had to resort to vice grips, you will know why. I chose to replace all the u-joints in the car and balance the drive shaft. The drive shaft uses a 1310 series Spicer 5-3613x and the half shafts are 1350 5-3615x series. I used the coated versions and did the work myself with my handy dandy harbor freight press, had it balanced but they said it was spot on.
Some other things to order at this point, C-Beam plates from the zfdoc.com. They come with a spacer gauge blocks to help re-align the c-beam. He also sells a shim that is an easy install for the countershaft that helps reduce some of the noise associated with using a light weight single mass clutch. Bill Boudreau is a great resource for information. Always quick to respond to any questions.
If you would like to use that urethane sealer at the C-Beam connection points, get 3M Window Weld 08609. NAPA actually sells this. You may want to also replace the transmission rear seal while you have it all apart, NAPA part # 18992. If you want to use a pilot bearing instead of a bushing, GM# 14061685. You will also need a hole saw to cut an access hole in the bell housing to align the concentric throw out bearing AND check for leaks. I will provide the location and size of the second hole I had to drill. I also am posting this on the Corvette forum ZR1 section under KJL. I am a gold member there and can post more pictures. I used Amsoil SVG 75W-90 (1.5 quarts) with two ounces of the Amsoil friction modifier additive for the diff and 2.5 quarts of Red Line Shock Proof Heavy for the transmission. I had Marc rebuild the rear diff and provide the new speedo gears to accommodate the new ratio. I purchased the RAM dual clutch kit from Jerry. Both offer excellent product support. I could have gone elsewhere and maybe gotten the same or similar products for less money but I want these guys to be around for a long time. Their efforts and love of these cars benefits all of us.
Inspect the C-Beam bolts after removal. If they are not in near perfect condition, replace them. They may stick a bit when removing because of the sealer. You may also need to raise and lower the engine a bit if the bolts are binding. When removing the C-Beam you will need to tap it lose because they have used a urethane sealant at the rear diff and trans C-Beam joints. Although I did not remove it this way, they say to push it as far as you can rearward to clear the trans tail housing, be sure the engine/transmission is high in the tunnel, once the c-beam is clear of the trans tail shaft, pull down on it until it clears the tail shaft. I used one of the c-beam bolts inserted in the c-beam front mounting holes and gently tap with brass or plastic dead blow hammer forward until it slides off of the rear diff. Placing a jack up under the rear spring mounts on the rear diff cover will help tilt the rear diff downward which will help with removing and installing the c-beam. I have found the easiest way is to unbolt the spring ends from the trailing arms, to remove the torque from the rear diff. This made it much easier to re-install the c-beam because you need the rear diff to be able to flex a bit for this. Keep in mind that dried gooped on sealant will be fighting you every step of the way. If you are going ahead with this project, Marc H. sells a device that fits your jack for lifting the rear of the car at the spring, just under the rear diff. I also used to safely lift each side of the spring up and over the trailing arm bolts as well so I could get the castle nuts and cotter pins in place. You will need a jack that has a hole size to accommodate (1-1/4”). It is called the "C4 Lift"....catchy! Worth every penny if you work on these cars yourself
There is plenty of info on-line regarding removing the transmission. The only thing that I would recommend is the use of guide pins to remove the transmission as well as install. Don’t forget the banjo fitting that mounts the breather tube to the top of the transmission. Never allow the transmission to “hang” on the input shaft and yes, the shifter will clear the tunnel.
Also, the engine valley drain line that passes behind the flywheel will need to be flattened in order to clear the new flywheel. There is no mention in the instructions regarding this.
11-07-16: Fast forward…. I will return to some of the things to watch for after a fast forward with my experience.
After I received the rebuilt rear diff, I started the reassembly process. I followed the instructions provided with the new clutch. I noticed some leaking at the brass union provided with the kit. Pressure tested the bearing the best I could using some small c-clamps. Wasn’t able to put full pedal pressure but I figured it was good enough. Tightened the brass union more and snugged down on the line fittings at the bearing housing. All seemed OK. I assembled the transmission onto the bell housing and noticed the free play between the bearing face and fingers appeared inadequate. I contacted Jerry and he recommended that the bearing housing be clearance in order to fit perfectly flush with the transmission. There is a fillet at the base of the transmission input shaft guide tube that prevents the bearing to sitting flush. Chamfering the inside diameter pushed the bearing back enough to put me in the ball park. When I removed the transmission to do this, following the RAM set-up instructions confirmed my observation regarding proper free play. I did not check originally because the kit instructions provided by Jerry said that the kit had been properly set-up for ZR1 installation and no additional work was needed to verify. In hindsight the kit probably would have done just fine but I may not have gotten max life out of the clutch discs before the transmission started to slip. I also observed that the clutch plate finger distance from the tip to the mounting face of the bell housing was not consistent. I have all the specific dimensions regarding this if anyone is interested.
