[jtwoods4]

sounds good I will check on this tomorrow I appreciate all your help

[jtwoods4]

Ok guys I am back. It was a long 2 weeks. I took the transmission up to American Powertrain in Tennessee and they put a new front bearing retainer on the transmission. No damage was done to the tranny thank god.

I then proceeded to align the bell housing to within .003 inches of the crank centerline. By the way, don't ever try to remove Pontiac bellhousing dowel pins while the engine is in the car, what a freakin nightmare. Slide hammers don't fit under there and I had to drill them out very slowly by stepping up the drill size. Eventually they came out with vice grips. Don't try that at home. Worst experience I have every had with a muscle car. Anyway, after installing the Lakewood .007 offset dowels the bell is now .003 within crank centerline

As I was re-assembling everything I found the problem that cracked my trans front bearing retainer: bad clutch fork geometry.

According to GM, the clutch fork needs to be sticking out of the bell housing and slightly towards the front of the car when at rest. The exact amount is between 5 and 7 degrees, this is a very slight forward angle when the clutch pedal is at rest. Well, I looked at my fork and I noticed it was leaning back -5 to -7 degrees. This causes the arc of the clutch fork/throw-out bearing to swing to far and puts a side load on the front bearing retainer by pushing the throw-out bearing side ways as the fork arc increases when the clutch is fully depressed. Hence, cracking off the front bearing retainer of the tranny.

In order to correct the clutch fork geometry I adjusted the height of my McLeod Throw-out bearing (made it taller). This moves the throw-out bearing to clutch fork attachment back towards the transmission, therefor moving the clutch ROD end of the clutch fork slightly forward, about 5 to 7 degrees. Now the arch of the throw-out bearing on the bearing retainer sleeve swings in a more forward and backward movement instead of a forward to far and to the side movement. Problem solved. You could also solve this issue by using and adjustable fork pivot ball. But I chose the adjustable throwout bearing instead.

Anyway............ onto the ride height adjustment.

After a few miles of driving the front springs have settled in and the front of the car sites to low. Speed bumps are not even an option. PTFB Comp front and rear springs. For track use it may be ok, but unusable on the street, at least with my specific car.

So tonight I measure the wheel well lip to the ground on all four corners.

Front Driver: 25 3/4 in
Front Passenger: 26 1/4 in.

Rear Driver: 28 1/8 in.
Rear Passenger: 28 in.

After doing some basic math and knowing that aluminum coil spring spacers will raise the front twice the height of the actual spacer... I came up with the following

Install .625 spacer on bottom of Drivers Side Front spring to Raise the car from 25 3/4 to 27 inches
Install .375 Space on bottom of Passenger Side front spring to Raise the car from 26 1/4 to 27 inches.

Now the front is level and I have brought the ride height up to 27 inches in front and 28 inches in back.

What do you guys think? Can anyone post your front fender lip to ground measurements?

[Formulabruce]

I do not recall if your tire sizes all end up being same height tire, If so, your car should sit lower in the back than the front. They were that way from the factory for much improved handling, and for the "Flush and dry" pressurized rocker cleaning system. Many people adjust their suspension for looks, or tire burn outs and they can easily loose it in a corner. Adding in Spring spacers is a big non no...That will cause stress points in the springs and will make your ride alot stiffer. Its possible if they are stiff springs already, you may end up negating the sway bar by putting them in. Just like putting in poly bushings and making them way to tight so they dont move can also negate the suspension function.
My front is 28 for what its worth, stock springs and 225/70 tires on 7 inch rims. Back is 26.75.. GM wants the rear down about an Inch on a brand new '70 T/A .. if this even matters...
IF you must spacer this car, use the rubber coil spring discs made for this purpose. NO twisting to put in either and its alot more uniform and they do give a little. Good luck!

[jtwoods4]

Formula Bruce, I don't think these are the spring spacers you are thinking of. they are made by Spc performance or Global West and they are c-shaped aluminum discs that go underneath the front springs. they are for ride height adjustment on race cars

Here
http://www.globalwest.net/ford-gw-co...g-spacers.html

[Formulabruce]

Originally Posted by jtwoods4

Formula Bruce, I don't think these are the spring spacers you are thinking of. they are made by Spc performance or Global West and they are c-shaped aluminum discs that go underneath the front springs. they are for ride height adjustment on race cars

Here
http://www.globalwest.net/ford-gw-co...g-spacers.html

OK, thats sort of what I was suggesting at the end of my post, but I have seen them in rubber or poly...I hope your springs give enough to cornering traction. Good luck!

