edognight

I finally got the engine back in my '79 5MT, and I am having trouble getting the clutch in. I have done some research, and I am stuck on something...I need to post pics, later...

I am going to call them the front shaft (that has the clutch discs and pressure plate, etc.) and the back shaft, (thru the torque tube) connected with a slide coupler with the two allen bolts.
The front shaft will not connect to the coupler, because it is too far back. there is too small of a gap between the front and back shafts and the circumferential grooves wont line up. Either the rear shaft is too far forward, or the front shaft is too far rearward. I hope this makes sense.

Maybe i didn't get the front shaft all the way in the pilot bearing in the flywheel? if I pry it forward, I can feel the entire crank slide forward, so the front shaft is touching something...
Unless someone has a better idea, I am just going to take it apart and start over...thanks...

edognight

Clean up post. I found a post where someone had the same problem. "Trouble with front drive shaft install" or something like that...What happened was the front shaft had slipped out of the pilot bearing and then the gap between the front and read drive shafts was too small, so the coupler would not line up, the bolts would not go thru and it was a huge pain. I got it right. I had to jam the bent nails in the clutch, loosen all the PP bolts and the front shaft slid right into the pilot bearing. Getting down to the nitty gritty and this old girl is going to be back on the road!

see: "Struggling with installing drive shaft"

Mrmerlin

great news on your clutch install .
the terminology you are talking about is the
stub shaft= goes through the clutch pack,
and the drive shaft this attaches to the trans axle input shaft

NOTE in the future you can do a mockup of the clutch pack so to measure the correct depth of the stub shaft,
to do that , get the guide tube and the stub shaft fit them into the pilot bearing,
and then fasten the guide tube for the TOB,
seat the stub shaft into the pilot bearing,
then pull the stub shaft out of the pilot bearing about 3 MM.,
mark a line on the the stub shaft on the rear edge of the guide tube.

NOTE make sure the upper bell housing is mated to the engine block before you attempt this measurement.
NOTE you will find its easier to RnR the clutch pack with the bell housing split from the block,
I use the bell housing bolts all turned in about 3 turns from removed so the bell housing can rest on the bolts.
NOTE the trans mount bolts must be removed to slide the TT assembly rearwards.
Now you will know the proper depth setting of your stub shaft when you install the clutch.
NOTE you dont want the stub to be fully seated into the pilot bearing as it has to float for driveshaft flex