Clutch shaft / pilot bushing alignment.

79 factory 304 /T-18….Swapping out the 304 and installing a 360

It’s taking me more time then it should to align the clutch shaft into the pilot bushing. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thinking out loud here..

Support tranny
Removed hood, grill, 304
Removed good clutch from 304
Resurfaced 360 flywheel
Installed new pilot bushing
Installed clutch w/alignment tool
Removed 360 engine mounts,
Installed one side of the load leveler to the left front block other side to right rear block
Can’t move it any closer then an 1 ½” from b-housing,turned crank by hand doesn’t engage
Pull out and checked bushing and can see the shaft has made contact to outer edge of bushing, rechecked with alignment tool..alignment good
Rearrange load leveler to right front intake manifold and left rear intake manifold
Retry while making small adjustments to tranny

I have tilted the engine’s nose up, down, even a slight bit left and right, without much luck to this point. I’ll give it another try tonight. Thanks

 

OK, these might sound silly, but here goes.
1. right size pilot bushing?
2. even though you used an alignment tool, is it aligned? i have seen 'alignment tools' that allow quite a bit of movement of the disk and therefore don't align the disk very well.
3. You're not making contact anywhere else in the bellhousing are you?
4. is the pilot bushing lubed up a bit? it needs some lube to operate anyway.
5. i know you said you are supporting tranny, but you might try to lift the tranny front end up some to help with alignment.

no definitive answers here, but clutches are usually a bear.

HTH

 

The only thing that sounds silly is that I haven’t button this up yet. Thanks for the reply.

1)Tried fitting bushing on shaft before install, fit well, same exact size as the one I removed from the 304. I ran the alignment tool through both bushing (old/new) to make sure.
2)Visually it looks aligned, manually using the alignment tool it slides in and out without binding. I will recheck everything again tonight as well.
3)When I have it aliened well enough where it reaches the bushing yet doesn’t go in there seems to be no binding/hitting with the b-housing. Will recheck tonight.
4)Yes, I oiled the bushing before installing and put a light coat of grease on the shaft.
5)I have tried jacking the tranny as high as it will go (top at firewall) and have tried without support (hanging down).

I’m imaging me trying it tonight and it just pops in …….yesterday was frustrating.:toetap:

 

I agree on the alignment tool not always doing the job. I've fought a few where I needed to go back and loosen the pressure plate, jiggle the alignment tool around to make sure the clutch plate as centered, then tighten everything down again. It only takes a few hundredths misalignment to keep the tranny from going in.

 

One thing I did was to take two bolts about 2 inches or so long long that will thread into the two bottom holes of the block(the two holes that have the alignment bushings that hold the flywheel cover in place). I cut the heads off and cut slots in them that a screwdriver will fit. I use these as alignment pins. Once I get the tranny on, and a couple of other bolts in, I can back these two out with a screwdriver and put in the correct bolts. I found this to be a lot easier than trying to just stab it.

 

I double checked everything again tonight….everything is as should be….add a couple of slotted 2” bolts to the block that caveman had mentioned…..line the engine up and it slides right in without much effort…

Again, thanks for the replies.