Ad0911

I am about to renew the clutch bushing in the cutch relase arm. See picture. According to the WSM this bushing must be pressed in. But I see that it just slips in, no force required. And what do I do with the aluminum ring that came with the bushing? It is too large to fit in the hole.

Mrmerlin

Take a dremel and open up the bushing a bit to make it easier to fit over the ball
put the bushing into hot water to soften it add some DC 111 to the bushing
Put it on the ball use a long pry bar and a block of wood
once the bushing is on the ball slide the release arm onto the bushing

That sealing ring is for the oil pan plug

Ad0911

Thank you Mr Merlin,

Will th bushing stick in the arm just by friction? I see no ridge or anything that will hold it.

Weird thing is, the ring was still in the bag with the bushing. So I assumed they belong to eachother. The oil pan plug seems unrelated to the clutch arm bushing.
The ring is part 16 in the WSM drawing

Jerry Feather

Looks to me like there is no freedom of movement to allow the bushing to come out. They apparently realized that early on and that is why the snap ring (16) was eliminated. Whoever packaged your's for you looked at the picture and said "that needs a washer and this one looks about the right size so let's include that."

Mrmerlin

NOTE please what year car are we working on and what reference are you getting this picture from?

I have never seen a ring inside the release arm,
NOTE for all of these bushings I have replaced I have never seen a snap ring or spacer ring for the release arm.
the one you show looks to me like a sealing ring, maybe it could also be a spacer ring .
BUT I couldnt tell you it belongs into the bushing release arm assembly.

BUT if thats true put some grease on the ring and put it into the release arm to hold it in position.
Follow the previous directions for installing the bushing.

NOTE I would not use this ring as it will change how the bushing is pressed into the release arm cavity,
and also change the plane that the arm runs in.
NOTE the bushing should fit into the arm with its shoulder riding on the top of the bore of the release arm,
you have to fit check this to verify it,
posting pictures of the parts of your clutch will assist in a better guess on what your doing.

Rob Edwards

The 'snap ring' in the diagram isn't a snap ring at all, it's a washer, and it was only used with the earliest versions of the clutch release arm that used a captive pivot ball whose pin slid into a hole into the bellhousing. Not sure why an aluminum crush washer came with the new nylon bushing, unless you also ordered an oil filter and someone was kind enough to include the crush washer with the order.

There are two approaches to mounting the new bushing.

1. Pre-install it on the ball socket screwed into the bellhousing, typically by putting a 2x4 between the bellhousing and firewall and using a long pry bar against it to pop the bushing onto the ball. Then when you're installing the clutch assembly you'll just have to maneuver the top of the release arm over the bushing and it'll be in place.

2. Put the bushing into the opening on the top of the release arm after assembling the pressure plate/throwout bearing/release arm assembly (and make sure the pressure plate is shimmed so the release arm/throwout bearing has some radial play on the pressure plate fingers. Then when you lift the clutch assembly into the bellhousing, you'll maneuver the release arm over the end of the ball, then use a pry bar between the pressure plate and release arm to lever the bushing onto the ball.

I favor option #1, though either is do-able.

Here's a pic of the different 928 release arms, early '78s used the uppermost with the captive small ball and pin. That 'snap ring' was just a washer to spread the load against the face of the (aluminum) bellhousing.

Mrmerlin

The reason i suggest to use install option one that Rob points out is because,
it will put less force on the ball stud to install the release arm.

NOTE with the bushing in the arm the bushing must deform a certain amount for it to pass over the ball ,
the arm socket limits this deformation thus creating much higher forces to install it over the ball.
Therefore installing the bushing after the opening has been widened and the bushing warmed with hot water,
makes installing this pretty easy with much less forces being used.
The release arm easily will pass over the bushing once its been installed