Downey Chevota throw out bearing (1 Viewer)

[FL cruiser]

Old school Chevy V8, H55. Downey bell housing & kit. I'm doing a routine clutch change out. Stock Chevy LUK clutches work fine for me. I've never replaced the throw out bearing in past engine swaps, clutch changes, etc because I never knew what application the throw out bearing is. It's probably 20 years old and probably a good time to change it. If only I could figure out what it is.--- Anybody know? ---- The parts aren't where a picture can be taken now, but I will post up later.

 

[roma042987]

@Downey ask the source

 

[FL cruiser]

I have contacted them in the past, which led a recommendation that a complete specialized Chevota clutch kit should be purchased.

 

[Downey]

Back in the day when we made adapters using Chevy bellhousings, we used the "short" Chevy T.O. bearings. Once we went to the Downey made "aluminum" bellhousings, we used stock Landcruiser T.O. bearings, soooooo depends upon which adapter you have. A word about LUK clutches; they work just fine as long as all of your hydraulics are as-new, and there is zero wear/bends in your clutch linkage. Problem is they take a mere .020" of an inch less travel to disengage than your Toyota hydraulics delivers at the T.O. bearing, so any wear in your hydraulics/linkage and your out of luck because they are already right out at the ragged edge of not working.

 

[POTATO LAUNCHER]

Stock 4 speed bearing. Just did the exact job a few months back.

 

[tmxmotorsports]

What @POTATO LAUNCHER said its the same as i used with aa bell housing with chevy motor and nv4500 also needed aa special flywheel clutch pressure plate clutch was a special luk clutch all of it was around 1000 bucks from aa such a pain

 

[POTATO LAUNCHER]

Stock Chevrolet 11" diaphragm clutch will work. You will need to fine tune the slave rod to get it perfect. Off the shelf parts except the bearing. New bronze pilot bushing should always be part of your repair.

 

[Downey]

Who am I to argue with a fellow mud member who "knows what he knows", but here's what I knew when we did the testing many moons ago:

1. Originally we used Chevy 3 finger pressure plates on Chevotas because they took less travel to disengage than the diaphrams. Even with the 3 finger clutches, in most cases the best you could do was to either (a) never get the clutch fully disengaged (dragging on the clutch disc while you were shifting), or (b) the bearing always riding on the 3 fingers even when you were not shifting (adjusted this way so that you could get the clutch fully disengaged).
2. Stock Chevy clutch takes .500" of travel at the T.O. bearing to disengage.
3. Stock Landcruiser hydraulics only produces .450" of travel at the T.O. bearing.
4. A LUK clutch takes .420" of travel to disengage, so you are ok as long as your hydraulics are fresh (not tired or bent).

5 A Downey Chevota clutch only takes .375" of travel to disengage- - -easy deal.






















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[FL cruiser]

Thanks for the replies and great information. Actually it's a better explanation than anything in archives.

 

[cruisermatt]

My "Chevota" setup uses a classic SBC Luk clutch and pressure plate, and then Toyota throwout bearing, fork, master and slave. Sounds like I pretty much made my own Downey kit minus the bellhousing since I have an NV4500. As mentioned with new hydraulics I had to adjust my throwout bearing so it is putting light pressure on the diaphragm fingers and after that I got good shifting. I don't have an issue with it, I believe Toyota even specified that way starting 85'-up. Bomb-proof bearings anyways.

 

[FL cruiser]

Has anyone ever tried using a 7/8 bore master with a Toyota slave? A smaller bore slave?

My other 60 has an NV4500 with GM internal hydraulic throw out bearing. Originally I tried using stock 60 hydraulics and found there just wasn't enough clutch disengagement. Moving up to a 7/8 clutch master meant good travel and disengagement, but there was slightly too much pedal pressure and I was concerned about over extending the bearing. . The final solution was to use a Wilwood 3/4 master (about the same bore as Toyota) but with a longer bore. I also drilled a hole on clutch pedal arm 1/4" below factory so pivot point so rod would be lower to make for more travel.

Although time consuming and some trial and error involved, something along these lines might work for someone with Chevota clutch issues.