[jtwoods4]

from what I understand these types of spacers do not change the spring rate.

[keith k]

Originally Posted by jtwoods4

from what I understand these types of spacers do not change the spring rate.

Right, they would not affect the rate.

[speedfreq]

Do you have any pics of the clutch fork issue? I was just reading through your post and decided to go check my bell housing and fork. I am using a tko-600 and a lakewood bell housing with a stock ball and fork. I did notice that the motion seems more side to side and not forward and back. Of course the amount of travel shouldn't be too large but I am also concerned that the end of the fork and the outside of the bell housing are extremely close. I looked on the Lakewood page and they only offer a reman GM fork so I may be imagining things.

[jtwoods4]

The clutch fork did not have an issue. I just had the throwout bearing height wrong. This was causing the clutch fork pivot angle to be wrong, pushing the fork to far and putting a side load on the input shaft sleeve, causing it to break.

[jtwoods4]

Well here it is boys... the first day at the SCCA Autocross. Race starts around the 2:00 minute mark if you want to fast forward.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u983lC2qGGE

[jtwoods4]

Did another autocross event today. Check out the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv4RX...ature=youtu.be

[tabob]

Nice. That TA has come a long way since it was here in Houston. I'm glad you are enjoying it.

[jtwoods4]

Thanks Bob! She has come a long way but she has been a real bitch the entire way.

Today I Took her out to Road Atlanta. On lap three I was on the back straight and was about to shift from 4th gear at 6000 RPM into 5th. Right before I was about to shift the RPMs stopped at 5500 and stayed there. The pedal was to the metal and the RPMs were not climbing, speed was 110 mph. That RPM and MPH held for about 5 to 7 seconds. At that point the Crank case pressure caused oil to come out the back of the oil pan seal and get on the headers. Saw a puff of smoke in the rear view and smelled burning oil. So at that point I decided to slow down and take her back to the trailer and head home. Not sure what was causing power to halt at 5500 rpm in 4th gear.

Anyway, here is the video. Hope you enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj_cW...ature=youtu.be

[Formulabruce]

Crankcase pressure indicates ring problems to me ( IMHO)
OR could have have bad rear main bearing ( check thrust bearing)
I haven't looked back through your Engine dyno specs, but how long ( seconds) is over 6 grand practical??
Love your vids, hope this all works out and easily...
Drill in the Distributor hole and oil pressure test is in order.. then compression..
Take care, Bruce

[jtwoods4]

After several weeks of research I have started installing my oil cooling system. This is really a must for Track day events running the car wide open for 20 minutes or so. Take a look and let me know what you think.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__Ux-...ature=youtu.be

[jtwoods4]

More oil cooling.... Day 3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSIn...ature=youtu.be

[jtwoods4]

Oil Cooling System and remote power steering reservoir complete.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eTnj...ature=youtu.be

[jtwoods4]

Here is some great footage of my trans am at road Atlanta this weekend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUee...ature=youtu.be

[transam1972]

hey JT!!!..AWSOME VIDEO!!!...a few years back X BOX had a video game where you got to drive a 1972 T/A...your film reminds me of that..very cool to see your car on the track like that...the whole idea of the early TRANS AMs that were sold at the dealership were that they were for the most part streetable versions of the cars that raced on the track for the TRANS AM series racing (complete with full length racing stripe)...the T/A had one nice factory set up for handling (WS-4)...so in the 70's and especially with the last few years of the TRANS AM production even though the performance suffered the handling (WS-6) actually improved...so when guys added dingle bars and wheelie popper stoppers (especially on the 1978 - 1981 cars) they were throwing the TRANS AM idea away..so its nice to see your TRANS AM being driven on a track where it was born to be!!....I can see by watching your vid that all of your hours of hard work have really paid off..again just watching that inspires me to get myself in gear and get my H.O.s pistons pumping!!...your P.O.V. filming with the shaker shaking reminds me what these cars are all about..thankx for posting!!

[keith k]

Originally Posted by jtwoods4

Here is some great footage of my trans am at road Atlanta this weekend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUee...ature=youtu.be

That is very cool. Loved the "soundtrack"...