428PI Reinstall

Its called a pilot tool. Nowadays a lot of clutch suppliers put a throwaway ones in with their clutch kits. There is also a universal one that has a cone on a shaft. Its pretty simple. The tip of the shaft goes into the pilot bushing in the end of the crankshaft (make sure theres one in there) Then the disc goes over a step on the shaft (or centered by the cone) that centers the disc to the pilot bushing. Finally attach the pressure plate with the 6 bolts. Make sure you tighten them evenly and torque them. When inserting trans into bellhousing/clutch make sure it goes in freely. Never force or draw in with bolts.Oh and one more thing, don't forget the spacer plate before you put on the flywheel. Everyones forgotten this at least once in their life.
Here's a specific app one,
http://www.autozone.com/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/04/b8/fd/0900823d8004b8fd/repairInfoPages.htm
And a universal kit,
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HTNNWG...e=380333&creativeASIN=B000HTNNWG&linkCode=asn

 

Bob, I always screw a couple studs or bolts with the heads cut off about 5" long into the bellhousing. With the transmission on the studs, the trans. is at the correct height as you slide the trans. through the clutch and get the trans. seated on the bellhousing. It makes it a lot easier to control the trans. with the weight of the transmission on the studs.
kenny

 

Hi,
Any automotive store has a clutch pilot tool for the
smaller splines but I am not sure about the big splines
for the 428PI. However, they are made by plastic
and cost a few dollars. As regards the clutch, did you have
your rotating parts professionally balanced?
If you did, and the clutch was part of the balancing you need
to use your 800 mile clutch. I had my 289 HP in my 65 Shelby
balanced with my clutch and soon thereafter, before putting the
engine in the car, I found a NOS complete clutch. Went back
to the balancing shop and they balanced the new clutch for
my engine and marked it how to put it on.
I put the transmission on the engine and put the whole thing
into the car but that may be impossible with a big block.
Good luck,
Texas Swede

 

I think the RAM clutch comes with the tool. Tough call on old vs new. I really like the RAM clutch in mine.

 

Personally I like the tranny out when I put engine in. Theres just not a lot of wiggle room. The way I like doing FEs in Mustangs is assemble the engine as completely as possible, exhaust manifolds,plugs, wires, smog, alt, PS, AC, clutch. Everything but fan blade and bellhousing. This way you can drop it in straight down and not scratch up your pretty painted engine compartment and better yet you're not trying to get your hands in places they don't fit like installing plugs etc. Then bolt the bellhousing from underneath with TO bearing installed and then lift trans in place. In my younger days I used to lie on my back with trans on my chest and lift into place but now I need a jack under it.

 

Attach everything, including bell housing , less the the tranny, and power steering, they can be hooked up after. i think its impossible to put both in at once . well it may be possiblebut the engine will need to be vertical . thats dangerous to me . protect as much as poss, and take your time , and its a piece of cake . let us all no how you made out !!
THX, John from over the pond !!

 

if you do have freshly painted shock towers you may want to use some stratgicly placed card board as paint protectors...

 

You CAN install the engine/tranny as a single unit. The factory did it that way.

In order to do so you must do two things: get the REAR of the car as high as possible (and I mean high - not 6 inches off the ground) and get a load leveler to hang the motor/tranny from. The engine/tranny must be at a very sharp downward angle. Also the steering linkage must be dropped down (by unbolting the idler arm) and the cross member removed.

You will also need an engine hoist that can reach really high to clear the radiator support.

Since you have a 4-speed I would install the tranny later BUT make sure the bell housing is installed. Before putting the engine into the car test fit the tranny into the bellhousing. It should slide in and out easily and should seat completely against the bell housing without any BFH persuasion. The suggestion of putting studs into the lower bell housing holes is a good one.

 

Also a quick note........ If using the Pilot tool that comes with the kit, make sure it fits both the Clutch Disc and the Bushing/Bearing that goes in the back of the Crank. I installed a Ram Clutch in my last Car and the Tool fit the clutch fine, but the tip that goes in the Bearing was to skinny.......it needs to be very snug so the Clutch Disc does NOT slip down. If it slips down, even just a tiny bit, the Trans will not slip in.

 

When I used to stab transmissions in & out of early Mustangs I had a spare front drive shaft yoke stuck into the back of the trans all the time. First, it kept fluid from dripping out. But more importantly, I could put the trans in gear, then I could reach up and rotate that yoke on the back of the trans to get the input shaft of the transmission to rotate into alignment with the clutch splines during the final few inches of the stabbing procedure. I hope I explained that right.

Steve