Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Motor + Transmission

The second task I undertook today was to mate the motor to the transmission. First, I securely clamped the motor to my workbench (makes torquing the clutch bolts to 80 ft-lbs much easier!)
After much trial and error, I got the flywheel securely mounted at the proper distance from the mounting plate (first try was too far out; second try was too far in; third try was just right). You can see the felt washer peeking out from inside the crush ring - it gets really crushed...
Clutch pilot tool inserted and clutch mounted
Pressure plate mounted and secured. After this, you remove the pilot tool.
I also rebuilt the throwout bearing assembly. Not pictured, I replaced the throwout clips, the ball socket, cleaned everything thoroughly, and then reassembled (appropriately greased, of course!)
I then put both transmission and motor on rolling dollys. First try: engine was way too low:

So, I shimmed the motor up. It *almost* matched, but you could tell something was not aligned internally. I peeked in through the little "windows" (and shined a flashlight in through th starter motor hole) and this is what I saw: the pilot bearing was just a little low, but low enough that it did not mesh. So, more shimming ahead:After getting it all aligned, here it is (no bolts attached yet):And the final bolts in place (the three bolts that don't go thru the starter blockoff are about 16mm too long - they are 100mm and standard parts are 84mm. 100mm is all I could find at the local HW store - I lost my originals somewhere... I may cut off the excess length of these before I mount it in the car. I also transferred it to a single dolly, in anticipation of getting the car back and mounting the assembly inside the car.
So, summary:

  • Make sure you have the motor firmly clamped
  • If you're rebuilding your throwout bearing, use a Dremel-type device to carefully shave away the ball joint bearing surface.
  • Have two furniture dollys and lots of spare scrap lumber (for shims) for the final assembly
  • You can look in through the little trapezoidal "windows" as you assemble to check for alignment of the main transmission shaft and the bearing
  • Don't lose your original bolts. Ahem.

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