Shifting issues

[Spider]

I have an unusual problem that I having trouble figuring out. Let me first tell you the set up I have, it is a a my guess 1970 360 hooked up to a 1969 borg/warner 4spd trans. I recently had the trans out of the car and it needed a new clutch, pressure plate, throwout bearing and pilot bushing. The problem started when I went to find a clutch kit with the same dimensions so I bought a 3spd clutch kit because the clutch and pressure plate were the right measurments. All the 4spd clutch kits measured only 10" were my clutch was cloose to 11". This was my mistake because the throwout bearing was not the right size so I had to buy a 4spd throwout bearing anyway. Everything else seemed to fit so I put it back together but now when the motor is running I can't put it into gear even when I tigheten the clutch all the way. I can run it through the gears fine when the motor is off. Also when I start in gear with the clutch in it makes a scraping sound but when I start it in reverse with the clutch in it starts moving, but when it finally starts in reverse it grinds real bad. I am sure I put the clutch in the right way and the levers seemed to be lined up on the trans correctly. What could be my problem do I have to get a 4spd pilot bushing? I am all out of ideas thanks guys.

[ChevelleSSLS6]

I would believe it to be clutch fitment issues with the sizes and all, but I'm no transmission man.

An excellent resource is www.hotrodders.com they're good guys but AMC knowledge is limited beyond a few AMCers there.

[Spider]

Thanks for the help.

[Dad's 69 sst]

Your throw out bearing is probally wrong. Sounds like it is staying engaged.

Jim

[ChevelleSSLS6]

Thanks for the help.

Did anyone at HR.com have any ideas? I'm personally reaching out to the AMC guys there and inviting them here so we have a nice AMC knowledge base, and since this site is still fairly small, if a tech question isn't ansered quickly, I refer them to hotrodders.com, which is an excellent place for most-anything dealing with musclecars/rods. Only downside there is limited AMC knowledge.

[Dad's 69 sst]

I spoke with an old friend of mine, He is a mechanic and use to race AMC cars back in the 70's locally.

He thinks it might be the difference between the clutch disengagement points.
The clutch you bought might require a longer movement to disengage than the V8 clutch. I asked about the size difference and he thinks it is just the company commonizing clutches so they can offer the same clutch to multiple cars.

I'm not too familiar with manual transmissions. I mostly rebuild Automatics.
But his advice seemed resonable to me.
Anyways it's something to think about.

Jim

[Spider]

Thanks Chevelle I did recieve some help from the local AMC guy there. He said it could be the pilot bushing, I thought that might have been the problem. I think this issue with the pilot bushing must extend only to AMCs it seems all the other guys there said the same thing about general issues with a manual trans.

Thanks 69 SST I have checked the throwout bearing and it measures the same as the one I took out. Although I never thought to check the arms of the pressure plate. I will have to check that out too when I get a chance to take the trans out.

Thanks again guys.

[Spider]

The good news is I found the problem with the trans. When my dad and I were lifting the trans into place the tip hit the throwout bearing, part of the arm holding the bearing slipped out of the slot. Part of the yoke was on top of the bearing and part of it was in the slot, so only part of the clutch disengaged. I didn't notice because the car was on ramps and we were cramped under there. Well I haven't got it all back together yet but I hope I didn't break anything by running the motor like that. The bad news is as soon as I put the car back together I have to sell it because I owe my dad money for my Charger. I didn't even get time to take the car to the track. Thanks for all the help you guys gave me I really appreciated it.

[Spider]

After I got it back together tragedy struck. I have just put a new clutch kit in my Javelin with a 70 360 hooked to a 69 4spd and I sent the flywheel out to get re-surfaced. Everything shifts fine but when I get into higher RPMs I get a terrible vibration and also when the clutch engages there is a scrapping sound. I also lose oil pressure when the vehicle warms up, but I don’t think this causes the problem. I originally thought I put the flywheel on a little off but after talking with some other AMC mechanics they told me the AMC flywheels can only be put on one way. I have no idea what is going on, before I had re-surfaced the flywheel and put the clutch kit in, it ran a drove great except for the oil pressure drop. I should also mention I flushed the motor with kreen, replaced the oil pickup and rebuilt the oil pump. If anyone has any advice it would be much appreciated thanks everyone. you can email me at s9id3rs@hotmail.com