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Monster Clutch Install

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Old Sep 16, 2014 | 12:30 AM
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Default Monster Clutch Install

Hi Everyone,

I have a 98 that I going to start installing a stage 2 in starting Wed. I have read every how to that I can find and I am going to use the one from Dope as my primary guide along with the shop manuals.

The questions I have are when I start lowering the rear end is the torque tube unbolted from the bell housing before lowering? It appears that there is some flex since there are warnings not to go too low before the torque tube is pulled from the bellhousing. Does that flex cause the input shaft on the end of the torque tube to bind making it tough to pull out?

I have set aside Wed and Thur for the install, on Fri I am taking a day trip to Effingham to the FunFest to see what I can pick up at the swap meet.

Thanks to everyone here, I've learned a lot by reading the postings from this forum.

Rob
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Old Sep 16, 2014 | 08:46 AM
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the flex when lowering the rear end is the play in the motor mounts.
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Old Sep 16, 2014 | 01:15 PM
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Originally Posted by feeder82
the flex when lowering the rear end is the play in the motor mounts.
Yup. Once you lower it enough, place a jack or jackstand under the front end of the engine to hold it at that angle as you remove the torque tube/driveshaft from the bellhousing/existing clutch.
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Old Sep 16, 2014 | 01:30 PM
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Originally Posted by beboggled
Yup. Once you lower it enough, place a jack or jackstand under the front end of the engine to hold it at that angle as you remove the torque tube/driveshaft from the bellhousing/existing clutch.
Thanks to you and the previous post. Thats what I was thinking but I wanted to make sure.

Are the bellhousing bolts easy to get to? I have seen examples where folks remove it and others that don't.

Rob
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Old Sep 20, 2014 | 10:45 AM
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Hi

I'm starting day 4 of my clutch install. My son and I were starting to put the torque tube and trans back in when I noticed things were not lining up.

I had a jack under the oil pan, with a block of wood, but it appears the motor tilted back. I had the jack in the front of the pan by the drain plug, was that the correct place?

We are going to take another stab at it this afternoon when he gets off work. If we get the torque tube on can we use that as a lever to get the engine tilted back, being careful not to hit the firewall?

I'm going to try using a trick I found in Corvette magazine that uses pins in the bellhousing to guide the torque tube in. If that fails I am going to have it flatbedded to a repair shop.

Anyone have any suggestions on a repair shop in St. Louis MO they trust?

Rob
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Old Sep 23, 2014 | 03:02 PM
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You may find it easier to separate the trans form the TT. This will allow you to align the TT better by hand. In addition this will help not damage the NEW TOB you installed right?. This is a heck of a job so I hope you balanced matched the assembly before re-installing it. You may want to install a speed bleeder and check everything for leaks before you install the tranny and diff.

Good luck this is can be a good experience or a total train wreck.
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Old Sep 23, 2014 | 03:23 PM
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WOW! I was thinking the EXACT SAME thing! Took the words right out of my mouth!

Its MUCH MUCH easier to install the TT by its self and then bolt the trans/diff back to the rear of the TT.

I too hope you have the proper flywheel balance and took that into consideration.

I also hope you took the critical measurements for the throw out bearing to pressure plate shim. (If shim is required)

Please let us know how you made out with the install
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Old Sep 23, 2014 | 03:54 PM
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Thanks to this forum I had the new FW and PP matched to the old FW and PP. I marked where the old FW and PP were installed and put the new in the same location.

I have a new TOB and slave with a speed bleeder. I am trying to install the TT by itself and running into an issue. It gets within about a half inch of the bellhousing and then stops. When I try the C clamp it forces the TT down, at that point I back off and try again. I don't think I am lining up exactly with the pilot bearing. I checked with the alignment tool and everything is ok. I just think I'm not coming in at the right angle for the pilot bearing.

Any tricks to get lined up with the pilot? I tried making the pins mentioned in Corvette magazine put they did not help with the pilot.

Thanks for the replies.
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Old Sep 23, 2014 | 04:30 PM
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Is your ALIGNMENT TOOL 90 deg perpendicular to the bell housing face?? Check it with a square.

You may have to loosen up the fasteners on the pressure plate and get the disk to slide and center so that it allows the tool to be 90 degrees square. That way your TT shaft will slide right in the disk and the pilot brg.

Bill

Last edited by Bill Curlee; Sep 23, 2014 at 04:34 PM.
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Old Sep 23, 2014 | 04:33 PM
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DID you install a NEW PILOT BEARING??? If not, the bearing could have puked out the roller bearings and is blocking the TT input shaft nose.

If you did install a new pilot brg, make sure that it is not BENT / Damaged.

No way should you have to FORCE it in to seat it. It should wiggle / slide right in!

Bill
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Old Sep 23, 2014 | 04:37 PM
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Originally Posted by rfchapie
Thanks to this forum I had the new FW and PP matched to the old FW and PP. I marked where the old FW and PP were installed and put the new in the same location.

Thanks for the replies.
Good job at being thorough
Out of curiosity, what was the balance of your stock FW, stock PP, stock FW/PP together, or however they chose to take balance readings to match the replacement parts? And did your stock FW have any balance weights in it? When you marked your stock FW before removal from the crank, where the "7th" holes lined up? Thanks for this info if you have it handy.
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Old Sep 23, 2014 | 05:00 PM
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If you didnt install a new pilot brg,,, its highly recommended that you do. Mine was ready to take a dump at 50K miles. It was very dry and the bearings fell out easily once the TT was removed.

Its a pain to get in and out but wellll worth the effort. I used heat (just a little) to warm the crank face to help remove and reinstall. I also froze the bearing when I reinstalled it.

