1973LQ9T56

all right, i guess i just got the wrong parts or im an idiot. at this point i wish i was just an idiot. ok, so i have a LQ9 with a t56. got a ls1 flywheel and arp bolts all that is good. no spacer, bolts dont hit clutch no problems there. here is the problem.. when i put my pressure plate on the fly wheel every thing looks great. it seats on the dowel pins fine and mates up to the fly wheel nice and flush, all the bolt holes line up. no problems. when you look at the clutch compared to the fly wheel everything looks good too, it looks like the right size, doesnt go over any bolt holes etc etc. also when u compare the clutch to the press plate all looks good there too. doesnt hang over the edge etc. BUT not all is good. When i go to install everything it doesnt mesh. i put the clutch on the fly wheel with the correct side marked towards flywheel, use the alignment tool etc. then when i go to put the press plate on it sits off the flywheel by about a 1/4 of an inch. not too big of a deal, but when i tighten it down it makes the press plate flex causing it and the bolts to hit the clutch disk. i tried (100 times) to make sure it was perfectly centered (it is) but the clutch still hits about 1/3 of the press plate bolts..... im stumped. i have some pics ill try to upload. i would love to not have to buy anymore parts but i dont know what else to do. i sure hope i just screwed something up and its not bad parts. thanks.

jmd

iTrader: (4)

I hope I read your post right.

If the bolt heads / washers are the only thing touching the friction material, then get bolts with smaller heads / smaller o.d. washers.

If the friction is contacting the pressure plate, then you need to talk to the clutch maker.

dave70

iTrader: (2)

Is this in a 4th gen?

Mart00SS

iTrader: (19)

Looks like the bolts are the problem. You arent using the flywheel bolts that attach the flywheel to the crank to install the Pressure plate right? I cant remember if they are the same size or not. I would get some stock Pressure plate bolts and see if those work.

1973LQ9T56

these were all good guesses, and trust me they all crossed my mind. first of all yes it is a fourth gen fly wheel, pp, and clutch. second the bolts were ordered from ARP for the pressure plate, and were labeled so on the box. and third yes yall are right, if it was just hitting the bolts/washers, then i should just change them out, but you have to think about it like this, to get it to not hit the bolt and washer they would basically have to be ground flat on one side after they get tightened and that isnt the right thing to do. maybe other people have had problems with ARP bolts being too big????. who might make a bolt with a smaller head for that application?? go with some stockers or just try some grade 8 stuff from the auto parts store? does any one know what size head is on a stock bolt? 12mm? also the clutch disk is about two kunt hairs away from hitting the mounting surface on the pressure plate. literally about 1-2 thousandths, and that doesnt seem right to me. it almost butts up against it in some places. and yes i am sure that i didnt use the flywheel bolts that connect to fly wheel to crank for the pp, but that was a good thought and i thought the same thing but upon double checking i was using the correct ones. and for you that said i should contact the clutch maker, i am and they are being... well slow. they say " oh it all should work" but its not. so im sending them pics and were trying to figure out whats going on. in my opinion the clutch disk is just too big, but it all came in a sealed package...???.. thanks all for the ideas.

1973LQ9T56

heres a pic up close of how close the clutch is to the pp. i thightened all bolts then backed this one out to snap a pic. all other tolerances are this close or closer. how does it look? seems too close to me. like i said some of the other bolt locations it seems as if the pp is butted up against the clutch but cant really tell for sure. would this gap fly, or is it too close?

Mart00SS

iTrader: (19)

It looks like the disk is too big. What if you take the pressure plate and set it on the floor face up (fingers against the floor) then set the disk on the PP. The disc material should fit perfectly in the flat contact area on the pressure plate. If the friction material is hanging over the edge of the contact area on the PP, I'd say somehow its the wrong disk. This would also be a good picture to send them.

SPEC-01

iTrader: (2)

1973, I emailed you yesterday with some questions about clearances and where the contact was occuring. I hate that you feel we are moving slowly but the info I have is dependent on the info you provide since I can't see the parts first-hand. Can you provide a measurement of the disc diameter?

Mart00SS

iTrader: (19)

Update?

1973LQ9T56

ok. update. sorry it took so long, and sorry SPEC for saying yall were being slow, because jeremy took time out of his day to help me figure out that (hopefully) its just the wrong bolts. its bullshit of ARP that the bolts they sent me had such a large lip and washer, because after talking to spec, their bolts use a hex drive all inside the head of the bolt and the bolt doesnt over hang any over the pp. to the guy that said (lay the pp on the ground and put the clutch on it, ) you were exactly right and that was one of the test that jeremy at spec had me do and although it was very very close to the edge, it didnt go over and he said it was normal. SO thanks alot jeremy and spec for helping me out, and i hope to god that after i get yalls bolts that you dont have to ever hear from me again!!!! ha ha. i know it had been said that SPEC's customer service used to be lacking back in the day, but so far from all i can tell they have done a 180 and are trying hard to take care of their customers. and ARP, not so much. and the $30 package of bolts that CLEARLY state " 98-02 LS1 pressure plate to flywheel bolts" humm. i will def update after i get the bolts. i'll either put it all together correctly or the ball will get dropped again and i will have to wine on this website some more. thanks alot for everyones input.

lizeec

iTrader: (57)

Come on now, ARP says 98-02 LS1 Pressure Plate Bolts which are the exact same ones I used on my car that has a G.M. LS7 clutch disc and pressure plate and they worked just fine, now how is ARP suppose to have a bolt that is going to work with every Tom, Dick and Harrys clutch disc and pressure plate creation? When you ordered the bolts did you tell them you were going to use a Spec clutch? Probably not! Maybe the clutch and pressure plate manufacturer should have told you when you ordered the clutch that you cannot use stock bolts and must use a allen bolt head bolt? Maybe? Yes?? No? You are awful quick to slam someone or some company for your own mistakes!

1973LQ9T56

ok well, i guess ur right. i didnt think about their point of view. i was just pissed off at the whole situation and wanted someone to blame it on and didnt put a whole lot of thought that all the sizes of everything would be so different. so i guess ill take the blame. whatever oh well as long as the setup works after i get the new bolts then i dont care.... so to ARP, sorry (i guess).

lizeec

iTrader: (57)

Good luck and hope everything works out, I know whenever I start mix-matching things from different brands and manufacturers it seems sometimes it works great like they were made for each other and sometimes it is nowhere close, but that is Hot Rodding and we live for those days, either way I am glad you got it taken care of.

DJB

iTrader: (15)

Those disk to PP clearances look so small that Spec needs to send new PP bolts with their kits. That looks like they are using 12 inch disk with the 11 inch PP and its too close.

the_merv

iTrader: (88)

My ARP Bolts that came with my Textralia Clutch are different from them, and would definately work.

SPEC-01

iTrader: (2)

Our kits work fine with the OE bolts...however, the bolts that ARP provided were different than stock and had specifications that allowed them to contact the disc. There are lots of folks that have used our parts with OE bolts (most do) without any issues at all. Perhaps he got the wrong bolts from ARP, maybe they were even packaged incorrectly. At any rate, the bolts he needs are on the way to him. Let me know if you have any further questions. Thanks,