Picked up the 10.5" flywheel and a new clutch fork. The one that came with the bell was bent on the end, and I wasn't confident in fixing/running it



Old and new flywheels





Got the clutch fork primered/ready for paint. No after pics. I forgot haha



Old and new pilot bushings. MORE on this later



Everything bolted together for the FIRST time...the aluminum bell housing is wonderful to work with...that old cast iron one sucked working with

MORE on the pilot bushing

The clutch kit is one that a buddy of mine bought sometime last year, and knew I needed one to get my truck back up and running. Yes it is borrowed, but hopefully it works. I needed one to get the truck moveable again. It sucks having a small driveway

So I got everything bolted together, was SURE the clutch was aligned, as the alignment tool was in and was TIGHT.

Went to put the trans in, and it would NOT go together. Tried rotating the shaft, moved the trans left/right/up/down, and it would NOT go together. Dropped the trans, felt the inside of the bushing and it was straight. I didn't mushroom it tapping it in, it didn't go in crooked, it didn't twist or anything else...Got tired of fighting it, so I ended up getting THIS bad boy




Pulled the NEW/OLD bushing out, cleaned the hole, and put it in. It's a pilot bearing from a 1996 ram 1500 manual truck



Got the high torque starter installed


Starting to look like a 4 speed Still have a few things to do. It's lunch time haha, so I'll finish up later.





I still have the Zbar, linkage, driveshaft, and shifter to install. I need to put in the crossmember, but I need a new one. Payment sent, just waiting for hime to get it, and ship the crossmember

When you showed the old pilot bushing my first thought right away was why are you messing with that when the newer bearing is light years ahead. I guess you found out the hard way, but at least you did figure it out.

Whats up with the crossmember? Are they different for a 4-speed from an auto? I used the same one for both trans. Only one I know that is different is the one for the 518 OD trans.

Yeah, the pilot bearing seems soo much better. I was only using the bushing because it came with the kit.

When the truck was a 3 on the tree, the linkages kept binding, so it was converted to floor shift using a spectre shifter. To make room for the rods, part of the crossmember was torched out. It doesn't really matter, but my shock crossmember was torched/clearanced for exhaust pipes, and it snapped in 2. I'm not taking a chance on the trans crossmember. I know it has held up fine with the 3 speed, but I want to replace it while its still available. I don't want to try and find one say 20 years from now haha