Squid4life

Got the flywheel, clutch disc, and pressure plate all mounted and torqued, but now having a hard time getting the trans to line up and seat all the way. The splines on the clutch engage nicely, but I cannot tell if it is not going into the pilot bearing, causing it to stop, or if it is the slave compression that is stopping the trans from going all the way in. I saw on another post about just using the bolts to draw it in easily, but concerned about messing up the pilot. It is all nice and even top to bottom, side to side between the trans and bell housing, and the clutch disc looks nice and centered in between the pressure plate tines. (didn't come with the plastic install tool, so using the crappy Harbor Freight tool...) Trans is about 1/2" from bell housing. Am I into the pilot and can finish with bolts to draw it in???

I even tried to loosen the pressure plate enough where I can barely move the disc, then try to stab the trans, being able to move the disc around and hit the pilot, but it stops at the same spot; about 3/8" to 1/2" out.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. In the middle of working on it now, and need to finish it today if possible!

Squid4life

So, after trying a few things, and measuring the depth of how far the input shaft should be going into the trans, I think it IS going into the pilot bearing, or pretty close to it. The first pic shows the slave collapsed, and in the second pic I tried to copy it by hand. When installed, with everything bolted together will it collapse more than this? It would need to collapse another 1/2" but I was unable to do it by hand. Does it just need to be "forced" down more by bringing the trans and bell housing closer together?

06blackonblackctsv

iTrader: (1)

Lindsay Cadillac did my install, but I do know they had to notch a piece of the transmission to make everything fit together. I know this probably wont help but its all I got. Good luck bro.

heavymetals

iTrader: (3)

I would not force it.

I don't know what you are using for a transmission jack, but here is a trick I use.

Get a pair of really long bolts and use those for the lower mounting.

Once you get the transmission lined up, you can slide it on the bolts and then "capture it" with other mounting bolts then work it into place.

You might have to rotate the output shaft a bit for the splines to line up, but not much.

Hope that helps.

Squid4life

I had to notch part of the trans/ bell housing to clear the new LS7 slave and remote bleeder. I got all my parts from Lindsay, really wish an alignment tool was included, but not 100% sure that's the issue...

I have a Harbor Freight trans jack that lifts well and aligns well too, surprisingly. The splines mate up perfectly, and everything is straight, but still 3/8- 1/2" away. Getting close, but now it seems the slave compression is the issue. I could be wrong tho...

Will try the long guide bolts.

Thanks for the input guys, really appreciate it. Any others? I'm all ears!

Merry Christmas!

itsslow98

iTrader: (18)

I used a big set of vice grips to slowly work it in on my mustang. Never had a problem.

Squid4life

Cool, thanks for the suggestion brother. Will hit it up in the morning again.

VeryWhiteDevil

iTrader: (9)

alignment tool is less than 5 bucks at autozone,if you are concerned.

SE-R Spec

iTrader: (2)

an alignment tool is definitely needed my man. your trans is not sliding into the pilot bearing at all, cause if it did, you trans would slide right up to your motor. i had the exact same problem with a GTO that i did. the clutch was off just a little bit and it completely hindered the trans from mating up with the motor in the car.

get back near the diff and look up towards the clutch. you should be able to see if it is off or not. also watch those plastic alignment tools, they will sag on you so even though you have it in there, it may not always be spot on. again, speaking from experience.

hope that helps,
derek

Squid4life

I called around about ten places, including auto zone for the tool; no joy. Only way I found to get it local is to buy a $500 clutch kit, which I would have then returned it after using the tool, but special order and a 10 day wait. Will try a few more places, and may end up getting one from summit and having to put the job on hold...

Thanks again guys.

raven154

iTrader: (14)

You mean to tell me they wont sell you one out of the kit and then let you return it or just replace it with the new tool that comes in? Where is common sense and customer service these days!? Its just ridiculous!

Squid4life

Alright, so lesson learned to never trust the parts store web sites or the workers there... Got the spline count and diameter of needed install tool from the clutch itself, looked at the Dorman/ Motormite site to find 1 1/8" 26 spline tool and got the number. Looked online and called a couple stores asking directly for the part number, now have one in hand. I guess you cannot look it up by the car itself, whether it is the 05 V, or 07 Vette, etc.

Sometimes technology, and those who rely on it (myself included) suck...

Off to the garage. Merry Christmas all!

06blackonblackctsv

iTrader: (1)

Thats good news, good luck with the rest of the install, let us know how it goes.

Merry Christmas!!!!

cts-v 07ct

Hopefully you got it together but if you didn't and it is running into the slave. Just release the bleeder. I had to do this when installing the clutch after removing it and putting it back in again. Also it needs to be aligned just right or it won't go together.

Squid4life

I did release the bleeder, but it didn't help. It did finally go together, after some polite words of coercion (and threatening a few .40 cal holes...). The plastic tool didn't seem to help right away, but she did finally slip right in.

Now, any guidance on clutch break in? I cannot seem to find anything... I thought I remembered absolutely no slipping of the clutch for the first hundred or so miles, then not beating on it for the first 500. Is this close?

CancerJCC

iTrader: (4)

Glad you got it together. Monster recommends 500 miles of break in. This consists of a lot of drive cycles around town with plenty of time to cool in between. Basically don't beat on it for 500 miles and don't think 500 highway miles count!

Squid4life

Thank you very much for the info! Can I assume regular easy driving, or any particular attention to no slippage or anything like that?

raven154

iTrader: (14)

Just drive like an old man would. Dont slip it any more than you need too to get the car rolling.

Squid4life

These 500+ miles are going to seem like an eternity... Car already feels sooo much better with the new clutch in, plus revs quicker with the new flywheel. Modded the shifter for longer throws andtook 1/2" off the height. All around the car feels like a different car. So much nicer!!!