Monday 7 December 2009

Gerabox fitted

Managed with the help of my good mate Kev, to get the gearbox fitted.

To fit the twin clutch, I had to line up both clutch plates with the pilot bearing.
Easier said than done.
As I found out, there is a clutch alignment tool you can buy with splines. But not one that fits Chevy clutch to a ford pilot bearing. So I tried to make up my own. I found a bit of ally that was close in size, applied tape till it fit and lined up the splines by eye.Once aligned, the bell housing needs to be fitted and torqued up the same way it was when that was dialled in. Then slide the gearbox in.
We tried to fit the bearbox, all went in ok till it got to the pilot bearing. The clutch plates were a fraction out and you can't move them once the clutch is fitted as it is rated to 600bhp and must be partly disassembled to release the friction plates. This means taking the bell housing off again.

So plan b was to use the gearbox shaft for alignment. I had to make sure it was level and then lift the engine to the same height, make sure the engine was level too, and slide the gearbox in, mark and tighten the clutch, remove the gearbox and hope it didn't go off level.
(Can see the 2 offset dowels I was on about previously)We then refitted the bellhousing and tried again to fit the box, and it slid home with ease.
I then fitted a ratchet strap from the fork to the rear of the gearbox to disengage the clutch so it finds it own happy position as it could still be out slightly before turning over the engine.

One tip I would give, make sure you fit the clutch fork and throw out bearing inside the bell housing before fitting the gearbox and jumping about with joy that it finally fits, only to hear your mate say "what's this bit for?" LOL