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Tips
Tips

Need a clutch alignment tool to install trans?

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I would say yes, the tool or either the front shaft of an old transmission.

once you bolt the clutch disc and clutch pressure plate to the flywheel there will be no way to disengauge the clutch if the disc is not lined up perfectly and the transmission input shaft will never go into the bushing in the crank shaft

make your life easy get the tool

hondo
 
It sure makes the job easier. It was worth the $5. I ordered one for the spit and the gt6 last time I ordered parts. The universal type of alignment tool just didn't do the same type of job.
 
Personally, I found the "$5" tool to be worthless. I can do a better job with my fingers! Stick your finger through the friction plate and feel the hole in the pilot bearing from various angles. If it's the same distance from the friction plate hole in all directions, then the friction plate is centered.

But an old input shaft sure does make the job quicker. You can borrow mine if you're working on a TRactor motor (don't have one for the other engines).

And just in case it's not obvious, the alignment only matters while installing the gearbox. First time you use the clutch, it will re-center to the input shaft, so no worries if it was off by a little bit while assembling.
 
I have never used one of those and pulled my transmission many, many times. I use the finger in the hole method as well.

Dan B
66 TR4AIRS EFI
 
Tom!

Stop!

Use the input shaft from the trans that I gave you. What better tool than that and it's free! With whatever tool you use, there will always be a little fudge factor as there is enough clearance at the pilot bearing to move the tool in a circular motion so the disk can end up a little off-center. I tend to move the tool around so I get an idea of the radius and then try to position the disk at the center of that circle.

The hamfisted side-of-the-road type approach that no one will sanction is to stick your head up in there and while keeping in mind the possible angle of the dangles, center the disk on the pilot bearing by looking in there at different angles and finding the spot that seems most likely when viewed from multiple angles. It ain't pretty but sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
 
cheseroo said:
The hamfisted side-of-the-road type approach
Click to expand...

Now that's the sign of a real LBC owner. Doing a side of the road clutch replacement :laugh:
 
jdubois said:
cheseroo said:
The hamfisted side-of-the-road type approach
Click to expand...

Now that's the sign of a real LBC owner. Doing a side of the road clutch replacement :laugh:
Click to expand...

Done it for my wife's (then girlfriend) Spitfire and of course it started to rain. :frown: Luckily, we had the transmission back in at that point and just needed to finish bolting things together. Some of my tools still have rust on them from that day!

That's what happens when you are young and don't want to pay for towing it back to the house to work on.

Scott
 
I've done a couple outside in the street or driveway, but not broken down on the side of the road. Not a lot of difference AFAICS, except you have access to coffee, tea, CAB, and a bathroom.
Either way, an alignment tool is the only way to go. Anything else is just an alignment crap shoot and hard on your back.
 
Rich said:
Tom!

Stop!

Use the input shaft from the trans that I gave you.
Click to expand...


:lol:

PERFECT!!!

...'cept fer th' "eyeball alignment" as a final tuning. Down low, centered on the crank axis, set it and bolt th' sucka down! :wink:
 
After trying the useless plastic ones,which I couldn't
get to align things just right,I ended up using my fingers
& align the outside of the disc,& the finish tightening it.
It's worked on the last few jobs I've done.

- Doug
 
I've got a spare input shaft. Works great. :thumbsup:
 
DrEntropy said:
...'cept fer th' "eyeball alignment" as a final tuning. Down low, centered on the crank axis, set it and bolt th' sucka down! :wink:
Click to expand...

For those that may not be familiar, I happen to speak "Doc", so translated what he said was "carefully align everything and then double check visually that your alignment is correct, then gently insert the shaft and then finally tighten the transmission casing to the engine attachment points being sure to torque the bolts to their factory specification". Or something like that...
 
:thumbsup:
 
You can make up your own by using a pencil or marker or something similar that fits into the end of the crank pilot bushing, and then wrapping electrical tape around it until you get the diameter of the clutch plate.
 
I actually did something like that in my TR4A days. Worked fine; it surprised me. More recently, I made my own clutch alignment tool on a lathe. Just hogged it out of a piece of aluminum bar. Took maybe 10 minutes.
 
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