Here we go. One last time...

[moparedtn]

Ed,
440-6 was kind enough to get you Centerforce's directions and they're in easy to understand terms. BTW, these directions are not car brand specific. The stop I was talking about would be between the pedal and the firewall, to limit travel. As cornpatch Mo said, most likely that won't be needed. The rubber cushion at the top of the pedal travel can be removed or trimmed to give you more free play if necessary. So, to re-iterate, after installation you have 3 things to check: Setting free-play as the manufacturer stated; Having your wife push in the pedal with you under the car with the required feeler gauges, making sure that the correct clearance is there as stated by Centerforce; and making sure that the throw-out bearing is not pushing the fingers of the diaphram in excessively. You will love the clutch. Easy pedal pressure and great lock-up. What could be better?

Agreed, Dave.
One step further, folks either develop a "feel" for clutches or they don't, I suppose.
I've never felt the need to "floor" a clutch pedal myself, nor have I really thought about such things - it just seems natural to me to not keep depressing the pedal after the clutch disengages.
Come to think of it, I can't ever recall just flooring a clutch pedal all the way until it stops against the floor.
Of course, you are conversing with someone who simply didn't even use the clutch on my '89 5.0 Mustang for a few months after hernia surgery back in 1990, either - other than when first pulling away from a dead stop, I just didn't use the clutch at all - too painful, you know.
I sold that car many years later, still with the original clutch (and T-5) in it at 250k+ miles.
Clutches and I just have always seemed to get along. I've never replaced one because it wore out in my life.

 

[khryslerkid]

The thing I always considered when adjusting a clutch was to have just a little play at the throw out bearing. If the linkage is placing pressure on the bearing it's too tight.

 

[moparedtn]

The thing I always considered when adjusting a clutch was to have just a little play at the throw out bearing. If the linkage is placing pressure on the bearing it's too tight.

Seems natural, I agree - and that seems to bear out in the link 440+6 shared.
I dunno, it may just be how I was taught about clutches by my dad 40+ years ago, to preserve them, not abuse them - to have a sort of mechanical empathy for them.
His thinking was born out of being alive during the Depression, of course - not being wasteful or abusing anything mechanical that you couldn't afford to replace.

Pop never was what you'd call an old car enthusiast, really - he went through many lean years when young and learned all about working on old heaps out of economic necessity. Lots of $25 cars and such. A young family on a shoestring budget will do that to a fella, after all.
He never quite got the old car enthusiast hobby as a result, because he lived the era and saw them as tools more than fun.
He didn't really even start letting himself enjoy cars until much later in life and never quite understood how people would pay so much for the same old heaps he lived with because he had to, since it was all he could afford.
He did love a big, comfy old sedan with all the bells and whistles as he retired, though. Luxury rides he could finally allow himself to enjoy.

Were he still alive now, I guarantee he'd be up here some nights, sitting in a chair in my garage, gently offering advice as he watched me wrestle this project now, smiling to himself when he saw me fighting something he saw as a simple task - one he'd tackled on the side of the road in a rainstorm in years past, probably.

Damn I miss him.

 

[moparedtn]

Just found out the cavalry won't be coming until weekend after this one.
Starting to think I'm going to do something foolish like do all this by myself....

 

[moparedtn]

Got a little bit done this evening. Replacement 4 speed got new side cover, housing and front bearing housing gaskets and gave it a quick spray bomb in silver.
Had the side cover and the housing all dolled up in RTV black when I read the little piece of paper that came with the new gaskets from Brewer's....
the one that said "use no sealant!"
Sigh. Scrubbed it all back down to bare, then installed the gaskets "dry".

Got that torn up old output seal wrestled out of there and installed the new one from Brewer's:

I'll give the paint a day to settle, then touch up anything that needs it.
Finally, I'll transfer over my speedo gear set and reverse switch from my old transmission (both are dang near new and work).

Onward...

 

[oldbee]

Ed-relax, only need to wait a little.... "Heart grows fonder", or something close!

 

[oldbee]

Per ur previous post about 'pop'... My dad was the same, sooo better-half & I decided after I retired we'd take both cars& go for a new car payment on one car. 2016 Cad.SRX.. He always talked about wanting a Cadillac.So far we're both happy.

