Clutch Plate- Am I Actually This Stupid?

It takes a real man to admit his errors to the world even after he calls himself an idiot!
When I find things like this I love putting them in the memory bank to give a base on how screwed up something can be and still work.

 

It's 2023...can't we figure out a way to write "engine side" on one side!??

 

The up side of this is you won't likely do it again

Most of us have done stupid before, the only difference is most of us won't admit it.

 

Mine has "flywheel side" etched on it... must be a chevy thing.

Howard was there just enough meat on the disk for the springs to clear on install but wear enough to not clear soon after?

 

You are an Honest Man Howard, that takes guts. Anyone that says they never done something like that is not telling the real truth. We have all made mistakes.

 

Last time I installed a new clutch the fork got bumped when I raised the gear box into position. I didn't notice that the pivot ball had been popped out of its socket until I had all the bell housing bolts tightened up.

After I unbolted it and dropped it back down to fix it I glued that little sucker in there with Permatex Aviation sealer.

 

Noticed the crankshaft bolts on yours, with two bolts larger than the others. I noticed this on an engine I am working on and wondered whether it was stock or a Bubba fix. Most of my experience with these is with older flat fender Jeeps, which have the tapered dowel bolts. Seeing the same thing on yours as I found on the engine I am talking about gives me hope it is just a later feature.

 

Thanks, that solves the mystery I had been pondering. So, it is not really a "Bubba" fix, but an accepted alternative to the tapered dowel pins.

 

Installing the clutch disc backwards is much more common than you would think.

 

Yes, but you only do it once.

 

And so I would think by now there would be a built-in fail-safe way of preventing it.

 

My motto is "never make the same mistake three times." I give myself extra leeway.

 

The great thing about mistakes is that there is never any shortage of new ones.

 

Pete,
"And so I would think by now there would be a built-in fail-safe way of preventing it."

That sounds more like something someone from California would think

 

Reading the disc where it says “flywheel side”. Paying attention to how the old one came out. Reading the factory service information. Purchasing a basic automotive textbook and reading it. Bottom line, mistakes happen. There are NO failsafes in automotive which is where experience and research comes into play.

 

Ouch.