Hey guys I cannot believe its been over a month since I first posted my issue. A lot has happened, all be it rather slow. I did buy a new 9-1/8" clutch kit from NAPA. It was a LUK and it looked pretty modern, different than my old clutch. I battled with removing the old pilot bearing but finally got it out. I installed the new clutch kit and there was no more grinding going into the gears. With the drive shaft not connected I can see the u-joint on the transmission stop spinning when I engage the clutch. I think the old clutch spring was just worn, it was dumb of my not to have replaced it from the get go.
I know have another issue, when shifting to first gear, when I engage the clutch, the clutch fork pivots back and will interfere with the shift rod. With the engine off and not pressing the clutch I can shift the column shifter to all the gears easy. Pressing on the clutch pedal and moving it into 1st the interference prevents the shifting. I had never noticed how close the long shifting rod is to the fork. I also see if I shift into 1st slow enough to see what is happening, it also makes contact with the 2-3rd shifting arm.
Looking down at the transmission, the 1st gear arm on the trans looked like it may have been bent towards the transmission. This would I believe make the interference worse. So, I pulled the transmission out and removed the arm to inspect. It actually looked straight but I bent it alittle away from the trans.
I put it all back together and I see that now there is less interference but not all gone. I know the arms are in the correct location as to the books. one thing that I see is that with the new clutch, the adjustment screw for the fork, is seems that it needs to me not in center of the L shape threaded arm but further down near the end of the thread. I have the the adjuster kind of in the middle and there still is interference.
Not sure what I have to do or what I did incorrectly. Has anyone had similar problem??? I can try to take a picture if that helps.
