Nomad C4 chassis assembly

[chevynut]

Thanks Paul, I'm trying to keep moving forward. Some guys seem to think I shouldn't post every little detail of things that I do, but to me it's motivating in itself....for me. At least I'm getting stuff done, and as you know the details are what takes so much time.

[chevynut]

Made a little more progress today. I welded up a hole in my clutch fork and drilled and tapped another one further out to add a spring anchor to it. The fork needs to be held in contact with the slave pushrod or it will cause the TOB to drag on the clutch fingers and the existing hole didn't allow the spring to clear the boot.

I also sanded and re-primed the block plate, bellhousing, T56 adapter, rear swaybar, swaybar clamps, and gas filler tube (might as well get ahead!) with SPI epoxy. Then later tonight I sanded everything again and sprayed the PPG DBC base.

Tomorrow I'll clear coat everything and it will be ready for final assembly after it cures a day or so.

I got the starter bolts and they're much higher quality than the Dorman junk. These fit the hole tightly, have good knurls, they're the right length, and they look nice too . I installed the starter and flywheel and it looks like I have too much gear engagement (~90%) and the clearance between the teeth is too small. But the clearance between the flywheel teeth and the gear shaft in the starter is well over 1/8". I think I'll go by the recommended tooth clearance and get some shims to get it right. Not sure what to think about the gear engagement, or how to adjust it. There's no way to shim the starter forward, away from the flywheel .

[chevynut]

I'm trying to finish up my clutch assembly and I noticed the throwout bearing has a point on it like in the picture below. What is that for? I assume it's to prevent the TOB from rotating in the fork, but is there a correct orientation for it in the fork?

[chevynut]

Nevermind, I found the answer online (I love the internet and Googe ) It doesn't matter which way it goes.

http://www.camaros.net/forums/27-tra...ientation.html

[chevynut]

Today I went to get some starter shims (Dorman brand)...what a waste of time and money. They don't even fit my starter because they interfere with the casting.

20170127_005.JPG

Since the starter has been sitting in a box for years and never been used, I hooked it up to a battery to make sure it worked and sounded okay. It seemed to be fine and the gear went in and out smoothly. I decided to use washers between the starter and block instead of grinding the shims. I was surprised that it took me about .100" of washers) to be able to get a paper clip between the teeth. Not sure why it took me that much shimming to get the starter where it belongs but I think it's right now. Here's the difference between the Dorman and ARP starter bolts...

20170127_004.JPG

The front of the block plate is painted below the block. I didn't want to paint the block mating surface since it was all dialed in, so I left it primed like the back side:

20170127_001.JPG

I installed the block plate and then the flywheel using new 12-point ARP flywheel bolts.....TWICE! I bought the bolts a long time ago with the clutch parts and they came with instructions for lubing and torquing that said to lube the threads and under the heads with ARP bolt lube and torque to 70 ft-lb, so that's what I did. Then I went to install the pressure plate and looked up the torque specs on the ARP website. I decided to look up the flywheel bolt instructions for some reason, and the online instructions for the SAME kit said to use Loctite 242 on the threads and ARP bolt lube under the heads, and torque to 85 ft-lb. So I had to disassemble everything, clean the bots and the holes in the crank, and start over.

20170127_008.JPG

I tried to call the place I got the pilot bushing from to see what to lube it with, but they're closed on Fridays . So I lubed it with synthetic grease with PTFE in it and called it good. I used my alignment tool and slipped the Centerforce Dual Friction disc in place.

20170127_009.JPG

Then I installed the Centerforce pressure plate, using ARP bolts with Loctite 242 torqued to 45 ft-lb per ARP:

20170127_010.JPG

I reinstalled the clutch fork pivot ball and set it for 4 5/8" from the bellhousing face (4 3/4" from the block). The fork boot was installed into the bellhousing and I installed the fork and the self-aligning TOB. I'm a little concerned that removing 1/2" from the fork made it interfere with the boot a little, but maybe it's okay. I then greased the T5 bearing retainer on the adapter, and installed the adapter onto the bellhousing. I torqued the 4 button head adapter bolts to 60 ft-lb and called it a day.

Next I need to bolt the bellhousing to the block and finish up the clutch slave mount and return spring. Then I have to reinstall the T56 front case and prep and paint the tranny.

[oceangoer]

Loos great. I prefer the Oilite Bronze pilot bearings, self lubricating.

Here's an interesting link

http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/w...g_and_bushings

[chevynut]

Loos great. I prefer the Oilite Bronze pilot bearings, self lubricating.

If there was one made for my application I would have used it. Try to find an Oilite extended pilot bushing. Then find one that fits in a Chevy crank with a .750 ID. It doesn't exist as far as I can tell.

MY choice was to have the input shaft OD cut down to a standard Chevy size (D&D used to do that) but it removes the hardened surface or change the input shaft to an LS T56 shaft. I'm not even sure the LS input shaft would have been long enough. The bronze bushing I bought is made for LS installations using an aftermarket bellhousing and I had to bore it out to .750" to make it work.

[WagonWonder]

Did you happen to look at McMaster.Com - https://www.mcmaster.com/#sae-841-bronze/=165zllx They have a plethora of different sizes and bar stock too. https://www.mcmaster.com/#sae-841-bronze/=165zmkr

[chevynut]

Did you happen to look at McMaster.Com - https://www.mcmaster.com/#sae-841-bronze/=165zllx They have a plethora of different sizes and bar stock too. https://www.mcmaster.com/#sae-841-bronze/=165zmkr

Why do you guys always offer suggestions after I'm done? I could have used that suggestion a couple weeks ago. The flywheel, clutch, and bellhousing are now permanently installed....I hope.

I didn't know you could buy Oilite bushings in those sizes. I have actually bought Oilite bushings from McMaster-Carr before, but didn't think to look there. I searched all over the internet for a pilot bushing for my application or that I could make to fit my application.

I needed a bushing with 1.093" OD, .750" ID, and 1/4" to 1/2" longer than a stock one. According to my measurements, I only had about 3/8" engagement into a stock bushing. I wouldn't feel comfortable with a tube with a 1/8" wall protruding out of the crank so it needs a flange on it.

It looks like there's one bushing part number that would have worked, but I would have had to machine it to fit inside the crank and cut it to length. It's one with 3/4" ID and 1 1/4" OD, 3" long. All the others are either too small OD or not long enough for an extended bushing, or at least one I had to turn down. The flanged ones don't have enough flange thickness that I would have felt comfortable using one (3/16" max). The 1 1/4" or 1 3/8" OD bar stock would have also worked.

They sell lots of solid bronze extended bushings for various applications so they must work okay. The only time the pilot even turns in the bushing is when the clutch is disengaged so I'm not too worried about it.

[NickP]

Seems like good times ahead!