Made the job a lot easier and less chance of damage to the bearing cage

Bill
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Old Sep 23, 2014 | 07:43 PM
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Originally Posted by thbwlZ
Good job at being thorough
Out of curiosity, what was the balance of your stock FW, stock PP, stock FW/PP together, or however they chose to take balance readings to match the replacement parts? And did your stock FW have any balance weights in it? When you marked your stock FW before removal from the crank, where the "7th" holes lined up? Thanks for this info if you have it handy.
Stock FW was 9.6 grams out without pressure plate, with the pressure plate it was 15.4 grams out.

It looked like it had weights added, I can post a pic later.

Yes I used a little white nail polish.
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Old Sep 23, 2014 | 07:46 PM
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Originally Posted by Bill Curlee
If you didnt install a new pilot brg,,, its highly recommended that you do. Mine was ready to take a dump at 50K miles. It was very dry and the bearings fell out easily once the TT was removed.

Its a pain to get in and out but wellll worth the effort. I used heat (just a little) to warm the crank face to help remove and reinstall. I also froze the bearing when I reinstalled it.

Made the job a lot easier and less chance of damage to the bearing cage

Bill
Yes I put in a new pilot. I was able to get the TT in finally. I just kept working it and making small adjustments and it went in.
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Old Sep 23, 2014 | 08:51 PM
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Originally Posted by rfchapie
Stock FW was 9.6 grams out without pressure plate, with the pressure plate it was 15.4 grams out.

It looked like it had weights added, I can post a pic later.

Yes I used a little white nail polish.
Thank you for this.
do you happen to have a balance sheet or print out they might have given you, or is this from their word of mouth? The reason I ask is sometimes a balance shop will give a reading like that "as from the computer screen". For instance, some software will have you input a correction radius (the radial distance you will be removing or adding weight) and the diameter of a hole you may be drilling to remove weight, and then it will give you a reading of how much mass to remove (or add) at that given radius to get it down to zero. So it could read "5 grams" at a correction radius of 7 inches, and the tech might say it's "5 grams out". In reality, that is 35 gram∙in of imbalance. (really not trying to lecture) but grams are units of mass, and gram∙in are units of imbalance. Do you happen to know if they meant "9.6 grams at some correction radius (then what radius), or 9.6 gram∙in? If that's too confusing to try to find out, don't worry about it, it's just for my own curiosity to compare what you found with tolerances I have been told.
thanks again for updating. Glad you got that TT back in too!
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Old Sep 24, 2014 | 05:42 PM
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Originally Posted by thbwlZ
Thank you for this.
do you happen to have a balance sheet or print out they might have given you, or is this from their word of mouth? The reason I ask is sometimes a balance shop will give a reading like that "as from the computer screen". For instance, some software will have you input a correction radius (the radial distance you will be removing or adding weight) and the diameter of a hole you may be drilling to remove weight, and then it will give you a reading of how much mass to remove (or add) at that given radius to get it down to zero. So it could read "5 grams" at a correction radius of 7 inches, and the tech might say it's "5 grams out". In reality, that is 35 gram∙in of imbalance. (really not trying to lecture) but grams are units of mass, and gram∙in are units of imbalance. Do you happen to know if they meant "9.6 grams at some correction radius (then what radius), or 9.6 gram∙in? If that's too confusing to try to find out, don't worry about it, it's just for my own curiosity to compare what you found with tolerances I have been told.
thanks again for updating. Glad you got that TT back in too!
It was word of mouth. My understanding of it was 15.4 grams at a correction radius that was marked on the old PP/FW. What the machinist did to get the new PP/FW to 15 grams was to rotate the PP around the FW until it more or less matched up at 15 grams.
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Old Sep 24, 2014 | 06:10 PM
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Originally Posted by rfchapie
It was word of mouth. My understanding of it was 15.4 grams at a correction radius that was marked on the old PP/FW. What the machinist did to get the new PP/FW to 15 grams was to rotate the PP around the FW until it more or less matched up at 15 grams.
I hope they matched both the magnitude AND orientation of that imbalance. If they rotated the PP around until they achieved 15 grams (at whatever correction radius) I hope they ended up with it in the same orientation relative to the mounting position to your crank.
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Old Sep 24, 2014 | 06:52 PM
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Well,,,, Keep you old flywheel just incase there is and issue... The proof will be in the first start and rev..

Please keep us informed on your progress and the end result. This is an interesting read and developing end result.

Good Luck.

Bill
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Old Sep 29, 2014 | 12:02 AM
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Originally Posted by Bill Curlee
Well,,,, Keep you old flywheel just incase there is and issue... The proof will be in the first start and rev..

Please keep us informed on your progress and the end result. This is an interesting read and developing end result.

Good Luck.

Bill
I think I nailed it. Took it out yesterday around the neighborhood, everything appeared ok. No noticeable vibration, the only issue was a grind going into second. At that point I stopped trying second and just went to third. Took it out on the highway today got it up to 80 and it felt really smooth. I did some research on the grind and I ordered a set of rubber bushings for the shifter from Mid America Motor Works, hopefully that takes care of the grind. Something I want to pass along on what I used to get the car into the air. I ordered a set of Esco jackstands and aluminum pucks. The jackstands have a perfect center hole for a 5/8-11 tap. I then center drilled and tapped the pucks and used a 2" stud to attach them to the jackstand. This provided a pretty stable support even at the limit of the jackstands. I had other stands and the tires underneath for added safety. Here are some pics.

Thanks for the input.

Rob
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Old Sep 29, 2014 | 05:22 PM
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A couple of things can cause a grind.

- Clutch not fully disengaging ( If you have an adjustable master, gie it a little more rod length)

-Dirty worn transmission fluid

- Still have a little air in the master/slave cyl

Give those a look and see what you find.

BC
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