Good day all, I have been trying to mount up my M21 to my 396 however it's a bear. I do not have a tranny jack and the motor is on the hoist sitting on stands. The motor is secure just not super level how it sits. I had some help holding the back of the tranny as I tried to align it in but can only get it to within 1/4" of the block??
I did use the alignment tool when putting on the clutch plates etc. I have checked the pilot bushing and it looks fine, splines on the tranny look fine.
I do not want to try to secure it up with the bolts, I 'm worried I will bend the shaft of damage something else.
Any tricks a poor mechanic can use, I don't have squat for good tool accessory's like jacks and pullies etc... This shouldn't be this hard should it?

thanks in advance.

Craig

That happened to me a while back,look at the bearing retainer on the trans and where it meets the bell housing to make sure there is no burr or something there to keep it from sliding into the bell housing or just take some emory cloth and smooth the two out (bearing retainer and bell housing).

Larry is correct on that. I tryed to slide my muncie into the 621 bellhousing on the bench for trial fit and could not get it in. Had a few burrs on the bellhousing. Filed them down and finally got it in but still was not that easy. So I mounted bellhousing on engine with clutch and so on, and it took almost an hour to wiggle the tranny in.
To make things easier I had two 4 inch bolts with hex head cut off screwed into top tranny mounting holes on bellhousing to keep tranny from resting on clutch disc when I got tired of pushing and twisting. Also what made it a little easier for me was I used a tranny jack since I did this by myself.
Most people run into your problem, I did.. Good luck

My bellhousing and tranny fit nicely together, no problems there. The bell without the tranny fits tight onto the block as well. I think I'll try the extra long bolts for alignment, possibly the clutch disk isn't perfectly aligned, there is some slop with the alignment tool, might need to try to recenter it.
Thanks for the input guys.

craig

Good day all, I have been trying to mount up my M21 to my 396 however it's a bear. I do not have a tranny jack and the motor is on the hoist sitting on stands. The motor is secure just not super level how it sits. I had some help holding the back of the tranny as I tried to align it in but can only get it to within 1/4" of the block??
I did use the alignment tool when putting on the clutch plates etc. I have checked the pilot bushing and it looks fine, splines on the tranny look fine.
I do not want to try to secure it up with the bolts, I 'm worried I will bend the shaft of damage something else.
Any tricks a poor mechanic can use, I don't have squat for good tool accessory's like jacks and pullies etc... This shouldn't be this hard should it?

thanks in advance.

Craig

If you are within a 1/4 inch, you are engaged in everything, the pilot bushing, the clutch etc. it's jut tight. I did 2 last week using the long studs on top and had the same problem. I knew it was all aligned and dialed in so I grabed my oak plank, set it on the top boss of the trans case, the square one, and whacked twice, home free:hurray::hurray::hurray:

This one had a custom made pilot bushing, very tight:yes::yes::yes:

make sure the pilot bearing is in all the way.

Having had my Muncie in and out a few times in the last few weeks (another story) I may have an idea for you Craig. Follow the advice here for making sure there aren't any burrs on the mating parts etc, apply a light coat of oil on the end of the shaft where it goes into the pilot bushing, another light coat on the inside of the bell housing hole (where the bearing retainer will slide in) a light coat of wheel bearing grease on the splines, fill the inside groove of the TOB with same. But here's the part I want to add; don't fully rely on the alignment tool. Use it, but while it is in place and before you start to tighten the Pressure plate, feel the edges of the clutch disc with your fingers to make sure it is equally aligned to the PP mating surface all around. The alignment tool will not hold the disc so well that gravity can't allow it to drop and that little offset can cause major headaches when trying to move that heavy trans into place. When I did this (on the third install) I was amazed at how easily it went in; THOONK!
Hope this gets you going.
Rich

Having had my Muncie in and out a few times in the last few weeks (another story) I may have an idea for you Craig. Follow the advice here for making sure there aren't any burrs on the mating parts etc, apply a light coat of oil on the end of the shaft where it goes into the pilot bushing, another light coat on the inside of the bell housing hole (where the bearing retainer will slide in) a light coat of wheel bearing grease on the splines, fill the inside groove of the TOB with same. But here's the part I want to add; don't fully rely on the alignment tool. Use it, but while it is in place and before you start to tighten the Pressure plate, feel the edges of the clutch disc with your fingers to make sure it is equally aligned to the PP mating surface all around. The alignment tool will not hold the disc so well that gravity can't allow it to drop and that little offset can cause major headaches when trying to move that heavy trans into place. When I did this (on the third install) I was amazed at how easily it went in; THOONK!
Hope this gets you going.
Rich

Yup, just using the alignment tool may not get you centered perfectly. YOu have to eyeball the alignment tool to make sure it is centered before you tighten down the clutch pack and snug up the clutch disk. The bell housing to trans is a tight fit. Also try putting trans in gear and slip the yoke in to turn it as you push the trans towards the bell housing.

Ok try this,it works for me,assuming the engine and trans is in the car? when you get the tranny in as far as it will go,run your bolts in hand tight only then have someone step on the clutch pedal to releas the clutch disc then wiggle the trans in and tighten the bolts.That worked for me before.

Thanks for the input guys, Rich, is there a specific oil I should use on the pilot bushing? I used a Zoom kit and it said not to put grease on as it will plug the porrus areas with the oil is's packed with. I put some lithum grease on the input shaft, very little though. Also as Gary said, looking at the clutch disk with the alignment tool in place, it does look as though it might be off center some. I'll try to realign then try your suggestions as well.

thanks again for the help..

craig

Thanks for the input guys, Rich, is there a specific oil I should use on the pilot bushing? I used a Zoom kit and it said not to put grease on as it will plug the porrus areas with the oil is's packed with. I put some lithum grease on the input shaft, very little though. Also as Gary said, looking at the clutch disk with the alignment tool in place, it does look as though it might be off center some. I'll try to realign then try your suggestions as well.

thanks again for the help..

craig

The pilot bushing is self lubricating and the advice about not using any grease or oil is correct. I've put hundreds of these together and never used grease or oil on anything.

But you guys do what you think is besthttp://images.corvetteforum.com/images/smilies/beatdeadhorse5.gif

Do what Wally says.
Rich