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Flywheel bushing

Whenever I pull my engine I leave the transmission in. It sounds like you did the same thing.

What I do is grease the input shaft (grandfather taught me that). I then get the engine into the car and get it as close to the bell housing as a can. I slide a jack under the bell housing and lift it up to meet the same angle as the engine. Then I place my jack handle between the front mounting plate and the front cross member and wedge it forward while jiggling the engine back and forth. Slides in and throw a couple of bolts in and hand tighten before relieving pressure from the hoist.

You might have to throw a few curse words in to complete the install.
 
There should be a chamfer on the ID of the bushing facing the tranny. That helps getting it aligned.
Jan
 
Thor 1211 said:
Well, I got the new a new bushing from Sunbeam Specialties and tried to install it. It was the right length but the o/d was too large and the I/d too small. It was a b***ch to install and once installed wouldn't accept a 5/8 alignment tool. I tried drilling it to 5/8 but messed it up and took it out. I then ordered a bushing from a hardware supply and it measured exactly 7/8" o/d and 5/8" i/d. When I dry fit it to the input shaft, it was a bit tight going on so I reamed it out .002 and it went on and off quite nicely with no real slop. It installed easily and nice and snug. Now the problem. I've been trying for 4 days to get the input shaft aligned enough to go into the bushing. With the clutch installed and the bell housing on, I can't see anything and I just can't seem to get the right alignment to get the input shaft to go through the clutch plate and into the bushing. Is there a secret? This is driving me to drink.
Click to expand...


Did you align the clutch disc with the pilot bearing bushing when attaching the clutch cover to the flywheel?

Unless the splined hub in the clutch disk and the hole in the pilot shaft bushing are almost perfectly concentric, getting the "spud" to go into the pilot shaft bushing will be difficult / impossible. The way to ensure alignment is to use either an old transmission input shaft or an aftermarket clutch disc alignment tool to locate the clutch disc while the clutch cover is installed on the flywheel.

SS sells an alignment tool for most S-V's which have a 10 spline / 1" transmission input shaft. SS does not list an alignment tool for very late S-V's with a 25 spline / 1-1/16" transmission input shaft, but Dorman (among others) makes cheap plastic generic clutch disc alignment tools for a wide variety of input shaft spline / spud sizes and you can probably find something that will work with a 1-1/16" input shaft / 5/8" spud at a local auto parts store. If all else fails, try using electrical tape to change a 1" alignment tool to 1-1/16".

The bad news is that you can't use a clutch alignment tool without removing the bellhousing.
 
Last edited:
Barry said:
Did you align the clutch disc with the pilot bearing bushing when attaching the clutch cover to the flywheel?

Unless the splined hub in the clutch disk and the hole in the pilot shaft bushing are almost perfectly concentric, getting the "spud" to go into the pilot shaft bushing will be difficult / impossible. The way to ensure alignment is to use either an old transmission input shaft or an aftermarket clutch disc alignment tool to locate the clutch disc while the clutch cover is installed on the flywheel.

SS sells an alignment tool for most S-V's which have a 10 spline / 1" transmission input shaft. SS does not list an alignment tool for very late S-V's with a 25 spline / 1-1/16" transmission input shaft, but Dorman (among others) makes cheap plastic generic clutch disc alignment tools for a wide variety of input shaft spline / spud sizes and you can probably find something that will work with a 1-1/16" input shaft / 5/8" spud at a local auto parts store. If all else fails, try using electrical tape to change a 1" alignment tool to 1-1/16".

The bad news is that you can't use a clutch alignment tool without removing the bellhousing.
Click to expand...
I have a clutch alignment tool with the proper dimensions for both the bushing and the spud and I did enlarge the chamfer on the bushing a little. However, I still can't get the alignment right and get the spud to go into the bushing. I don't recall having this much trouble when I did a transmission swap 15 years ago. I'm going to take the bell housing off, loosen the clutch bolts and try and get the spud aligned that way. For the last couple of days the air in the shop gets blue and the neighbors take their kids into the house when the cursing starts.
 
Hmmmm. I picked up a Pilot bearing from SS

a few months ago for the shelf.