OK, got all that done, rechecked all the clearance dimensions before I remounted the transmission, verified with Jerry and RAM that all should be OK. Good to go. So I installed the transmission back on the bell housing…I am starting to get really good at this now. Hooked up the bearing lines, re-bled the bearing using DOT-3 fluid only per RAM. They say non-synthetic… I never heard of synthetic DOT 3 fluid before. I just used NAPA brand. No reference to synthetic on the label. Once I got it bled, which is an easy process, (I will share my method with anyone who is interested) I did a full pressure test on the bearing and to my horror discovered the a leak originating from the threads of the main line fitting at the bearing housing. Yup…..you guessed it. Had to remove the transmission again…..now I am getting really good at this. This time I removed the bearing from the bellhousing, placed it in a vice, replaced the white Teflon tape as recommended by RAM and replaced with the higher density yellow tape and tightened the crap out of it. The brass union also leaked despite my efforts to tighten. I tracked down a replacement at Autozone and the new brass union did the trick.
I re-mounted the transmission, re-bled the bearing and pressure tested it at full pedal overnight…..all was well. SWEET!
I routed the lines behind the splash plate, just need to remove a few fasteners to do this. Keeps the lines away from the exhaust. I also re-torqued all the engine oil pan fasteners as well. Amazing how lose many of them were.
I proceeded with the final installation which includes wire harness, fluid, c-beam, Bill Boudreau’s c-beam plates and I also installed his counter shaft shim kit into the transmission earlier in the project which helps to reduce gear rattle and buzz. Easy to install and recommend doing it. I had installed the re-built rear diff earlier in the project. Very easy and quick. The counter shaft shim helped as I have not experienced a great deal of noise using the light weight flywheel. I still have some gear “buzz” from time to time especially when I need to down shift and the car is under load.
The last thing to install was the exhaust, with the help of a pipe expander from Harbor Freight, the exhaust was back on in about 20 minutes.
Made sure everything that I disconnected in the engine compartment was back together, changed the engine oil and fired her up. I did not put the dash stuff back together at this point until I was sure everything was good....
Fired her up and proceeded to back down the drive way. The first thing I noticed was a shudder as the clutch engaged….then again as I shifted into first. The lighter flywheel was different in that it requires more RPM when starting from a stop in first. This causes more slip and a slight clutch slip smell that we all know. I was very concerned about the feel and smell but was told this is not unusual and should improve after 1000 miles or so. I also heard from others that they had no shudder at all……but all agree to give it time. Another thing I noticed was a metal to metal sound after she warmed up when I pushed in the clutch….hmmmm.
First impression……WOW! The combination of the lighter flywheel and 4.10 gear has made it fell like a rocket off the line. The engine spins up so fast now. Aside from the shudder, I am happy with the feel and torque on demand. Considering going to light weight flywheel on my 72 434 small block.
Back to my story…..so, I realize, crap, I need to get my emissions inspected because I missed my normal renewal in July as I was working on the car at that time.
So I bring it, put it on the rollers and turn the car over to the technician. When he started the test I again noticed the metallic noise when he pushed in the clutch and another thing I noticed was smoke coming from under the car. It appeared oil was dripping from the rear diff seal onto the hot exhaust system…….great…… to add insult to injury I failed the test. I got a 30 day extension and a temporary sticker. I was very concerned about the leak and concerned that it could catch on fire but I only had 30 days so I decided to try one more time to pass. I was failing the NOx part of the test. My EGR had been removed and I always marginally passed this part of the test. The new gear ratio also has the engine turning faster at the test points which are based on MPH so the increase in engine speed did not help my case. I poured a bottle of CRC Cat cleaner in the gas tank and purchased an emissions chip from Marc, put about 50 highway miles on her and filled with fresh gas and easily passed this time….now onto the rear diff seal. I spoke with Marc and he said I could either send it back to him for a free repair or he would send me the parts free of charge and I could change it on the car which is a bit more difficult. I decided to change it on the car which require the purchase of a 250 ft-lb torque wrench as well. I told Marc I did not want free parts and would the pay for the costs of the parts. He sent me a new rear yoke, seal, retaining nut and fluid.
After getting the car back on the ramps and jack stands it was then I noticed a leak coming from the “new” rear seal of the transmission as well……really?? Needless to say I was not a happy camper.
Off came the exhaust, prop shaft and c-beam. At that point I was glad to have the c-beam plates installed and not to have used the urethane sealant.
As I as removing the prop shaft I noticed that there appeared to be a lot play in the yoke. I pulled the yoke from the shaft, installed ½” from bottomed out position and measure the lateral play with a digital gauge mounted in a magnetic base. The measured total travel was found to be 0.025”. Per Bill B. this is excessive. A really used unit measures about 0.018”. A new yoke measures 0.004”. Why the yoke is this badly worn is a mystery on a car with only 27,000 miles.
