T56 in 99 Z-28 not going in!!!

[WICKEDLS1]

well me and a few buddies decided to do the clutch in one of their 99 z-28's. well everything came out with ease and the fly wheel and clutch install was easy too well now its time to re-stab it and it plain and simply will not go in. we have leveled and rocked and shook and everything else you could imagine to try and get that damn thing in there but it wont go. i have checked and the very end of the input shaft is going in just fine but when ever it comes time to get the groved part in it stops.

is there anything that could be holding us up that im not thinking about?

any iedas would be great!!!

[jrbonds]

Did you use a clutch alignment tool first?

[Knight]

Did you use a clutch alignment tool first?

^ This. The splines of the input shaft will keep the tranny from sliding in if the clutch assembly isn't lined up properly.

[WICKEDLS1]

^ This. The splines of the input shaft will keep the tranny from sliding in if the clutch assembly isn't lined up properly.

yeah i used the tool in the kit and everything. i even went as far as pulling everything back out and doing it again after it wouldnt go i. the bad thing is i have done 5-6 of these and never had this much difficulty with one

[tatertot91]

Only thing I can tell you is make sure its as lined up as possible
Should be just about all there is to it

[WICKEDLS1]

ill take it back out tonight and try it again

[Firebirdjones]

If it's the last inch that is giving you fits, the input shaft isn't lined up properly with the pilot bushing.

Those aftermarket plastic alignment tools aren't always the best, they seem to have too much play in them. I've always used a spare input shaft from a tranny to do it.

What happens when using that plastic tool, you have alot of wiggle room with the disc (you probably noticed) and if it's off just an 1/8" it causes the input shaft to be slightly offset of the pilot bushing.

If you replaced the pilot bushing, make sure you got the right size. Also if you are using a fancy roller bearing pilot bushing, be carfull forcing anything, as it's easy to screw up the cage and/or needle bearings.

[WICKEDLS1]

If it's the last inch that is giving you fits, the input shaft isn't lined up properly with the pilot bushing.

Those aftermarket plastic alignment tools aren't always the best, they seem to have too much play in them. I've always used a spare input shaft from a tranny to do it.

What happens when using that plastic tool, you have alot of wiggle room with the disc (you probably noticed) and if it's off just an 1/8" it causes the input shaft to be slightly offset of the pilot bushing.

If you replaced the pilot bushing, make sure you got the right size. Also if you are using a fancy roller bearing pilot bushing, be carfull forcing anything, as it's easy to screw up the cage and/or needle bearings.

thanks for then info i will check it out tonight when i get off work

[tatertot91]

yep i used an old input shaft for mine

[Knight]

yep i used an old input shaft for mine

FBJ and I discussed this in another thread not too long ago. It's comforting to know we weren't the only ones to do this. It does work much better. You can usually find them at the local boneyard pretty cheap.

[WICKEDLS1]

FBJ and I discussed this in another thread not too long ago. It's comforting to know we weren't the only ones to do this. It does work much better. You can usually find them at the local boneyard pretty cheap.

the problem was in the alignment tool it had almost a 1/4" of movement each way. well i looked around the shop and found another one and it was alot tighter fit. needless to say it worked great and only took about 45 minutes to get it all back together

[Firebirdjones]

the problem was in the alignment tool it had almost a 1/4" of movement each way. well i looked around the shop and found another one and it was alot tighter fit. needless to say it worked great and only took about 45 minutes to get it all back together

There ya go, those plastic tools tend to be that way. Glad you got er' done.

[WICKEDLS1]

There ya go, those plastic tools tend to be that way. Glad you got er' done.

yeah it went in great we ended up replacing the throw out bearing due to the fact that the previous owner tore it all up on the first clutch install which i might add was absolutely horrific. there was only one bolt holding in the slave cylinder and everything was just thrown in there. well we fixed everything that was needed and it works like new again. plus in doing this we got rid of a weird vibration that the car had at highway speeds

[FasstChevys]

5 star thread here fellas

Thanks for sharing!