Help me shim my TC
Help me shim my TC As you can see I need to shim, a lot. That's a 1/8 drill bit in the picture. Is it normal to have that much room? If one washer won't close the gap is it ok to use two?
Last edited by Golf&GM; Oct 12, 2011 at 10:39 PM.
Do you have an aftermarket flexplate? I do, and have about the same amount of gap as yours. It was a cheap ~$75 SFI rated flex plate. I believe it is a CAT Power brand.
I also used two washers. It's a good idea to measure the thickness of each set of stacked washers, just to be sure they are all the same. If they aren't, you should grind them down to make them all the same thickness.
I did some more searching and saw some mixed reviews about using two washers. I ended up going to a Northwest Hardware in town and buying some thick grade 8 washers. They were all exactly 3/16 thick which was perfect. Only downside was they were $1 each, in the grande scheme of modding cars isn't much, but still hard to swallow.
Last edited by Golf&GM; Oct 14, 2011 at 01:12 PM.
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 24,241
Likes: 89
From: Turnin' Wrenches Infractions: 005
You aren't supposed to take out all the gap......didn't you read the sticky? Removing all the gap can cause converter bind and a forward pushing motion and say bye bye thrust bearing and hello new engine.
Trending Topics
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
Gas Monkey Built a 6-Wheel Ferrari Testarossa With a Corvette LT4 Engine
Verdad Gallardo
7 Most Reliable High-Performance Engines GM Has Ever Built
Verdad Gallardo
Amazing '71 Camaro Restomod Is Modern Muscle Car Under the Skin
Verdad Gallardo
6 Common C5 Corvette Failures and What's Involved In Repairing Them
Pouria Savadkouei
Retro Modern Bandit Pontiac Trans AM Comes With Burt Reynolds' Autograph
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
Coachbuilt N2A Anteros Is an LS2-Powered C6 Corvette In Italian Clothes
Verdad Gallardo The intention of the washers is to reduce this much larger gap to the required 1/8" to 3/16" gap.
So with the washers in-place, you still have to pull the converter forward about 3/16" to meet with the flex-plate.
GNXClone is exactly right. And I did read the stickies, multiple times.
Dry fitting a 1/16th washer, I could easily fit a 3/16th drill bit within the gap with a good bit of room to spare.
When I stepped up to the 3/16th washers I could almost fit a 1/8th drill bit between the gap, it was very close. And the 1/16th drill bit had plenty of room. This was the case for each foot.
Dry fitting a 1/16th washer, I could easily fit a 3/16th drill bit within the gap with a good bit of room to spare.
When I stepped up to the 3/16th washers I could almost fit a 1/8th drill bit between the gap, it was very close. And the 1/16th drill bit had plenty of room. This was the case for each foot.
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 24,241
Likes: 89
From: Turnin' Wrenches Infractions: 005
Nope. And you don't need to explain a procedure to me that I give regular advice here about. I think I understand the process. What actually happened is the OP was vague and non-specific in his original post, and I was left to my own imaginations. I imagined he was going to stuff washers until the gap was gone. Which would be incorrect and that's what I pointed out. Maybe if the original question was posed with a little more detail, I could have given an answer that you'd have been more happy with 
Nope. And you don't need to explain a procedure to me that I give regular advice here about. I think I understand the process. What actually happened is the OP was vague and non-specific in his original post, and I was left to my own imaginations. I imagined he was going to stuff washers until the gap was gone. Which would be incorrect and that's what I pointed out. Maybe if the original question was posed with a little more detail, I could have given an answer that you'd have been more happy with
Not trying to be rude, but I'm not sure how I could make it any clearer that I was only going to use one or two washers to get between 1/8" and 3/16".
Yea my bad to. I somehow missed your 2nd post so I was clueless then I read 01ssreds post.
Now I realise you already had the measurment with 2 washers and its perfect.
Hey im glad my thread was of some good use for you man. My stall has been great and I just broke 11s with minor bolts only
When you go to put your bolts in thread them in to see if they will be long enough for you to feel comfortable with them. I was afraid mine would be to short but after threading them in I counted the threads and it was good enough. If I remember yank told me all I needed was 3 threads and think I got 3-4. I dont remember but it should be in the thread
Now I realise you already had the measurment with 2 washers and its perfect.
Hey im glad my thread was of some good use for you man. My stall has been great and I just broke 11s with minor bolts only
When you go to put your bolts in thread them in to see if they will be long enough for you to feel comfortable with them. I was afraid mine would be to short but after threading them in I counted the threads and it was good enough. If I remember yank told me all I needed was 3 threads and think I got 3-4. I dont remember but it should be in the thread
Yea man, I chose to reuse the stock bolts. The ones that came from Yank were so small. I couldn't get even one thread started. I got it all together last night and already put 200 miles on it. Just got on it about ten minutes ago. WOW! Easy to drive around town left about a 100 ft of black marks down my road 
Last edited by Golf&GM; Oct 15, 2011 at 08:42 PM.
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 24,241
Likes: 89
From: Turnin' Wrenches Infractions: 005
How much of the thread on the stock bolt was engaged? Its preferable to have 1.5x the width fully engaged into the converter feet. Shimming, or double shimming makes bolt selection VERY crucial in my opinion. Do you know off hand if the stock converter bolts had a grade rating on them?
LMAO! You did the same thing I did. I broke it in on 1 day lol.
Did you happen to change the flexplate? You might not of had to if thats a 99. My 01 fp had cracks.
Dude its so easy to drive on the street its stupid right? No problem
Did you happen to change the flexplate? You might not of had to if thats a 99. My 01 fp had cracks.
Dude its so easy to drive on the street its stupid right? No problem
How much of the thread on the stock bolt was engaged? Its preferable to have 1.5x the width fully engaged into the converter feet. Shimming, or double shimming makes bolt selection VERY crucial in my opinion. Do you know off hand if the stock converter bolts had a grade rating on them?
I bought a flexplate from yank, it was less than $100 shipped so I figured it'd be worth it just for peace of mind.
Nope. And you don't need to explain a procedure to me that I give regular advice here about. I think I understand the process. What actually happened is the OP was vague and non-specific in his original post, and I was left to my own imaginations. I imagined he was going to stuff washers until the gap was gone. Which would be incorrect and that's what I pointed out. Maybe if the original question was posed with a little more detail, I could have given an answer that you'd have been more happy with
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 24,241
Likes: 89
From: Turnin' Wrenches Infractions: 005
Honestly, and I have described this before when people have asked, I ditched the bolts that came with the yank and went to a custom length. I measured the flexplate thickness, shim thickness, and converter hole depth, then subtracted about 1/8 and cut this length from some longer graded bolts. It was the only way I would be able to sleep well at night.