1994greenz28

iTrader: (2)

The car is a 1995 Firebird Formula with a t56, 125k, stock except for intake and cat back, stock clutch replaced 2yrs ago, stock gearing, has an aftermarket shifter (unknown brand). Yesterday I was getting onto an Interstate, so I hit the on ramp in 2nd and punched the gas, was at about 70mph and pushed in clutch, went to shift into third, the trans decided to shift into 1st (or operator error), and before I could react I was already letting go of the clutch. So, loud bang, clutch does limp, it sounded like a bunch of loose gravel rattling around underneath the car. So, I know that the clutch is toast. I could shift through all six gears with the car off. When I got it home and jack it up, I could see from the inspection cover area, bits of metal and what looked like metal strands (kind of like a bunch of dust and dog hair mixed up), I notice a tiny hole in the bellhousing on the drivers side (it is about 1/2 long and maybe 2mm wide). The engine spins freely, there is a metal dragging/scrapping sound when I spin it (from the bellhousing area), and the rear wheels and driveshaft spin freely with the trans in neutral. I haven't pulled the trans yet, will probably do it tomorrow. So I know I need a new clutch, but I was wondering how much damage could have happened to the trans, if any? There was no fluid leakage, no smells, the clutch peddle was limp, but after the tow on a flat bed and once I rolled it into my garage, the clutch peddle had some pressure to it. I could actually get the engine to turn over (I just check it to see if it would start), before the tow the peddle had nothing to it, no resistance of any kind.

blue99ta402

M cousin done the same thing with his car racing a vet.. He had to change the clutch and bell housing but the trans seemed to be fine. You really never know until you dig into it.

1994greenz28

iTrader: (2)

I don't think the trans fully went into first gear. I didn't hear any grinding sounds when it happened. Hopefully it's just the clutch. I think I can get by with just some JB weld or metal filler on the bellhousing, or is that a bad idea. The hole is not that bad, there are no visible cracks that I can see.

BALLSS

OP

sounds like you exploded your clutch....what that debris did will not be clear until you pull the tranny & clutch. the hole in the bell housing is NOT a good sign

your tranny may be OK...but again you will have to pull it and confirm the face plate or input shaft was not compromised

The hair/dust you see is from the clutch disc exploding

guppymech

iTrader: (7)

While I don't like to admit it I power shifted 1st from 2nd once, it wasn't pretty. Top of 2nd I go for 3rd, next thing I know my rear tires are squealing and then my shift light goes off at 6k as the engine starts to overspeed, I jammed in the clutch. Wow!. When the rear wheels are back driving the engine no rev limiter on earth will protect the engine from over revving. Hopefully you caught it in time to prevent the valves from hitting the pistons and the only thing you did was blow up the clutch disc. I was lucky and only ruptured the passenger side radiator tank and hurt my pride.

1994greenz28

iTrader: (2)

The engine was still running after it happened, the clutch peddle was limp and just hanging. The engine sounded normal to me. I shut it off and coasted to a stop. When I got it home and spun the crank with a wrench, it rotated easily, no wierd sounds. I hope it is just the clutch, my wife hates this car and doesn't want to put any money into it.

1994greenz28

iTrader: (2)

I know what you mean about not wanting to admit it. I felt like an idiot right after I did it. Actually, I still feel like an idiot. Hopefully I will have some time tomorrow to remove the trans and check the damage. I just got too much going on with school, kids, and work right now. I'll post some pics of the carnage if I can.

1994greenz28

iTrader: (2)

So, I finally got around to dropping the transmission. I pulled the clutch and it was pretty messed up. Nothing else seemed damaged, visually at least. Now I just got to wait for the new clutch to be delivered.

I have a pic of the bellhousing, and the crack is not that bad...I wonder if I can get away with just repairing it, or is that a bad idea?

guppymech

iTrader: (7)

^^^I'd probably get it welded as cracks always grow longer over time. If you do much drag racing you might want to consider getting a scattershield. I'm running the same Valeo clutch disc as yours, it doesn't make me feel good to see one blown up like that.

