<VV> Broken Throw-Out Bearing Flange

[Steve Brennan]

Hi Dan,
No, this T-O bearing has no pin.  I've not seen that type, although when I 
was inspecting mine it had me wondering if anything other than the spring 
clips would stop the bearing from spinning on the fork arms. From your 
question, I guess some are designed specifically to prevent such spinning, 
but not mine (which I got as part of the total clutch kit).
As far as my original installation, if it is possible to slide the bearing 
onto the fork with the spring clip behind the flange, I suppose I could have 
done that, but I'm pretty sure the arms themselves were in the proper slot, 
since they was still there when I separated the engine and trans (although 
maybe the arm could slide into the slot due to the missing flange -- I will 
have to experiment and see about that).
As to the pilot bushing, even though I bought another, I was not going to 
mess with it, since it shows no signs of any damage, and the input shaft 
slides in very nicely: just enough snugness, but quite easy to insert and 
remove.  Please let me know if you think this is a mistake.
As for my difficulty initially putting the car in gear after starting, or 
putting it in reverse without shutting the car off, since I didn't find any 
problems other than the broken T-O bearing, I was going to investigate is 
the thickness of the clutch disk itself.  I know I read in a couple of the 
manuals what the appropriate thickness range is, and maybe, since this is a 
kevlar disk, something got mixed up and it is still binding up even when 
fully released.  I was kind of hoping to find a clear answer to the shifting 
problems (even if it revealed an embarrassing mistake in my original work), 
so I could feel confident of having fixed the problem, but unless the clutch 
disk reveals an issue, I guess I will just put it back together and go back 
to trying to "wear it in."
As always, all thoughts and suggestions are sincerely appreciated.
Steve Brennan
1962 Spyder Coupe


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dan & Synde" <dsjkling at sbcglobal.net>
To: "Virtual Vairs Submission" <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Cc: <Alohaz at ca.rr.com>
Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 11:17 AM
Subject: RE: <VV> Broken Throw-Out Bearing Flange


> Hi Steve,
>
> Sorry to hear that the clutch is still giving you problems.  The throwout
> bearing....is it the type that has a pin driven across the groove to keep
> the throwout bearing from rotation on the fork?  Is it possible that the
> throwout bearing seized, spun and when the pin hit the fork it knocked the
> backside of the flange out?  Even if it wasn't seized you're right to
> replace it.  Another possibility is that the fork somehow got outside the
> flanged area and the force of releasing the clutch broke it.  At this 
> point,
> since you are in there I'm assuming you'll replace the pilot bushing 
> again.
> Can't hurt.  If you do, before you tap the bushing in, make sure the bore 
> is
> nice and smooth without any burrs, smooth with a fine file if you find 
> any.
> Some preload the pilot bushing with oil using the index and thumb method.
> I've always just install it and reach in with my pinky and put a small dab
> of lithium grease (about the size of a pea) along the inner edge of the
> bushing.
>
> Dan Kling