So I will just purchase a new yoke…..wrong, they don’t make them anymore. The Turbo 400 yoke is still being made and will work but the internal splines are not exactly the same and there will be greater play than a correct yoke. Spicer does make a yoke with the correct splines but the unit is too long and takes a 1330 u-joint. We decided to take the later route and shorten the yoke to fit and go with a conversion u-joint (Spicer 2-3-10831X slip yolk and a 1310/1330 conversion joint). The down side is the joint only comes in the greasable configuration (has a zerk). This results in a weaker joint but my options were limited. Also, if you do this, make sure the zerk is facing the prop shaft so you can service.
While doing all this I thought I would remove the tail shaft housing and have Bill push in a new bushing. This could be a DIY project if you have a press but for the price, it was worth knowing it was done right by a real pro. I did not drain any fluid when doing this work and surprisingly small amount leaked from the transmission upon removal of the yoke and tail shaft.
While waiting on the parts from Bill, I tackled the rear diff main yoke seal. For accessibility, I removed a nut that retains a bracket that holds the emergency cable in place. This allows the cable to drop out of the way. Loosening the main nut was a challenge as the nut is torqued to 250 ft-lbs and red loctite is also used. A force in excess of 250 ft-lbs must be applied to break the nut free. This can be difficult while on your back with limited space to manipulate a breaker bar. I needed to use a ½” air impact wrench to help break the nut free. The rear diff also wants to move in the downward direction as force is applied. The use of a jack under the unit helped along with inserting steel drift punches in the brake rotor slots to stop the wheels from turning. It helps to also apply the ebrake but the ebrake alone is not sufficient. Once the nut brakes free, the yoke slips right out. I removed the dust shield and pressed onto the new yoke and applied a liberal amount of GM spline grease (10-4063) to the yoke splines. I then removed the seal and replaced with the new seal. I added a small amount of RTV (the same stuff I used for the rear diff cover gasket) on the seal cup outside perimeter and drove it into place. You may need to get creative regarding constructing a seal driver for this because it will need to clear the pinion shaft. It taps in quite easily however. I also did not remove any rear diff fluid and very little dripped out when removing the yoke and seal. I smeared spline grease on the inside of the seal lips and lightly along the yoke shaft. I slipped the yoke into place, applied Loctite to the pinion threads and also applied some RTV to back side of the washer to help seal the end of the shaft. Torqued to 200 ft-lbs (per Marc H.). When torqueing the rear diff, now it wanted to lift up. I wedged some wood up on top the diff with one end bearing against the fiberglass body and the other on top of a welded tunnel seam joint. This help distribute the load. I was worried about cracking the fiberglass. All went well. Reinstalled the ebrake cable bracket and topped of the fluid with friction modifier.
Upon receiving the parts from Bill, I installed the tail shaft housing including the new gasket and re-installing the speedo gear assembly. The housing as received also included a new seal already installed. A trick is to use a paper towel cardboard sleeve over the tail shaft while installing the housing to protect the bushing and seal. I installed the new yoke onto the prop shaft with the new 1310/1330 unjoint. Be sure to remove the bearing cups from the cross and fill the cross with grease. Greasable joints only come with some grease on the rollers. The drilled cross has no grease in it. This must be filled with a high quality, high temp grease. Like I said previously, make sure the zerk faces the prop shaft if you ever want to be able to grease the joint…..ask me how I know this. I reinstalled the c-beam and located the transmission using spacers supplied in Bill’s C-Beam plate kit. I discovered when removing and installing the c-beam, it is easier if the rear spring is removed from the trailing arms. I little more work but may save you from damaging the c-beam. After the beam was installed and properly torqued, the prop shaft was installed. I did not re-check the lateral play with my gauge but there was no perceptible lateral play which alone, was a significant improvement over the old yoke. I also used GM spline grease before installation. This stuff costs a lot and I am willing to share what I have. Topped off the transmission fluid and re-connected the rear spring to the trailing arm spring end bolts, don’t forget the cotter pins. Before installing the exhaust, I wanted to look at the rear of the flywheel to see if anything was rubbing causing that metallic sound. Upon removing the lower bellhousing inspection plate I noticed there was a witness mark on the back of the flywheel from that darn drain line. Apparently I did not flatten it enough so when things heated up and the clutch was depressed, there was enough play in the crank to cause a slight interference. Using a screw driver I managed to flatten it a little more.
So far, no leaks and no metallic sound! Still have some clutch shudder but that seems to be getting better. A lot of work but these are the risks we take when working on older cars ourselves. Now onto my next project, injector upgrade and porting the intake plenum and injector housings on my 1992 ZR1. I will post my progress.

