American Powertrain Hydramax Bearing Quesion
Sorry I’m not the greatest writer.
What I am meaning to say is; with the spacer all the way back against the stock bearing retainer, I only have .050.
With all the provided shims stacked without the spacer, I have about 3/8 clearance.
So need a thinner spacer or more shims.
Thanks
Aha; I see your punctuation is confusing me. I think I fixed it. I get it now.
Ok but,
no matter how you assemble this,
the only things that actually matter are;
1) that you get adequate clutch departure, (minimum .080), and
2) that the TO bearing NOT be in contact with the fingers, and
3) that the hydraulics remain in their proper working range, and
4) that you get adequate service life, so you don't have to take the trans down every year, as the fingers come up, due to disc wear.
> the simple solution is to mill the spacer to fit;
>
If you assemble it with .050 clearance, IMO, this might actually be ideal since the first three criteria are met. As a bonus, the freeplay at the pedal should feel about right. Only #4 is compromised, and depending on your driving style, and especially your take-off style; your service period could end up being a lil short the first time around.
> If you have a CenterForce clutch;
I felt that mine was too violent for street use (CF-II). I pulled the disc and installed a regular Factory 340 disc. Which I liked, but the PP would break the spring pockets out pretty regularly . So I shimmed the PP away from the flywheel about .030 to reduce the static clamp-load. This worked great; the discs were now lasting longer. As a bonus, this got me some slippage at low rpm, perfect for my driving style. By about 2800/3000 the flyweights get it all locked up.
This trick simultaneously lowered the diaphragm (equivalent to fingers) giving the TOB more room (clearance). Since I have the factory system, I had to re-adjust the Freeplay a lil. I like my clutch to work very high on the pedal, so I run a minimum free-play. It just means annual adjustments for me, no big deal.
So the point is this, you can do the same. By installing small shims between the PP and the flywheel, the finger height will be reduced, giving you more clearance. The ratio, I'm guessing is about 3 or 4 to 1, so if you need .100 clearance, the shims would need to be about .025 inch. You can check this by backing off all the bolts and installing feeler gauges right beside about 3 of them, and then tightening just those three. The trans can remain installed for this.
Now, be advised, this will reduce the static clamp-load of the unit. Depending on what clutch you have and your take-off style and how much tire you have, it is possible for the clutch to slip during this time. Eventually, as the disc wears, you will be able to remove the shims.
Happy HotRodding
