Build The Clustertruck Rides Again - Refurbishing a 1975 Chevota

[RWBeringer4x4]

Have you seen the heater hose thread with OEM part numbers for heater hoses? Would that help your issue with the 5/8” hose fitting over a 13mm pipe?

The issue is that I actually went larger than the stock piping. The hard pipe was somewhere between 1/2 and 5/8. I went with 5/8 but with the thickness of the copper I used it’s a bit TOO thick. I think I should be able to get away with really tightening down some 5/8 rubber hose. I don’t think I’d get enough stretch from 1/2”.

You didn't paint the inside of the p - brake backing plate!!!!

Everyone is a critic...

I think there was some method to my madness at the time, but now a couple months later I can’t remember what it was.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

It’s currently 27 degrees in my garage and dropping. 3 sweatshirts deep - I was determine to get this over with. I’m also STRONGLY considering an electric garage heater, but haven’t found a brand that seems like it won’t burn my house down...

ONWARD!

First, I welded up some guide bolts. I welded together a fine thread 12mm bolt and a coarse thread 1/2” bolt. One side will be used for mating the trans and transfercase, the second will be use to align the bell housing and transmission later. Getting these welded straight was way harder than anticipated!

To make sure they were straight enough - I used the empty donor transfercase as a test piece:

Next I threw on the spacer that sits in the transmission because I knew I’d forget it later.

The gasket for the transmission rear bearing retainer wasn’t quite right, but I trimmed the lower bolt holes to fit:

Then added copious anerobic permatex:

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Next I ran into a bit of a hiccup. The input gear that matched the gear set in the case was pretty lose on the transmission output shaft splines. My original input gear was actually a tighter fit. So, I elected to use my old gear, as opposed to the matched one. This may cause some gear whine but TJ alternative was having the input gear trash my transmission’s output shaft, so I elected to go with the lesser of two evils.

Next up was the main event - single handedly wresting the transmission and transfercase back together.

I bolted the transfercase to my engine crane, and left the transmission on the transmission jack:

Using the guide rods to keep the input shaft off the rubber seal, I wrestled the two together. The rods and the crane also helped hold everything in place so I could slide in the input gear.

Next up came the longer of the two spacers (1-7/8”).

 

[gator25]

Man you need a table bad! Looking good.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Next came installing the inner bolts:

Then removed the guide rods:

And installed the three outer long through-bolts

Torqued then all in a criss-cross pattern.

Then came the rear output shaft bearing:

I drove this on with the exhaust pipe and a sledge (gentle taps). It went on until it bottomed out on the spacer inside.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Finished product inside:

Outside, the shorter spacer (1-3/4”) thick washer and shaft nut got installed - will torque this later:

All bolted up! The engine is slowly but surely coming along too. New long water pump, harmonic balancer, the the new-ish fuel pump from the 283.

Lastly I “fabbed” the short bolt for the e-brake:

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Man you need a table bad! Looking good.

What’s the fun in that?! I kid - I have a work bench - the transfercase got built on it. Only moved to the floor for the re-attachment of trans a t-case.

 

[reddingcruiser]

Still no paint on the inside of the p - brake backing plate????
Otherwise, really nice work!

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Still no paint on the inside of the p - brake backing plate????
Otherwise, really nice work!

You’re really not gonna let this one slide are you I shudder to think what 20 degree weather would do to paint adhesion! I have some new alternator and power steering brackets coming that will need paint, so I’ll probably wind up fumigating my whole house by painting in the basement. Might as well throw the the bake in too!

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Not a lot to report - I’m waiting for a few random bits and pieces to come in the mail. I did, however, get my accessories bolted back on with my new brackets and long water pump pulleys. The new setup should keep things tucked in nicely, and out of the way of my steering shaft. It will require some re-wiring as my alternator has switched sides. I’m slightly concerned about shock tower clearance with the alternator but I’m pretty confident it will clear.

Pulley alignment seems pretty good. I might have SLIGHT misalignment at the alternator but I’m not sure if my eyes are just playing tricks on me because it sits lower than the water pump.

 

[1Fine40]

The alignment looks just a little off. I had a similar issue with mine. Solved it by tucking a thin stainless washer between the alt. backet
and the block. It fixed the issue nicely with no ugliness. YMMV, but it worked fine for me.

Cheers and congrats on some very clean work

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

The alignment looks just a little off. I had a similar issue with mine. Solved it by tucking a thin stainless washer between the alt. backet
and the block. It fixed the issue nicely with no ugliness. YMMV, but it worked fine for me.

Cheers and congrats on some very clean work

Yeah I’ve been fiddling with it, the alignment is actually off by a full 1/4 to 3/8.” This is surprising to me given that these brackets are purpose built to the application. Everything else lines up well. I may also have something of an oddball 12SI alternator. It has a through-bolt for the adjustment track. I called the bracket manufacturer about the alignment issue and the guy mentioned he had never heard of a GM alternator without a threaded adjustment bolt.

Not really sure, but I don’t mind spacing this bracket forward a bit - clearance around the lower water pump bung and around the fuel pump is REALLY tight with this setup - so if I have space around the battery tray and the shock tower to cheat the alternator forward another 1/8” or so, it actually solves more problems than the misalignment creates.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

I’m going to post a separate thread about this one - because I’m curious...

