Project Greta – Off the stand!

With work finally starting to slow down I was able to get a weekend in the shop! It was time to pull the trigger and get the engine off the stand and start putting the transmission parts back on. So I got the engine in a spot where I could work on the back of it and pulled the engine stand mount off.

I had gotten the flywheel surfaced at Norm’s Machine Shop in Petaluma and had the new 10” clutch kit ready to go. I had already pulled the old pilot bushing out, which was badly cracked, when I first separated the engine from the trans. Now it was time to put a new one in. I bought a pilot bushing driver from Summit a few years ago and used that. I’ve used it a few times now and I think it’s definitely worth the $10 I paid… Then I put on the flywheel, clutch disc and pressure plate. And lastly the bellhousing.

Then it was time to put the fork and throwout bearing in place. That’s where I hit the snag. When I first went shopping for replacement clutches I had trouble finding a 9” (stock) kit. There were some 10” options though. Well, I thought bigger is better right? I knew the flywheel was drilled/tapped for both size clutches so I thought it would work. Wrong. Everything bolted up fine but when I went to use the new throwout bearing I found out the inner diameter was for a bigger input shaft than my little T150 has. So I thought, no problem, I’ll just use the old throwout bearing… well, I was able to get the bearing on the fork but it was pressed right up on the fingers. I realized that was just not going to work. So I’m going to have to do a little research and see what my next step should be.

With the trans install halted I decided to get more painting done. I cleaned and painted the intake/exhaust manifolds. Intake got a coat of silver and I hit the exhaust with some high temp black (forgot to take a picture of the finished product).

So that’s where we’re at. As soon as I can sort out the clutch situation I’ll be able to put the motor/trans back in the car and then I can start bolting stuff back on! pics below…