madmaro00

iTrader: (6)

I am finishing up the drivetrain swap for my '67 Camaro. I am mating a '04 5.3 with an Aisin MA5. I have all of the machining and fabricating done and just have one issue left which I have little experience with. With the width of my bellhousing adapter to accommodate the concentric slave cylinder my transmission input shaft literally ends right at the face of where the pilot bearing begins. I know a lot of old school guys that run without a pilot bearing and have never had any problems. I understand the purpose of the pilot bearing but am curious if I can get away without it. I can think of three options:

1. Don't worry about it and run without a pilot bearing.
2. Install the pilot bearing only half way into the crank so I have half of it on the transmission input shaft.
3. Get a custom pilot bearing made that is 100% longer so it can be fully seated in the crank along with full contact with the input shaft. Granted, this would just be a pilot "bushing" as there would be no needle bearings.

Thanks for the help.

redbird555

iTrader: (14)

No you need a pilot bearing of some kind. Without one your input shaft can wobble and cause some serious damage. I'd look into the pilot bearing that comes on ls3 and ls7 engines because it sits further out on the crank so it may be your answer

madmaro00

iTrader: (6)

Okay, I'll look into that. Thanks for the advice.

madmaro00

iTrader: (6)

So the one that Mcleod makes looks like my best option. It is extended .400 which will engage about 50% of the pilot bearing surface on my input shaft. Is that enough?

BALLSS

1/2 way is better than nothing. also you could not set the bearing in the crank as far. You DO NOT want to push a pilot bearing all the way to the bottom of crank anyway. you need space behind it to later get a blind hole puller in to remove it when you need to replace it.

since you have a hybred set up, you could have a bronze bushing machined with a mid-lip that both goes into the crank same depth as stock pilot bearing and also stuck out = distance. A machine shop with a lathe could make one easily