Update 9-17-17: Looks like shudder issue is about as good as it will get. Still have not put that many miles on her yet......maybe 1000 at the most. If you chose to make this upgrade, take pictures of everything at all stages of assembly and of all the parts as they are removed from the box.

ZR-71

Glad you came out ok. Sounds like there were some close calls

KJL

Haha, still not done.

Jagdpanzer

I installed a Ram Dual Disc last year and can share the following:

The threaded end of the throwout bearing guide pin that came with the clutch was too short and did not engage sufficient threads in the transmission housing so I made a longer one from a 8mm bolt that did.





Drilling a 1.5" hole in the bellhousing to gain access for aligning throwout bearing on the guide pin.



With a cover plug I made installed



Flywheel installed



First disc and floater plate installed



Second disc installed



Pressure plate bolted up



Pluged hole for pivot ball threaded stud

KJL

I will double check my stud length seeing how I have the transmission off for the third time.

Nice install....clean engine, how did you get every speck off grime of the engine? my problems began with the recommended drilled access hole location being way to high on the side of the bell housing. Unless you are double jointed, have three very small hands and can work in reverse using a mirror, that location will not work. I had to drill a second lower hole on the bell housing to align the bearing. Passenger side 4 o'clock position.

Your pilot bearing looks almost flush with the face of the crank? I was told by Mark H. to drive all the way in until it bottoms on the internal shoulder. The original bearing was bronze bushing that had spun and was free floating when I removed....fell out in my hand and the car only has 25,000 miles on it.....no more bushings. lucky there was no damage to the crank.

I noticed the pics are dated 2014..how do you like the clutch?

5abivt

These are great pics thanks for sharing that ! I'll be doing this setup very soon ! Have to get ready for a stroker build

KJL

Guys-
I finally got her together and experiencing shutter when going into first and reverse from a complete stop. Did you guys experience anything like this?

5abivt

I don't have the ram setup but I did experience this with my metallic disk and single mass fidanza. It was pretty noticeable at first and then it settled down after some use. What friction material did you go with the metallic or organic ?

KJL

Organic. I have put about 20 miles on her and have noticed the shutter characteristics have changed some. Instead of being short and choppy they are now a bit longer in duration but still not to a point where I would be willing to live with it. I will give it 500 miles, if it doesn't show signs of improvement, I will remove and ship back to RAM for analysis.

The saga continues.

