My plan was to mate the the trans and engine together this weekend. All was going well until I installed the pilot bearing and realized that it was to thick and will require machining. Then I decided to press on and put the flywheel and clutch on for a test fit. Mounted the clutch and threw the clutch disc in only to have it not fit!!! To give you some back ground I bought most of my conversion kit from an individual on ebay, all of it was brand new and most of it seems to be RH. If you can believe this, the flywheel he sold me is a Type I VW one that will accept only a 200 mm clutch kit! Well that just ruined my weekend!!! Not sure if I can go after the guy since he misrepresented the item, there was a brand new 215mm clutch kit in the setup he sold me.

The wierd thing is that someone had gone to the expense of machining this Type I wheel to fit on an SBC??? I went ahead and mounted the trans anyways, just had to see what it lookd like!

Has anyone trid to mount there adapter plate back wards? As in putting the indentation towards the motor, this will give me the space I need for the pilot bearing clearence, but may cause clutch and starter engagement problems??

Well, the 200mm will work but you will need a different clutch disk. If you want to use the 215mm you can send a flywheel to Kennedy and they will machine it for you. You will also need a PP for that. The pilot bearing should fit in the end of the crankshaft as they are all pretty much the same size. I tapped mine in with a hammer. You cannot turn the adapter around and install it backwards, there are other things that will have problems. You engine and tranny combo look great, did you paint that gearbox? You do know that the paint will retain heat and not do your transmission any good right? The 200MM is an old bus flywheel, that is what they used to use when they first started doing the conversions. I went with the 228mm Kennedy with a stage 2 PP and kevlar clutch disc. I had to remove a washer behind the pivot bolt to get clearance. Ask questions, call Renegade, they will be able to answer any and all questions you could think of. Scott over there is a great guy and will tell it to you straight.

Also, you may want to put your waterpump on the other side. I put mine on the passenger side and wish I hadnt. Every other one I have seen, it is on the drivers side.

I thought about using the flywheel I have, but the actual surface area is smaller and will make the clutch even more prone to slippage. I have been thinking about updating to the 9 inch clutch setup from RH, it includes the flywheel. All it takes is MONEY!

I was debating on which side to mount the WP, I have seen it both ways, what are the advantages/disadvantages?

The pilot bearing came from KEP, and with it's instructions it mentions that it may need to be machined down. The diameter is okay, it is the depth, the trans shaft hits the pilot bearing retainer, it actually sticks out about 1/4 inch past the end of the crank. Frustrating! I plan on calling KEP and RH today. The fun part is going to be getting the bearing back out!

Yes. I painted the trans, I have painted VW transaxles for years and have never had a problem with heat. I also have painted cases, anothre suposed tabu, never had a problem with either one, maybe I'm just lucky. This trans had at least 1/2 inch of gunk onit anyway, it has to cool better now that it was power washed and painted.

I put mine on the passenger side just because everything seems to line up better for me. As for painting the trans, I was going by what everyone else says, I agree, the gunk all over it would be worse for holding in heat. I just cleaned it up the best I could and put it in. Most of the ones I have seen had the pump mounted on the drivers side and the hose from the fill goes straight down to the pump. Mine has to go to the other side. No big deal, just more hose. Andrew used the 200mm on his car when he did his first conversion, I dont know if he is still running it or not, maybe he will chime in here and tell you his experience. There should be a lot of people here who can give you insight on what you are doing or what you should do. I can only tell you what I have and how I did it. I do know that I used Marine exhaust hose rather than the standard gates rubber hoses. Much stronger, spring reinforced so it will never collapse, and in my case, it was less money. The hoses are one thing I will never have to worry about.

Thanks Scott! I was going to contact you about the hose, I remember you saying you had a contact for it that had a decent price. The part that stinks is I have a brand new 215 mm clutch kit...I know I could buy a nice Stage III 200mm for less than this 215 cost, but I'm afraid it will just give me problems.

You put the filler on the drivers side? I have the battery located elsewhere so I can put it on either side, I have the RH designed filler tank. Hmmm making me think.

I'd keep the 200mm flywheel for the time being and sell the new 215mm clutch and pressure plate. Its worth more than what you can get the new 200mm setup for.

You can get a Kennedy stage III or IV clutch and pressure plate for right arround $100. The higher rated 200mm will work fine until you start to make some real HP. It just makes for a heavy clutch pedal.

If you do go with a 9" setup you will also need to get a new adapter plate. The 9" flywheel is thicker than the 200mm and you also need the thicker adapter plate.

Bob

I have a stock diameter type IV diameter disc and a 1.7 pressure plate. I have never experienced slippage. Of course it's a 6 spring six puck kevlar unit. That may have helped.

I agree with Bob, use the 200mm unless you are running 300+ hp. The adapter thickness may dictate that too. Did the PO buy the kit in pieces?

If you're worried about slippage, KEP can modify your pp to accept a double disc that won't slip.

The RH water inlet tank is designed to fit on the passenger side unless you want to loop the line to the top of the engine. I just converted w/p sides as I previously had a Simpson w/p on the passenger side. Now I have the RH on the drivers side.

Machining down the KEP pilot bearing makes no sense. They are made to fit if all the parts are correct...

good progress!

I take it you don't want my water pump anymore.

Nick you have a PM.

Well I spoke to KEP yesterday, it seems I have an adapter plate made for a 200mm flywheel, we took a couple of measurements and figured it out. He recommended the Stage IV 200mm PP, he said try an organic disc if I want, but he recommended going with the metallic disc, the force required to activate is going to be significant, but it should work as long as I don't dump the clutch!

Anyone want to buy a stage II 215mm clutch plate and disc?

OBTW: The pilot bearing retainer was the incorrect one. It seems my early 327 crank requires a recessed pilot bearing retainer, Brett at KEP is making it right. Great company to work with!! Now I just need to figure out how to get the incorrect one out...what fun!

SBC pilot removall...
an old mechanic showed me this.
push in grease with your fingers, in the center of the sleeve, wiggle your finger till you push out most air pockets with grease. take a punch or a 3/8 extention thats a little smaller then the sleeve and wack with a hammer. The grease gets pushed in and back around, out at the sleeve, popping it out. It works 100%.
Good luck
Later
Joe

Good idea Joe! I 'll give it a try, I'll use my grease gun to fill it and give it a wack, it will either come out or cover me with grease that could be fun to! .

Better make sure your clutch tube is 110% up to snuff, and don't use a weltmeister roll pin!

I am leaning towards a Stage III with a Center Force disc. The CF disc requires less clutch plate based on it's solid/puck design. At least thats what they advertise. Since the cost of Type I compnents are significantly less I can afford to experiment.