Wow. Sorry to hear of your misfortune. That's no good, for sure.
As I mentioned in a previous post in this thread, I did go through some work and effort to have a custom Oilite bushing made up. The main reason I did this is because I thought that these cars originally came from the factory with a bushing. Why? Well, the vendor I bought the steel (magnetic) bushing from only offered a bushing (but not a bearing) in their catalogue. Being a true newbie to four-speed stuff, I didn't know that bearings were even available for this application. After installing and hearing the squealing produced by this steel bushing, I immediately Googled the issue and came upon piles of information on these undesirable steel bushings. So my next move was to track down a proper Oilite bushing, and I finally got one in my hands. But I still did not yet know that these cars actually left the factory with a bearing!
It was not until I consulted both my 1965 and 1968 shop manuals that I realized these cars came from the factory with a bearing. Which leads me to wonder now:
The research I did uncovered many people that don't like the bearings because of possible bell housing misalignment. They say if you are ever to use a bearing, you must make sure that your bell housing alignment is spot on. And this makes nothing but sense to me.
BUT...How many of these cars over the years were driven into Joe's Transmission for a clutch replacement, which likely would have included replacement of the pilot bearing? My bet is that Joe's Transmission not once checked bell housing alignment. Ever. They would have removed the old pilot bearing, installed a new one, replaced the clutch, and told the customer to have a nice day. Yet somehow, these bearings survived. My guess is that GM must have had pretty darn good alignment from the factory, seeing that these cars left the factory with a bearing.
Anyway, here I now sit with a brand new Oilite pilot bushing in my car. I can't yet give a report on its performance, as we have sixteen-thousand feet of snow here and the car is resting in the garage until at least May.
But I do know three things, and I hope it saves someone some hassle or helps them with their choice down the road.
1. There exists steel (magnetic) pilot bushings out there in the marketplace. If you choose to go this route, be sure to lube the bushing to avoid metal-to-metal contact. These magnetic bushings sell for about $5.00 or so.
2. You can buy an Oilite pilot bushing from places like Autogear or McLeod Clutches. No lube is necessary, and the bushing is softer than the input shaft of the transmission. These Oilite bushings cost about $40.00 or so.
3. You can do what the factory did, and use a roller bearing. You can install it as-is and take your chances, or check and correct any bell housing misalignment issues.
In hindsight, I think any of the above solutions will work.
Jeez. For the amount of time and research I have done on this topic, I could have done a frame-off!
05-12-2014, 04:52 PM
A Verdict?
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