 

[Cornpatch MO]

Got a little bit done this evening. Replacement 4 speed got new side cover, housing and front bearing housing gaskets and gave it a quick spray bomb in silver.
Had the side cover and the housing all dolled up in RTV black when I read the little piece of paper that came with the new gaskets from Brewer's....
the one that said "use no sealant!"
Sigh. Scrubbed it all back down to bare, then installed the gaskets "dry".
View attachment 403168
Got that torn up old output seal wrestled out of there and installed the new one from Brewer's:
View attachment 403169
I'll give the paint a day to settle, then touch up anything that needs it.
Finally, I'll transfer over my speedo gear set and reverse switch from my old transmission (both are dang near new and work).

Onward...

Don't forget to " clock" that speedo drive when you exchange ......................MO

 

[coloradodave]

What happens if you have a one piece scatter shield? Like me.

Fran, A well placed 1/2" hole drilled near the center of the bottom will allow you to check the clearance. I used to drill two holes; one to insert the gauge and one to spot it. Never had a problem with NHRA tech.

 

[moparedtn]

Per ur previous post about 'pop'... My dad was the same, sooo better-half & I decided after I retired we'd take both cars& go for a new car payment on one car. 2016 Cad.SRX.. He always talked about wanting a Cadillac.So far we're both happy.

Atta boy.
I have my '04 Ram for my forever vehicle for around the property and we fetched the '12 Charger R/T for the misses so she'd have a real nice ride if, well, you know...

 

[moparedtn]

Don't forget to " clock" that speedo drive when you exchange ......................MO

Yeah, I remember there being some manner of procedure to it. Definitely checking the service manual before I do it.

 

[Cornpatch MO]

Yeah, I remember there being some manner of procedure to it. Definitely checking the service manual before I do it.

IIRC my service manual isn't very clear on this. Someone put mine in wrong ... the gears wasn't even meshing. It took some trial and error, but I finally found the right combination which gave the right amount of gear lash. Hint: a real small blade screw driver will fit into the square hole in the end of the plastic gear , and you can feel the lash back and forth after the drive is tightened down.....................MO

 

[moparedtn]

IIRC my service manual isn't very clear on this. Someone put mine in wrong ... the gears wasn't even meshing. It took some trial and error, but I finally found the right combination which gave the right amount of gear lash. Hint: a real small blade screw driver will fit into the square hole in the end of the plastic gear , and you can feel the lash back and forth after the drive is tightened down.....................MO

I read on one of the forums to install the pinion & housing back in with the little tooth count indicator all the way up in the big numbers first until the whole thing is seated well, then "dial down" to the indicated tooth count you actually have (in my case, 33).
Actually works pretty well, at least it did when I did it with my new pinion in the old tranny.

 

[moparedtn]

Well, freezing or not let's get back to it. Y'all feel free to jump in at any point you see me doing anything wrong!
First up, since nobody ever answered me about swapping the stock balancer for my new Summit one, I left the stock one on.
Pulley on with a minimum of fuss about lining up bolts:

 

[moparedtn]

Next, I decided to check out the timing marks on said balancer, using that nifty TDC stop y'all talked me into a while back:

Yep, dead on the money. Groovy.

Time to get the distributor installed...
Pulled drivers' valve cover to see if I'm on firing stroke or exhaust.
Set timing mark at TDC on what I think is firing stroke:

Then pulled dizzy drive/oil pump drive in and out a few times until I got the slot facing parallel with the engine front-back:

Close enough.
Thought twice about installing distributor prior to installing engine in car, then realized I got 3 of the dang things.
Using the one that came with the engine as a dust cover for now.

EDIT: Anyone else see what I see on that cam?

 

[moparedtn]

That'll work:

Inside of that cap looks pretty carboned up, so it becomes protective and temporary:

Think I'll check over all other bolts right now before moving on.

 

[oldbee]

Ed-you bent ur vac.advance nipple?!!! Sorry, now RC's gonna chime in on nipples!!!!!!

 

[moparedtn]

Ed-you bent ur vac.advance nipple?!!! Sorry, now RC's gonna chime in on nipples!!!!!!

That's the dizzy that came with the engine. Apparently it got a tad bent during shipping. Like I said, I have others. This one isn't staying in the engine permanently.

 

[moparedtn]

Snugged up a few bolts I found on the "new" engine. All good.
Got under the car next and spent a little time under there trying to wrestle the headers out, which resisted of course. FAIL.
It's at the point where next task is to yank out the old engine and I was contemplating where to put it when I did - when the wife appeared in the garage.
She had one look at me and put a stop to all proceedings right then and there.
(She has to tell me when to stop - I'll go until things go south for me health-wise otherwise). The cold had gotten to me more than I thought.

Apparently that was it for today.

 

[moparwacko]

I see purple in there.....
Now which one??