Dowels on flywheel

Best to take it apart and do it correctly this time...

Q.: Clutch/Transmission Installation Tips For 1986 and Newer V-8 Mustangs

A.: The flywheel to crankshaft bolts must be hand-torqued to 75-85 ft./lbs. (302/351W) and 54-64 ft./lbs. (4.6L) The 10.5" pressure plate bolts must be torqued to 12-24 ft./lbs. and 11" pressure plate bolts to 33 ft./lbs. + 1/4 turn.

Be sure to use the alignment dowels in the flywheels. Pressure plate bolts and alignment dowels for the 10.5" clutch can be purchased using PN M-6397-A302. Pressure plate bolts N808969-S100 and alignment dowels D1FZ-6397-B are for the 11" pressure plate.

Evenly tighten bolts in a circular direction one turn at a time. Bellhousing alignment is crucial for proper clutch and transmission function.

Due to production tolerances of engine blocks and bellhousings, it is possible for the transmission centerline and crankshaft centerline to be misaligned. Misalignment can cause transmission gear wear, transmission jumping out of gear, driveline vibration, clutch pedal vibration, pilot bearing noise, release bearing noise or excessive clutch spin time. It may also damage the pilot bearing, transmission mainshaft bearing and clutch hub. It will also cause harsh shifting.

Before installing the bellhousing, check the block mounting surface and bellhousing surfaces for nicks, dents, paint debris, etc. These are some things that could affect the accuracy of your measurements.




Q.: How do I check bellhousing alignment?

A.: The first step is to check bellhousing face runout. You are checking for parallelism of the back of the bellhousing to the back of the block. Install the dial indicator (as shown fig.1). Rotate the crankshaft and mark down the reading. Be sure to push the crankshaft against the thrust bearing for an accurate reading. Maximum runout is .010.

The next step is checking bellhousing bore runout. You are checking to see if the bellhousing bore centerline is aligned with crankshaft centerline. Reposition the dial indicator in the bellhousing bore (as shown fig. 2). Rotate the crankshaft and mark down the readings. Maximum out of concentricity is .015. If the bore runout is out of spec. install appropriate offset dowels.

Offset alignment dowels can be purchased from Lakewood.
.007 PN 15950
.014 PN 15960
.021 PN 15970

cooper58d2002 said:

Well put the new spec stage II clutch in with a ram bullit flywheel problem is a have a pretty bad chatter unless i just let the clutch off fast and give it more gas than usual. Like a retard I didnt install any dowells on the new flywheel My question is would that make a differance on my chatter problem or will the chatter go away after break in like the last clutch I did.

Click to expand...

Not sure about the dowells, but i heard with Spec you need to let it break in. The chatter should go away. then again, a lot of people say the chatter wont go away.

Misalignment can cause transmission gear wear, transmission jumping out of gear, driveline vibration, clutch pedal vibration, pilot bearing noise, release bearing noise or excessive clutch spin time. It may also damage the pilot bearing, transmission mainshaft bearing and clutch hub. It will also cause harsh shifting.

Check out the tech articles I posted in post#2 ...

I just put in a STG 3 clutch and we used the pins...but I havnt been able to drive the car. Hopefully I wont have much chatter lol.

I wonder if its possable that the flywheel is off ballence W/O the pins????

Oh and a question for you....how much pad did the clutch have? Like before it wears out to the point of hitting the rivets? I know mine barely had any meat on the clutch it seemed, but im guess its SUPER hard and really wont wear out.

I dont think you messed up...bascially bolt the flywheel up. Push the clutch disk up to the flywheel, then put the alignment tool through the clutch and flywheel to align it. Put the pressure plate up to the clutch and start bolting it down evenly. The tabs will line everything up (thats why i would use the tabs...im not sure if the pressure plate will bolt only 1 way up to the flywheel) and then equally tighten everything down. When its all tight, remove the plastic alignment tool and stab the transmission into it.
Thats about it...prettyhard to screw up .

Man its a tough call...your right, it could be just a HAIR off...but that may cause the whole assymbly to be out of ballence . DO you feel any vibration or anything when setting in neutral or with the clutch in?

sorry to say but you will have to pull the trans back out and install the dowels.

I was afraid of that . Most of your chatter may be coming from the clutch hitting the rough part of the pressure plate (its not smooth everywhere). But thats a shot in the dark and depends on how for off it is...but its coming off anyways. Good luck!