mArCoS MoNzA wOrLd

[marco_1978_spyder]

Well, Now I have the tranny down and the T/O bearing out for inspection..

T/O bearing looks AOK ?!?

Its fine, aside from the usual wear ring at the contact point.

Clutch fork appears to be fine.

So now Im thinking pressure plate gone bad?

I pulled on the cable to see if it was failing but it seems to be just fine.

I left off, tonight trying to get the bellhousing off. Its stuck on the starter side. I think at the mounting stud.

Will resume tomorrow if poss..

[Phil G]

Look at the firewall where the cable attaches. Bet it is cracked. Put a Hayes diaphragm in mine and MAN is that a heavy pedal!

Years of use and several hundred thousand miles flexed the firewall on mine so many times it cracked. Had to make a reinforcing plate for it.

YMMV

[marco_1978_spyder]

Hi Phil thanks for the suggestion!

That was one of the first checks I made, although it would have been unlikely because I reinforced the area years ago, in advance of any firewall cave in's. Since it happened to me before on another car.

The problem feels similar to that situation though.

I followed the clutch linkage from the under the dashboard to the bellhousing and it appears to be ok.

The cable does not touch the exhaust. It appeared to provide full and normal travel at the fork.

I wondered if the prob was inside the transmission, but it worked fine on the way home in 2nd and a clutchless shift into 3rd.

For some reason the Press Plate isnt releasing the clutch disc.

hopefully I can get back at it a little bit today.

[marco_1978_spyder]

I found the problem.....

Clutch Disc failure.

It appears a piece of metal off the outer edge of the inner hub, just above one of the springs, broke off and the
spring was popping out of place.

The piece of metal was loose in there, and the pressure plate fingers were making contact with the spring, when the clutch pedal was pressed.

I needed hand cleaner real bad so I stopped buy the parts store and they had a new disc in stock for 35.99. So I bought it.

Otherwise the old disc wasn't that bad. Still had plenty of life in it.

Looks like the pressure plate is ok. The contact area on the inner side of the press. plate fingers did not leave any grooves. The store didn't have one in stock (listed as unavailable)..so I'm going to reuse the old one.

I have another one, but it think it has more miles on it.

So now onto dreaded reassembly.Wish I had the cash to put a 5 speed in it. While im at it.

Overall the the failed clutch disc makes more sense then a bad T/O bearing. The disc has taken alot of abuse trying to eliminate the idle lurch. When it happens and I let it get bad, the clutch disc is the part that takes the beating.

[marco_1978_spyder]

Here's the broken piece...

[marco_1978_spyder]

As of tonight the repair is 99% complete!

I muscled the transmission back in place and got everything fully lubed connected and adjusted.

Everything is together, and clutch freeplay has been adjusted for just less than 1inch of free play at the pedal.

I would have been able to test drive it, but I was 1 pint short on the tranny refill.

So I must wait until tomorrow, when the stores open and add another pint.

It was pretty easy to fill the saginaw tranny using a long hose running from the fill hole into the engine compartment.

Then I hope everything is ok and the new clutch disc lasts longer than the last one even though it didn't looks as solidly built as the broken Borg & Beck unit it replaced.

Tomorrow it comes off the supports and gets test driven.

Hope all is well.

[marco_1978_spyder]

As of tonight the repair is 99% complete!

I muscled the transmission back in place and got everything fully lubed connected and adjusted.

Everything is together, and clutch freeplay has been adjusted for just less than 1inch of free play at the pedal.

I would have been able to test drive it, but I was 1 pint short on the tranny refill.

So I must wait until tomorrow, when the stores open and add another pint.

It was pretty easy to fill the saginaw tranny using a long hose running from the fill hole into the engine compartment.

Then I hope everything is ok and the new clutch disc lasts longer than the last one even though it didn't looks as solidly built as the broken Borg & Beck unit it replaced.

Tomorrow it comes off the supports and gets test driven.

Hope all is well.

[Len]

Awesome !!!!! back on the road
Len

[marco_1978_spyder]

Thanks Len.

And indeed the car is back on the road. The repair seems to be a success.

Tools are put away, and floor cleaned up.

Took the car for a ride and it's back to normal.

The Clutch responds pretty much just like the one it replaced. The new clutch fork adjustment has the pedal feeling lighter, but a little spongy. It shifts great though.

The wierd thing is... a wire for the temp gauge came undone. after re attaching it... the car ran hotter than usual.

