install engine

D

Don-Ohio

Junior Member
OK, So my engine's rebuilt and since I've haven't had the pleasure of reinstalling a model A engine, I can't get the last inch of clutch and ****** together. I know it probably is just an alignment issue in the spline,but I've tried everything I can think of. The last attempt I put a floor jack under the bell housing and move it up a little to get a better angle, but no luck. what else can I do short of dropping the rear and ******? thanks in advance !
 
Take some 3/8 bolts, cut the heads off, and use them as guides between the engine and ******, and then wiggle the u-joint. Just did this. Works like a charm. Yesterday I installed my new inserted motor/39 transmission(as one piece) in the 28 RPU. Tomorrow I install the rear end with the Mitchell OD.
 
Make sure the Bell Housing and the Flywheel Cover are square with one another. That small amount of angle will keep it from going in. ken
 
I have had my engine in and out a couple of times. Removing is easy. I have to spread the frame a little to put the engine in. If you installed new motor mount pads this makes a tight fit. I made a three sided spreader from some angle and it fits over the bell housing and transmission. Two pieces(legs) are long enough to rest on the garage floor. Then I put a porta power between the legs and push the frame out a little.

Last time I installed a float a motor kit. The engine was easy to install and I did not use the spreader.
 
Hopefully you did use a pilot shaft when you installed the clutch disk and pressure plate. This lines up the splines so that the transmission input shaft will slide into the splines on the clutch disk.

Tom Endy
 
patients and some man power helped put mine in! I worked for a week to try and get it between the motor mounts. Frame spreader would of worked wonders if I had one. make sure the engine is lined up (3/8 bolts, cut the heads off, and use them as guides between the engine and ****** helps) and use some pushing power from the front to help get past the motor mounts. You may have to bring the bell housing up a bit or down a bit and everything should line up. I had someone in the car looking through the bell housing plate and lining it up the spline very slowly. This may take a few attempts but you will eventually get it.
 
the front wish bone gets hooked up after the engine is in. I put a floor jack under the bell housing to raise the housing above the rear motor mounts. I have used a prybar at the front of the motor(against the front cross member) to help move the motor back. Bob
 
Two things may help- Using a tilt leveler like in this picture, and turning the crankshaft with the hand-crank to engage the splines. Giving it a good wiggle helps, too. In this pix, I have a floor jack pushing the ****** up 'till it hit metal. Of course, when it went together and I let the floor jack down the handle was pinched, but that's another story.
DSCF0035.jpg
 
I am having the same problem, unable to close 1/2" gap between trans and flywheel housings. Splines are in mesh to get this far, but can the clutch alignment/missalignment be the problem this far in?
 
gmc4hire, Look at the post above yours. Sounds like you may not be lined
up with the pilot bearing.

Bob
 
Quite often you will find that the nose on the input shaft of the transmission that slips inside the flywheel pilot bearing is worn and grooved. It is prudent to have this repaired by having is sleeved and machined to fit a new pilot bearing.

On a number of occasions I have found that the nose was not worn and grooved, but had somehow obtained a mushroom. How this occurs I can only speculate. It may have something to do with the rear axle assembly being loose and forward motion slamming is transmitted to the transmission input shaft.

I make it a practice to check every transmission I overhaul by sliding a new pilot bearing onto the nose to see how it fits. Those that I found mushroomed I had spun on a lathe and turned down. You want a nice slip fit of the nose into the pilot bearing. Any interference fit will cause the problem you are describing.

Tom Endy
 
Put some grease on the rear motor mount pads and the sides of the bellhousing. It will help them slide together.;)
 
Don, From inside the car remove the access plate on the bell housing and you can turn the transmission shaft until the splines line up.
 
Don-Ohio said:
OK, So my engine's rebuilt and since I've haven't had the pleasure of reinstalling a model A engine, I can't get the last inch of clutch and ****** together. I know it probably is just an alignment issue in the spline,but I've tried everything I can think of. The last attempt I put a floor jack under the bell housing and move it up a little to get a better angle, but no luck. what else can I do short of dropping the rear and ******? thanks in advance !
Click to expand...

Have you checked the clutchplate ? it is a often made mistake to mount the plate reversed.
 
if your in the splines on the clutch disc but off on the pilot you can also try pushing the clutch pedal in some to let the disc float while someone else jiggles the nose into the pilot. try and get a couple bolts started even if you use temporary longer ones and make sure your going in straight side to side and top and bottom
 
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