I compared my old and new clutch fork, hub, and throw out bearings this evening and was surprised by just how different what came out looked as compared to what’s going in.

The old components aren’t on the right.

The forks are clearly the same, though mine had been modified. I always thought this was odd because there wasn’t a clearance issue where the cut-out in the fork was.

The hubs, I think, were actually at one point the same - though I think the old one may have been the source of the incessant “chugging” noise when the truck was in neutral...

The old hub has the “ears” at about the same height, but the casting is a bit different. However, it is a full ~1/8 inch shorter, with a significant taper at the top of the bearing surface.

Not sure - but I’m wondering if this hub may have been “machined” down under operation somehow.

The throw out bearings, too, are wildly different:

The Koyo bearing that either Downey or Mark provided with the clutch components (they worked together to get the parts I needed about a year+ ago) is significantly larger than the bearing that came out, with a big rounded taper on one side.

The other, by comparison, is relatively flat on both sides.

The markings on the side of the old bearing reads “2065-16 FM-MEX” it comes up as a bearing for Ford, Mercury, and Dodge, but I see no mention of Chevy or Toyota. That said, the ID seems correct...

 

[1Fine40]

That new rounded TO Bearing is the winner, the other one is not remotely close to what you need and probably contributed to the
"machined" collar effect...these units are a short throw design and really don't tolerate anything other than what is specifically made
for the purpose. Be sure to set your pedal free play correctly and check it a couple of times a month after installation and wear in on
the new clutch. If you don't, you may be replacing a TO bearing sooner than you'd want . Ask me how I know ..

Cheers!

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

That new rounded TO Bearing is the winner, the other one is not remotely close to what you need and probably contributed to the
"machined" collar effect...these units are a short throw design and really don't tolerate anything other than what is specifically made
for the purpose. Be sure to set your pedal free play correctly and check it a couple of times a month after installation and wear in on
the new clutch. If you don't, you may be replacing a TO bearing sooner than you'd want . Ask me how I know ..

Cheers!

Yes, I am 99% confident the parts going back in are correct - I worked with Mark and Downey directly to get the parts necessary to fit Downey's bellhousing. I'm just always get interested in what previous owners might have been thinking with the setups I pulled out. At this point, it's water under the bridge, but I always wonder if this is strictly redneck imagineering or if this was, at one point, the "correct" way to do a conversion with a Lakewood scatter shield bellhousing.

Good to know about checking the free-play and break-in. I had no idea the clutch could "break-in" so much you'd need to further adjust the free play. That's suprising and something I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Today was full of setbacks.

I set out to mount my new Dorman Ram’s horns and learned the joys of knock-off castings.

First, the exhaust flange had a long “tail” on it that was not present on my original manifolds. This tail hit the block, and wouldn’t let the manifold mount flush.

Ground some clearance there, only to discover that the cutaways in the casing for the mounting bolts weren’t wide enough, the manifold bolts (OEM Chevy) wouldn’t mount:

Of 12 mounting points total, 4 got treated to a grinding stone on the dremel.

So what should have taken 10 minutes took an hour. And now I get to repaint.

No pictures of the next part, but I also found the little freeze plug in my transfercase rebuild kit remnants that was supposed to mount at the end of the idler shaft. In the spot that was now sandwiched squarely between the transmission and transfer case. I knew I’d forget some mundane detail...

Couldn’t sleep tonight, so I decided to do some 2am wrenching - tore the transfer and transmission back apart, installed the damn freeze plug, and pushed them back together.

I’d set out to get the engine back in the truck this weekend, or at least get the Bellhousing and flywheel mounted up, but it definitely wound up being a “2 steps backward” kind of day.

 

[1Fine40]

Momma said there would be days like that....she just never said how many!! It's tough, but from what I have observed from the peanut gallery,
you are tougher.

Hang in there!

 

[pb4ugo]

B4 you assemble your driveline, check the spring on the back clutch fork so they hold it better to the pivot ball. This will help pull the T/O bearing away from the pressure plate. When I did the chinese rams horns, I didn't have problems with the bolt holes, but I did grind a lot of the excess material off of the castings, like portions those big square blocks. I also used socket head pipe plugs instead of the supplied sq head plugs. It all just made for a cleaner look.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

B4 you assemble your driveline, check the spring on the back clutch fork so they hold it better to the pivot ball. This will help pull the T/O bearing away from the pressure plate.

Mine is fairly loose, but no looser than the one that came out. How do you make the springs hold better - push them down with needle nose plyers or something? Is it downward pressure or squeezing the two sides closer together that helps? I thought about doing this but didn't want to snap a spring.

 

[pb4ugo]

They're always going to be pretty loose hanging. I try to get the wires to be close to the fork and not bent way back. I never really paid attention to the wires until I ran across a t/o bearing periodically contacting the p/p and spinning it. You could hear it inside. This 40 had a AA bellhousing so I could see the fork, bearing and pp. the bearing was real close the pp. I noticed the wires were pulled back away from the fork. I also noticed that when the clutch was at rest with the return spring hooked up, it would pull the fork off the ball stud and not slide the bearing all the way back. Instead of tearing it apart, I wrapped zip strip around the fork and open end of the wires, which pulled the fork to the stud, which pulled the collar and bearing back towards the tranny. After this happened, I always check those wires.