Like plastic sink drain piping with a cap on one end works PERFECTLY as a tail housing plug for a TH350. Easier to source than the 'universal' tail housing plugs, too.

Necessity is the mother of invention. Her sister is "Gotta get my ass to work in the morning". (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)





To explain a bit more, the plastic tools don't fit in the splines very well (or the pilot bushing for that matter....try it yourself). If they are undersized a bit, they can fit through the clutch disk at an angle, the angle allows the disk to "sag" as you have it plugged into the pilot bearing (that it also doesn't fit very well). This can allow the disk to be off center and the transmission input shaft won't go. The socket and tape fit snuggly in the splines and kept the socket a solid 90 degrees to the disk. Push it in and let the natural radius of the pilot bearing entrance center the whole assembly and as long as you keep pushing it into the bearing, it will stay centered. It's a bit clumsy, but it really did an awesome job of finding the true center without the "error" allowed by undersized plastic tools.

When I was installing T5 transmissions, the clutch fork was on the bellhousing. I could hold the tailshaft with one hand and use the handle from a cheap floor jack to pry the release fork enough to let the clutch slide so it would center on the input shaft and I could shove the transmission in place (drop the jack handle and start grabbing bolts to attach the transmission). Both versions of the T56 try to prohibit this by mounting the fork or the throw out bearing on the transmission. When it was on the bellhousing you could have the bellhousing bolted in place and have a solid mount to release the clutch. Having a helper step on the pedal would have done it for me too, but I never had help so I did it myself.

No that totally makes sense. I appreciate the tip.

So any other recommendations on how to go about putting this engine together? I'm thinking about getting a cheap quart of oil and pouring it down every nook and cranny that I can find before putting the pan on. I'm thinking it'll help clean whatever crap might be in.m there. Then I'll bolt the pan on, do the cam and oil pump and basically go from there.

Soubd good?

Pretty much. ATF has a ton of detergents and does a great job cleaning, just make sure you don't leave any in the motor.

LS7 clutch and aluminum flywheel off. New rear cover gasket and rear main seal in hand. New pilot bearing showing up tomorrow.

Also tomorrow I'm dropping my Camaro off at my dads. Im tired of shuffling cars around just to work on getting this car back together.

Don't forget to get a couple of grade 5 bolts that fit the upper bolt holes for the transmission, cut the heads off, and cut a slot in them so you can remove them with a screw driver. Use those to stab the transmission. It helps with the alignment, and installing the trans. Not sure how it will all work with the LS clutch release bearing, but we'd put the clutch together, bellhousing, and then set the transmission in place, having someone press the clutch pedal as we pushed the transmission home. Works like magic.

Flywheel holders are for suckers:

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^^^^ What the hell am I looking at?

My Camaro is now at my parents house so I have room to work. I pulled the pan tonight in the old engine. Man I'm surprised at how black the oil is. And it's so gritty. I also found a few big chunks of metal in the pan.

So I really need to clean this pan. A whole bunch of brake cleaner?

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Using a flexplate to lock a flexplate/flywheel.

Gas/diesel/kerosene. Cheaper than brake clean.

So I used a bunch of gas and a little brake clean to clean out the pan. I found what I think are rare earth magnets on the oil filter. They are so strong I thought they were epoxied to the filter. I used those to pick up all the rest of the metal. This is the metal I found in the pan after already flushing it with gas. Pretty much the rest of the lifter.


(IMG:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v199/Steve91T/Camaro/27F57CE5-3DCA-4D65-8489-5287B55DA768.jpg)

Clean pan w/Improved Racing baffles.

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Damnit I'm such an idiot.

I saw the gasket on the block but it was so stuck I thought it was part of the block. It never connected in my little brain that the pan was flat and the block surface wasn't.

I was torquing the pan bolts down when it snapped. It broke with almost no effort at all.

Think there's a chance it won't leak? I'm assuming you guys will say "of course it's going to leak you idiot!"

I gotta find a new pan tomorrow. I might have to run down to Hawks again tomorrow morning. I really don't want to spend 4 hrs in the car though.

In other news, the block is clean and the Imoroved Racing parts are awesome!

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Ah shit. I hate things like that. I broke a friends thermostat housing as I was explaining not to let go of it until the bolts are tight (so the thermostat couldn't slip and crack the housing). It's cheaper than an oil pan, but I felt pretty dumb. That's the joy of cast aluminum.

I'd find a new pan. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

Have them ship you a pan. Only take a couple days to get it.

Old pan and broken piece available ? I could have it welded (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

So I realized that I didn't have to stop what I was doing. I bolted the pan to the block and I'll just keep moving forward putting this engine back together. I already found someone that'll sell me a pan for $75. I'll call Hawks also when they answer the phones at 1:30 and see what they say. I'll just have a pan shipped and when it shows up I'll swap it out.

I think I'll just sell the pan and it's piece with the short block.

We sure do break a lot of parts on non-moving cars here on FRRAX.

Yeah I've been on a roll lately.

I'm putting the new heads on the new block and the light caught the old cam just right. I never noticed just how much material was removed by the bad lifter.


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