<VV> forgotten clutch part.. part II

[Roger Gault]

Yeah, you should probably pull it.  My rule is that if you have two things
that might be a problem, they add up to a sure problem.

Bob Helt is right to warn you about the flywheel bolts running into the
crank gear and mashing the teeth out of shape.  The last crank I bought used
had that problem.  A little careful filing of the teeth at the edge got rid
of the hard-easy-hard-easy.... feel to the crank as the bent teeth went by
the cam gear.  Yeah, the the aluminum cam gear will probably wear notches
where it hits the crank gear and be fine --- unless it just breaks, stopping
the cam and jambing your valve heads into the tops of your pistons.  Chancy.

Yeah, the flywheel hub will probably survive without the washer to spread
the bold loads --- unless it cracks.  Chancy.

Too many chancy's.  You probably have a lot of work sunk into this engine.
You don't want to waste it.  Pull it and fix it.

---

Now, getting the strut rod brackets back on the diff easily is a different
matter.  It's like sailing to America after Columbus.  It's not that hard if
you how to get there.  The problem is that the strut rods are twisted when
the suspension is hanging down.  If the wheels are up in the wheel wells in
the normal ride position, the brackets line up easily.  So, all you have to
do is get them up there and bolt the sucker up.  As you know, doing it with
the suspension hanging is a nightmare.  Some of my best cussing was
perfected before I learned this (and I stripped at least one diff bolt
hole).

There are a number of ways to accomplish this.

For the cautious, the best I've heard is to remove the rear shocks and
replace them with a piece of 1/2" threaded rod that's tightened up while the
car is on the ground.  Then, when you jack the car up, the wheels/suspension
are held up in the ride position and there is no bind on the strut rod
brackets.  I am too lazy (or foolish) to have tried this.

Some people drop the back of the engine down so it's tilted to match the
twist in the strut rods (the droop angle of the trailing arms).  I've never
tried this either, but it should work fine.  I've never liked the idea of
tugging and wrenching on an engine suspended by two rubber mounts on one end
and a floor jack on the other.  And, it seems like access would be poor.

Being a complete idiot, what I do is jack the wheels up into position when I
get ready to connect the brackets to the diff.  My floor jack lifting pad is
large enough and cupped enough that I can put it under the trailing arm
where the strut rod connects and jack there.  As the trailing arm moves up,
it slips down into the jack lift pad and everything is fine.  I then block
the wheel up with as stack of 4X4s.  The parking brake is set for this so
the wheel can't turn and spit stuff down the driveway.  Then I re-position
the jack under the strut rod so that I can use it to lift the inner end into
place (my bushings are stiff, and usually the wheel needs to move out a
little, so the jack makes this MUCH easier.  That typically lets me get the
two lower bolts and the rear bolt in easily.  Sometimes I have to tighten
the lowers to get the bracket to rotate around enough to get the front bolt
in.  This is a lot easier than it sounds.  You might want to consider
pulling the wheels and jacking on the (locked) brake drums if you jack
doesn't feel secure.

NOTE:  YOU ARE MESSING WITH STRONG SPRINGS HERE!  Do not do something
stupid.  Don't get under any part of the suspension while you're doing this.
Have your wife stand around while you do this so she can call 911 if you try
to mash your head through the garage floor.  Just keep in mind where the
wheel/suspension is going to go if the support slips out and stay away from
those areas.  If you kill yourself doing this, do not come and haunt my
garage - I told you to be careful.

Roger

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ray Rodriguez" <reray at echoes.net>
To: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2007 2:55 PM
Subject: <VV> forgotten clutch part.. part II


Is there by any chance a shortcut used for clutch jobs, or is drivetrain
removal required as I assume it would be?

The only part of removing the drivetrain again that really worries me is the
strut brace bracket that bolts to the differential housing.. I had a hell of
a time getting that thing bolted back up to the diff last time and really
dont wanna do it again (the instructions I have say its very easy to strip
out the holes, and I found it near impossible to get them started straight).
Aside from that I expect the next go around will be quite easy now that I
know the process.

Ray

 _______________________________________________