KJL

Bump

FrankieD

Bump for any latest feedback on this clutch having shutter. Considering a Dual disk setup , not sure which one to go with, Ram, Spec or McLeod

KJL

i still have some shutter but it appears to be getting better but I doubt it will ever be gone completely. This issue appears to be hit or miss. Some get it and some don't.

FrankieD

how would you rate this clutch for everyday street use, especially in stop n go traffic. Is it too grabby or can it be slipped somewhat. My concern is also any initial hit /shock to the driveline which may lead eventually to damage to half shafts. stubs etc

KJL

It can be slipped but still a bit of a pain in stop and go traffic. There is learning curve with the light flywheel. I only have about 1000 miles on it and I hope it will break in a little more. When I need a new clutch, I may look at alternatives. It is more clutch than the stock engine needs. I got it because I may upgrade to a 600hp package. The car is not a daily driver but if I had to depend on it for my daily commute..... that would be a problem. Some say the dual clutch with a heavier fly wheel works better. The 4.10 coupled with the light weight flywheel make the car an absolute blast to drive. The acceleration is scary. I am glad I did it despite all the issues along the way. If I choose not to upgrade the engine, I may at some point go back to a single disc combination but deff stay with the light weight flywheel. I am considering doing the same with my 72 C3.

Paul Workman

Apples n oranges, I realize, but before doing anything like drag racing with my stock Veleo PP (Fidanza FW), the instructions on disc break-in suggested a minimum of 100 miles of city driving to "season" the clutch (read: allow the disc to assume the shape of the FW and PP).

Anyway...it specifically warned against doing anything but "normal" driving for the first 100 mi or so.

MatthewMiller

I know this was from last year, but I am just now seeing and reading this because I have mulled over this same RAM push conversion clutch (but probably not dual disc).

I bet you're going to regret using the roller bearing. I had one in my car and it came out in many pieces. There are various types of bushings out there, but the correct one is the fluted bronze oilite version. That's OE, and one of the few OE transmission/clutch parts that is still readily available. It will withstand radial forces much better than a roller bearing, and with your chatter you are probably putting significant radial forces on it. But I hope I'm wrong and that you get many years of service out of it!

KJL

[QUOTE=MatthewMiller;1594801794]I know this was from last year, but I am just now seeing and reading this because I have mulled over this same RAM push conversion clutch (but probably not dual disc).

I bet you're going to regret using the roller bearing. I had one in my car and it came out in many pieces. There are various types of bushings out there, but the correct one is the fluted bronze oilite version. That's OE, and one of the few OE transmission/clutch parts that is still readily available. It will withstand radial forces much better than a roller bearing, and with your chatter you are probably putting significant radial forces on it. But I hope I'm wrong and that you get many years of service out of it![/QUOTE

I went back and forth regarding the bearing issues. There are many pros and cons to each type. The stock bushing that was in there originally just dropped out in my hand as I pulled the clutch plate off. It was just spinning in the bore. Apparently this is a common problem. The shudder issue is still there and will likely get no better. I will live with it until something breaks or of the clutches wear out. I do love the light weight flywheel and am happy with how it feels and the incredible acceleration I get from it and the 4:10's. Thinking about swapping my 72 C3 to a light weight set up as well.

KJL

Update 9-17-17: Looks like shudder issue is about as good as it will get. Still have not put that many miles on her yet......maybe 1000 at the most. If you chose to make this upgrade, take pictures of everything at all stages of assembly and of all the parts as they are removed from the box.

Dominic Sorresso

KJL,

I would agree w one of your previous assessments. A Dual Disc clutch really is not necessary w a stock motor. My Z has ported heads, top end and Stage 2 Dr. Greekenstein cams. Runs just fine w Fidanza and a Centerforce sprung hub disc.

KJL

Just one?

The plan for the car is to purchase one of the Marc's 600 or 650 engine packages as soon as I am one year way from the car being exempt from GA ridiculous emissions laws. If I still have the current Ram setup, I will likely get rid of it and purchase something else. I suspect there is a defect in either the pads or the pressure plate or that is just the way it is. Another little thing that was not mentioned in the engine valley drain tube needs to be flattened or the flywheel will rub. I flattened it but not enough. AS everything heated up and pressure was applied to the flywheel, if was enough to rub just enough. Lucky I was able to get a pry bar up in-between the flywheel and block to flatten it a bit more.