Clutch time for the 77 Trans Am
 

Well the day finally came. The car was off the road since 1995. Got it back up and running last fall after dragging it out of the woods. The clutch was smoked, but drivable, until now. I guess power shifting an ancient clutch isn't good for it, and now it slips in every gear lol.

Got the trans out today. Was hoping the flywheel was useable, but it's got some good heat cracks in it. The throw out bearing sounds like it's entering orbit when you spin it, and the pilot bearing fell out on it's own. Good stuff.

Also, the clutch pedal was adjusted way out of whack. The pedal was about 3 inches higher than the brake pedal, and had almost no free play.

The trans is numbers matching, which is cool.

I've seen worse flywheels that cleaned up...

Yeah, I'm not gonna toss it, but it's got some good cracks in it. I can catch a bunch with my finger nails. Since I daily the thing, I dont mind putting a new one in.

Good Choice on the flywheel replacement.

I have personally seen a heat-cracked cast flywheel take out the right side of a SB Chebby at the drag strip.

Cracks in a flywheel say REPLACE ME. Ask Don Garlits about how his foot is partially missing from a clutch/flywheel explosion.
Clutches and flywheels are cheap vs medical bills.

Tom V.

I know in this case the car is no powerhouse, but I'm still not risking it. I'll be damned if I lose a foot from power shifting a 220hp Pontiac lol

I had a heck of a time finding a OEM replacement flywheel for my 78 W72 400 at local auto stores, they all had the smaller crank register. I went with a hays billet flywheel, very nice part and worth the extra $$ compared to refinishing a stock one. used a zoom clutch and both are doing great after 13+ years with lots of street use & even some drag strip time.

Yeah, all the local places only stocked them for SBC cars. Even had one place say it'll fit a 400, but it was for a 400 Chevy lol

Got one online that I've bought before for another car. It's just a stock style steel flywheel. Weighs 30.5lbs. I'm running a stock style replacement clutch from Luk.

It doesn't make anywhere near enough power to warrant anything more than that, although that might change once I get the body on the rotisserie.

I was surprised my local oreilys could get a pontiac one, they did have to order it but was here the next day, just wouldnt fit the W72 crank, as far as i know the crank is original. Maybe pontiac used the older year style cranks for w72's along with the 481988 XX blocks?

Mine is a lower power basic rebuild, just a mild cam, little higher compression with headers etc, my original had the hairline cracks in it too. i figured getting a better flywheel was worth a little more money, in case of any power increase like you said. The stock type in good shape should be good for some added power too.

Got the new flywheel in, clutch installed, trans degreased and installed. Got the shifter back in, but still need to adjust the clutch pedal. Any advice?