Its running much better and smoother (Idle lurching is almost non-existent!)

In Midday sun and heat (this is the hottest day Ive run it) it ran 210 for some odd reason.

But otherwise the spyder is back in business after a major little operation.

Now to get the secondaries to run as crisp as the primaries and I'll be all set.

[Len]

Again awesome . it lives and breathes again . not easy on the ground lining the disc pilot bearing throughout out and trans And muscle is a nice way of putting it . I am thinking that give a bit of time for the disc to wear into the press plate and wheel then re adjust . Also thinking the stud has to be ahead of the cable by a bit so the bearing hits the fingers evenly as poss.


Len

[marco_1978_spyder]

Just before I left the shop tonight I pulled the airhorn off of my Edelbrock 1406.

First finding is that the floats are a little bit out of adjustment. - A little lower than7/16 upside down, well above 1" inverted. I'll get them bent back tomorrow.

I noticed that the rods have been changed.. I have 73/42's.

Stock were 75/47's.

I didnt get to look at what jets were in it...

Acording to the carbs chart, If I have the stock jet .098 still I'm 1and half stages rich in both Power and Cruise modes.

If a .95 jet;s been installed then I'm just 1 and a half steps lean in cruise mode and stock in Power mode.

I have to check jets tomorrow evening..

Anyone have any jet/rod reccomendations for a mildly cammed 310ci with 9:1 compression, 305HO heads,
stock exhaust - cat. ?

[marco_1978_spyder]

Super Sweetness.

I carefully adjusted the floats until they were at exactly to spec.

They were close to 7/16th at rest but waay over 1" when fully hanging, so I took care of that.

The car responded well... The secondaries are now working.
The carb feels way better in the top end.

There's still some driveability issues to contend with, but I feel that those are due to the rod's I mentioned in my first post.
Looks like I have the stock jets still in place... this means that I'm About 6% Richer in power and cruise than a stock 1406.

Anyone have a set of .075 / .047 Rods hanging around?

[starfire383]

OK, here's something you need to know about edelbrock carbs. Start by looking up your model number and the description.

We'll use my current 750 edelbrock as an example. They offer several identical-appearing 750s, this one is described as "stock 454/460 towing".

I accepted this carb in trade then later tried to use it on a moderate 400 sbc. Out of the box the worst carb I've ever bolted on. No power in the secondaries, bogging, popping, lack of response. Just terrible. It was so far out I just put it back on the shelf and went with a different carb.

Fast forward one year. Now there's a stock 454 truck in the driveway, happy coincidence. I buy a calibration kit and install the cursed carb. Suddenly, it's the most perfect carb I've ever installed. Pulls crisp and clean to redline, good power all around, better mileage than the Qjet.

Other than idle speed......didn't touch a screw. That calibration kit is still sealed. I've messed with holleys and Qjets for years and never seen that kind of operational difference from engine to engine.

Moral of this story, when considering an edelbrock's original rods & jets as "baseline", you must KNOW exactly what edelbrock intended that carb to do. My 750 would work fine on a performance application, but using it's original rods/jets/etc as baseline would only move it further away from where it should be.

good luck

[marco_1978_spyder]

Oh great.


As far as I know the 1406 that I have was jetted lean for economy. and the 1405 was richer for more performance...

With the rods in there now, I'm jetted similar to the 1405 or about 6% richer than the baseline 1406.

Hopefully though, thats for a 350, and maybe it is to rich for my 310.

Sort of seems as if it may be a little on the rich side.. (Yes, an A/F meter would be awesome)


At least it only takes a few seconds to swap the rods and see!

[marco_1978_spyder]

I swapped the 7342 rods back to stock 7547's...

I reset the idle screws and rechecked the timing, then took the car for a ride.

Excelent!

A sweep through the rpms is crisp even. Much less stumbling, if any at all.
No noticeable transition and steady needle right into the redline, much like the holley was doing.

Good times.

There is still the idle lurching problem at 750 rpm, BUT if I keep just a tiny smidge of gas applied the car will roll forward fine 900 rpm. So thats acceptable to me.

I rolled down the road in 4th gear at 1,100 rpm. The car rolled along smooth and quiet with a responsive pedal below my foot..
I tipped into the gas and the car went 30,40,50,60 just as fast as you can say them. Right up to 3,500 rpm and was waiting for more.


I de-accellerated in gear from there, and thats where I can feel a fair bit of stumble still.

Otherwise, I really like the performance. I think I may be done with the carb for the time being.