1994greenz28

iTrader: (2)

Welding...didn't think about that. I'll see if the machine shop that is doing the flywheel can weld it. Yeah, not doing any drag racing yet, as this is my daily(having to borrow the in-laws spare car right now). I will eventually move this to the fun/weekend/drag car in the future, though. There were only three big chunks of the clutch disk that I found, the rest of it disintegrated into dust and metal strands(the short dog hair looking stuff). As long as you don't power shift into 1st when you should be going into 3rd, the clutch should be fine, HAHA!!!

1994greenz28

iTrader: (2)

So, I just got it all put back together, put about 20 miles on it sp far and everything is great. I ordered a Competition Clutch Stage 2 kit, it came with everything needed, and it only cost $258.34 with free shipping!! (If anyone is interested, pm me and I will tell you were I got it from, they are not a vender) By the way, the pilot bushing puller did not help at all (it might be because the design sucks or the fact that my pilot bushing was jammed back about 1/8 of an inch from were it was supposed to be). I got the one from Advance Auto Parts and after about 1/2 hour of the puller just slipping out, I got out the trusted chisel set and went to town on the bushing. It took another 1/2 hr to get that out. When I put the new one in, I tired a socket at first, them moved to a pvc pipe. The pvc pipe could not translate the force of the hammer to the bushing, so I found an old paint roller extender handle made of fiberglass. I cut a couple of 4 in sections off, started making progress with that. I split two of them before the third one got it in flush with the crank. Everything else was pretty smooth. Also found a guy to weld the bellhousing crack for $30 bucks.

So, the clutch seems to be a pretty decent one so far. Hardly any chatter. On the stock clutch, 2nd gear from 10 mph hour, it would sound like marbles in a tin can, the CC makes no sound. Clutch peddle firmness is the same. I am going to do a 500 mile break in. This is the first clutch that I have done, and I have to say it wasn't too bad, thanks to all the input on this site. I found all the info that I needed on here either through the search function, google, or the comments on this post. So thanks to everyone who helped!!

NW Iowa WS6

iTrader: (9)

Hopefully your motor is ok, I went 1-3-1 and all 8 pistons kissed valves and cracked 2 of them....

1981TA

iTrader: (7)

At 125k miles, I'm wondering if the shifter is worn to the point where bad shifts are more likely to occur. Would a shifter replacement help reduce the likelihood of this happening in the future?

Almonz T/A

This scares me a little bit. I've done this a few times and still nothing has gone wrong. I have no idea how everything has held up so well.

1994greenz28

iTrader: (2)

It has a Pro 5.0 shifter, I don't know how many miles are on it though. It did not look worn out. So far I have put 150 miles on the clutch, and everything is working as before, so I am pretty sure nothing is damaged. It is amazing how much abuse these LT1s and t56s can handle.

munn79ta

I went 3rd to 2nd racing and when I pulled my heads off later found 3 bent pushrods....so if u have stock pushrods I would pull them and check. I had no idea they were bent until I started my build.

ssgunny

iTrader: (6)

I have done the 1-2-1 twice at the strip. The first time it happened with a Pro 5.0 and short stick. Thinking I was not getting enough leverage I swapped back to the original Power of Tower stick but it happened a second time next outing. I then did some reading on here about the Pro 5.0 shifter and weak springs which was apparent since my shifter would not return to center if pulled left from the center position and released. I shimmed one side as pointed out in the thread and it centers fine. Although I have been to the track since I am hesitant to shift it hard during the 2-3 shift.

Since these two miss shifts the trans shifts a bit notchy especially right after startup. The clutch engagement/disengagement does not feel smooth like it did beforehand. This winter I plan to install a RTX clutch and slave I have on hand and send the trans off to tick for a level 2 rebuild.

hrcslam

Agreed, that's repairable. But make sure they stop drill the crack then weld.