It is .878" OD

.626" ID

Those numbers MAY make for a

very snug install and likely a need to

ream the ID to get an input shaft to fit.

I'll check the better HDW store bushing

selection for dimensions.

DW
 
Last edited:
spmdr said:
Hmmmm. I picked up a Pilot bearing from SS

a few months ago for the shelf.

It is .878" OD

.626" ID

Those numbers MAY make for a

very snug install and likely a need to

ream the ID to get an input shaft to fit.

I'll check the better HDW store bushing

selection for dimensions.

DW
Click to expand...
My experience with the SS bushing, with measurements similar to yours. was that it was very tight going into the crank end and needed a lot of persuasion to seat. Once installed, I couldn't insert the clutch alignment tool which is 5/8", same as the spud. The hardware bushing was almost exactly .875 and .625 but a little long. I cut it down and reamed it .002. It installed easily, is nice and snug and will take the 5/8 alignment tool. But, with the clutch installed and the bell housing on, I just can't the alignment right and get the spud into it.
 
I have learned the hard way that (a) if an engine, bellhousing and transmission will not go together OK on the shop floor, then the engine, bellhousing and transmission will probably not go together in the car and (b) it's a lot easier to find and fix the problem with everything on the shop floor than in the car.
 
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Are the bellhousing dowel pins lining up? I forget how deep those are.

Here are my notes when installing my OD gearbox. Not sure if they will be of any value for your situation.

Mike

Positioned the clutch disc and clutch pressure plate into place on the flywheel. Used a plastic clutch alignment tool purchased from Sunbeam Specialties to center the clutch disc properly behind the pressure plate. Tightened the clutch pressure plate bolts to 17 lb-ft (they are 5/16" fine thread bolts with dry threads). Tightened bolts in an equal manner, 1 quarter turn at a time, via a star / diagonal process, to avoid warping the pressure plate.

Put the OD gearbox on the transmission jack and lifted to the right height & angle. Lined up the gearbox input shaft with the center of the pressure plate. The gearbox moved forward until there was about a 4 inch gap. The input shaft splines were not aligning with the clutch disc splines. Rotated the rear shaft on the gearbox and the splines aligned. (Thankfully, the gearbox was in gear.) The gearbox then moved in closer and the gap was now about 1 inch, which is the depth of the pilot bushing. Installed two 3/8 x 4" bolts with washers & nuts at about 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock on the bellhousing and alternately tightened each bolt. The bellhousing pulled in to become flush with the engine block. Installed bolts to attach the bellhousing to the engine block.

1721769673398.png
 
The problem getting the input shaft into the bushing is solved. After many attempts with the clutch assembly installed on the flywheel, I took the clutch off and put the parts on the shaft and then put the shaft into the bushing and installed the clutch over it. Once I got the clutch bolted in place, I couldn't move the shaft in or out. Unbuttoned the clutch again and realigned the shaft at the open end of the bushing. I had to go away for a minute to get some anti-seize paste and when I came back to the job I noticed that the shaft had dropped 1/4 of an inch. The brand new damned transmission jack was leaking down. Investigation revealed that the oil fill screw was loose and somehow causing the hydraulics to lose pressure. After a week of messing around with this, the transmission now bolted in place. It was a good thing that the guy who put that screw in is in China and not standing in my shop when I made the discovery.
 
Thor 1211 said:
The problem getting the input shaft into the bushing is solved. After many attempts with the clutch assembly installed on the flywheel, I took the clutch off and put the parts on the shaft and then put the shaft into the bushing and installed the clutch over it. Once I got the clutch bolted in place, I couldn't move the shaft in or out. Unbuttoned the clutch again and realigned the shaft at the open end of the bushing. I had to go away for a minute to get some anti-seize paste and when I came back to the job I noticed that the shaft had dropped 1/4 of an inch. The brand new damned transmission jack was leaking down. Investigation revealed that the oil fill screw was loose and somehow causing the hydraulics to lose pressure. After a week of messing around with this, the transmission now bolted in place. It was a good thing that the guy who put that screw in is in China and not standing in my shop when I made the discovery.
Click to expand...
Its a good job there is a large expanse of ocean between you!!!!!
 
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