With all the mismatched parts I have used to convert many of mine and others I didn't know there were different length fork pivots... Never ran into an issue like that! But will less than a 1/4" give a difference of 3" at the foot?
Hah Carl! Beat me by 21 ticks! If I or others get a chance, I will take a pic of my Chief to see the fork and linkage setup!
-- Edited by 67Poncho on Tuesday 9th of October 2012 08:36:12 AM
That was my first thought, 6 cyl vs V8, ala Nova where they are unique to each engine. Grabbed the parts book, no such luck. All the same, 6, small block, big block.
I made sure I had the bearing right in the fork. Common rookie mistake, and yes, I am a rookie when it comes to doing a mechanical work! Also, I know I have the disc facing the right way, although that wouldn't affect finger height. Did one of those backwards years ago and learned my lesson.
I didn't look where the fork is in the bellhousing, I can check that next time I have it on the hoist. I know I have it clipped in correctly because I triple checked that. It is the correct fork I'm sure, I compared it to the pictures in the "sticky" thread Dave has on manual trans conversions.
It is a short release bearing and by all counts, it is supposed to be. I thought of changing to a tall bearing but I shouldn't need to! I am thinking of trying a used pressure plate. I have the one that was in front of this Muncie previously, with this bellhousing. It was in an A body so of course the linkage and fork are not the same ones.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars (now converted to a "factory" 4 speed)
Well, the stud that is supposed to be in there for a B body is 1 13/16" and the one in there is shorter, 1 1/2", do you think that could make so much difference?
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars (now converted to a "factory" 4 speed)
Well, for fun I measured how much 3" of clutch pedal travel equates to at the fork. It appears to be less than 1/2" of travel at the fork. Changing this stud should make a difference all right, but I never excelled in geometry in school so I am not sure exactly how much it will help!
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars (now converted to a "factory" 4 speed)
According to the part number and measuring it, yes. It certainly would change things if I would put the long bearing in there but I shouldn't have to! And I'm sure I won't need to change it once I get this figured out.
I just had someone measure up another Z bar and rods, that all makes sense.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars (now converted to a "factory" 4 speed)
i tell ya carl. without the advent of the internet you would still be scratching your head.
Yup, I mentioned that to someone earlier this week. In the 70', 80's and most of the 90's I just kept at it until I got it. In this case, I would have been making lots of phone calls, visiting some wrecking yards to look at cars etc. Now I just sit at the keyboard. I know I'll get it, it's just a matter of how and when.
And I promised the guys at coffee the other night no matter even if it happens to be an embarrassing goof on my part putting this together, I'll post what I did wrong in case someone else ends up in the same spot some day.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars (now converted to a "factory" 4 speed)
In case anyone thinks I've gotten lazy or lost interest in this, that is not the case. It has not been a very good week. A series of events including me being on the couch most of each evening with a bad cold/sore throat/cough have put this on the back burner for a little bit.
Like some guys say it, "life has gotten in the way" this week. I hope to deal with a lot of it in the next week or so and be able to get back to this. I am really itching to know what the issue is with the clutch free play.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars (now converted to a "factory" 4 speed)
Get well and get off the cough, and get rid of that sore throat and couch Carl!
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Prince Edward Island
'64 Parisienne CS "barn find" - last on the road in '86 ... Owner Protection Plan booklet, original paint, original near-mint aqua interior, original aqua GM floor mats, original 283, factory posi, and original rust.
When I did the conversion from 3 speed to 4 speed in the Camaro I had a similar problem - insufficient clearance and adjustment. I was using the new tall release bearing that was listed for the car but in the end I had to pull it out and use the short one that was installed in the original 3 speed.
This was just posted tonight on the Chevytalk forum where I found someone with the same problem, installed a manual conversion, used bellhousing and ball, way too much freeplay. Pulled it apart, installed correct length ball in bellhousing...
Tom, Today I replaced the ball pivot stud with the correct length 1 1/4" stud and installed the trans. My clutch is now correct. Big thanks to all who offered advise and thanks to Tom for providing me with the info on the stud. The only thing left on the clutch is to find the big return spring. If any out there know a source please let me know. Thanks again, you guys are great! Back to the garage. Bill
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars (now converted to a "factory" 4 speed)
