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Welcome to FordPinto.com, The home of the PCCA => General Help- Ask the Experts... => Topic started by: LongTimeFordMan on June 13, 2017, 06:59:31 PM

Title: 1973 2.0 throw out bearing and bellhousing to engine bolt threads.
Post by: LongTimeFordMan on June 13, 2017, 06:59:31 PM
Hi all

Well my squeeky throw out bearing finally collapsed. So i will be replacing it before i leave for the stampede in july.

I had the transmission out about a month ago to replace a broken roll pin in the shift mechanism.

I had gotten a clutch set including bearing at the zone but they gave me the wrong setup so i greased the old bearing and put it back in. Was doing it on a sunday at a friends shop so i couldnt get a replacement in time.

I had a lot of difficulty getting the transmission back in due to interference with the exhaust system and the two studs at the top of the bellhousing..

I plan to remove the exhaust system this time and as well the top studs and replace them with bolts... I also want to get some lengths of all thread to use to keep the transmission aligned.

I have 2 questions.. are the throwout bearings the same for 73 2.0 and later 2.3 3ngines.

What thread are the bellhousing to engine bolts. Are they SAE or metric?
Title: Re: 1973 2.0 throw out bearing and bellhousing to engine bolt threads.
Post by: pinto_one on June 13, 2017, 10:21:43 PM
Yes the clutch release bearings are the same , and the bolts are metric, later Blaine
Title: Re: 1973 2.0 throw out bearing and bellhousing to engine bolt threads.
Post by: LongTimeFordMan on June 15, 2017, 11:29:48 PM
Hi.. thanks for the info on the release bearing...

Good news.. i dont think i will need to remove the transmission and replace the clutch parts..

I did some poking around with the throw out bearing assembly.  The main symptom that i noticed was that the clutch pedal suddenly had about 2" play at the top a few days ago. I inspected the TO bearing thru the fork opening in the bell housing and it seemed intact and the fingers on the pressure plate showed no damage...

BUT.. the pedal was still low... more fiddling revealed that the cable, a new one about 2 years old was hanging up in the cable housing. I lubed both ends of the cable and now the pedal works properly .. but it now is a LOT easier to depress.

I am still a bit puzzled about whether the release bearing is proper for the car.

The previous owner had replaced the clutch, pressure plate, release bearing and the cable about 500 miles before i got the car and i have driven it about 6000 miles.

When i had the transmission out last month all looked like new, but the release bearing was making a rattling ans squeeling noise and seemd to be pretty loose.  When i had the transmission out, i packed the bearing with grease and replaced it (because the clutch kit i purchased was completely wrong) and it is now a lot less noisy.. almost none..  i also think that the sticky cable was keeping the bearing from completely clearing the pressure plate fingers, making the rattling sound.

Now,  after lubing the cable everything works and there is almost no rattling from the bearing.

I am sure that at some point i will want to replace the bearing sooner rather than later, but have been having a problem finding the proper one. All of the parts stores seem to have only the same kit that didnt work..

But i do wonder if the release bearing is the proper one since i have seen pix of different ones that seem to be the "correct" one

I am including a photo of mine made thru the fork opening. It is constructed from stamped sheet metal parkerized yellow, Does this look like the correct one for my car, 73  2.0

I am pretty sure the clutch kit was a LUK kit. I have seen ones like it online and others supposedly for the same application that were machined castings.

Also.. all of the pix of kits for the 73 2.0 had pressure plates tithe the fingers bent at the tip to se4ve as mating surface for the TO bearing and mine showed no wear when i had it out.  I know that the fingers can get bent from overheating but i think these were made this way from the factory.

Were there other brands of release bearings that worked but made differently.
Title: Re: 1973 2.0 throw out bearing and bellhousing to engine bolt threads.
Post by: LongTimeFordMan on June 16, 2017, 06:45:12 PM
Im also including some pix of the bearing supplied in the zone clutch kit. Could this be an upgraded version of the bearing.  The zone part number is the same fro 73 and 74 up according to them.  Could the LUK bearing be an oem unit?

The clutch and pressure plate in the kit seem to be correct and the clutch diameter is 8- 1/2 inches .

Any thoughts?
Title: Re: 1973 2.0 throw out bearing and bellhousing to engine bolt threads.
Post by: pinto_one on June 16, 2017, 08:30:33 PM
The picture of the bearing you just posted is a very high quality bearing, the early one you posted in the car right now is a cheep knock off , they have good ones and cheep ones , I always buy the ones with a lifetime warranty, as I said 71 to 80 are the same ,
Title: Re: 1973 2.0 throw out bearing and bellhousing to engine bolt threads.
Post by: LongTimeFordMan on June 16, 2017, 10:13:40 PM
Thanks... your help is really appreciated..

As i mentioned, the current bearing seems to be part of a LUK  kit installed by the previous owner who was a counterman at meineke so i wasnt sure if he had the corrrect part installed.

And after, packing the bearing and freeing up the cable seems to have remedied the issue temporarily and I will probably replace the bearing when i get back from the trip to Dearborn with the Stampede..

Again.. thanks for the info..

Ed
Title: Re: 1973 2.0 throw out bearing and bellhousing to engine bolt threads.
Post by: Wittsend on June 17, 2017, 03:55:29 PM
I'm slightly confused as to which bearing is which (OEM, LUK or the "Zone" Kit) in this situation. But, I've had a LUK clutch kit that I thought was pretty good. It was for my Mazda 323. The disc was from Mexico, the pressure plate from South Africa, the release bearing from Japan (which at least seems to indicate it was likely decent) and the pilot tool from..., yes the good old USA. Most of the cheap ones seem to come from China or Korea.

When I got my bellcrank type bellhousing for the T-5 the clutch plate, disc and bearing (all Excedy) were just sitting there in the yard. The surfaces looked VERY good and I think they charged me $8 for everything. So far everything works fine. So,I give one positive vote for the Excedy kit.
Title: Re: 1973 2.0 throw out bearing and bellhousing to engine bolt threads.
Post by: LongTimeFordMan on June 18, 2017, 10:45:23 PM
Im pretty confused as well...

What I DO know is that when I got the car the transmission had a fresh paint job, the clutch, pressure plate and release bearing , the one installed in the photo and a new LUK sticker on the rear bumper..

The bearing in the se ond series of photos is the one sold with the zone kit and as well sold separately by the zone.

The release bearing began to rattle at about 3000 miles and has been rattling ever since, at 7000 miles but hasnt collapsed or fallen apart.

Ill be on the stampede next month and will try to get some opinions about the oem unit from some of the other owners...

Ill try to talk to brian from racer walsh and get his opinion and have an appointment with a fellow from missouri to buy some parts on the way back..