i cant stab the damn thing. i got the tranny pointed up, the motor slanted back, and all i can get it the top to go in. i cant get her stabbed into the pilot bearing all the way. i got the motor mounts completely off, no clutch splash guard in the way. i was thinking about taking the lower studs out and, putting in longer ones. then i could pull the top and bottom together at the same time, im just worried about jaming the pilot bearing too hard.

Dose the imput shaft slide into clutch disk, at all? sometimes you need to wiggle the output shafts to get the slines on the inputshaft to line up with the clutch disk.

i forgot all about that part, like move the tires a little, right?

I had a similar issue, and I ended up pulling out the lower bolts and it went right on. turned out I had bent them slightly, and was stopping it from going together. after it was together a put new lower bolts in.....

ooh. i always looked at those studs on the bottom as a good guide, but those could be my problem too. im gonna try both. keep the ideas coming, this is helping.

did you use a clutch alignement tool when you put the clutch in????. Sorry, I know it sounds basic, but those are the things I tend to miss the most. Tim

good call. yes i did. i should be ok, its always hard, but its never been this hard.

Try this, take a floor jack to raise the tranny just about an inch off of the crossmember. Put the tranny in gear(preferably in 4th or 5th) and put the E-brake on. Now go to the front of the engine and get a 22mm socket on a 1/2" ratchet and place it on the crank bolt. Get the motor close to the tranny and while applying pressure to the front of the engine rotate the crank until you see the trans trying to move. It shouldn't move very far once the trans starts to go into the clutch disc. After this happens you should be able to get a bolt or two in and gently start to tighten them down. The bolts should tighten without alot of resistance. If they do you still aren't right.

 

This is the way I do it everytime. I can pin an engine in less than 5 minutes after raising it into the engine bay.

 

Qman

Thats fantastic Ken, Ill be using that too.

 

My last attempt was not fun.

Hey thanks a lot for the alignment tip! I generally fight like a crazy man trying to get the splines to line up on the clutch.

 

I also had a clutch flipped over once that prevented the whole thing from coming together. Are you sure the clutch is correctly installed. Only one face goes to the flywheel side. Some clutches actually have it stamped on them "This side towards Flywheel"

 

Good luck and don't force it. That may split the bell housing and that costs bucks to weld. I found that out once too.

 

DAS

Ifin after you've tried all of these great suggestions, and it still won't go. Pull the clutch disc back out, and see if it will slide onto the input shaft. Beat myself to death doing a clutch job on a Dodge Caravan, wouldn't go together, pulled disc, tried it on trans shaft, no go!!!! Found a burr in the splines of the disc. Three corner file, and away we went. Just another thought.....Tom

or you can loosen up the pressure plate to flywheel bolts, get it all aligned, and then tighten them up through the timing window. (do like this if you have no clutch alignment tool also)

one more think, I swapped out an engine on a 78 and the pilot bearing was a different size than the old engine, so no go on the install:mad:

thats what i started to think when i had all the trouble, but dismissed it because the lineup tool fit. its ea82 4x going into ea82 2x, they should all be the same size.<img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/ohwell.gif ALT=":\"> im gonna give it another go tonight. its been way too cold here. having old cars is great in the summer, but in the winter, its just a chore.

well, i found another reason working in a dimly lit garagin in the cold reely stinks. turned out that instead of 2 pins to line up the motor and tranny, i had 3. for some reason my tranny had one extra pin and the two were butting heads. i hammered one out of there, and it took all of 1 minute, and she slid right in. my girlfriend was so surprised how easy it was her jaw almost hit the ground.

That is a very common problem. Sorry I forgot about it. I too have had that problem. I usually catch it before I stab them but sometimes not.

 

Qman