Wrenchbender George,
Well, the throw out bearing was definately shot!! AND, it left a thick gunky coating of grease inside and outside of the clutch pressure plate housing assembly. I bought a new T.O. bearing. I've also disassembled the pressure plate from the housing for cleaning of all the parts of grease and discovered that the "O" markings on both the pressure plate and housing didn't line up!! Someone had assembled it incorrectly! Of coarse, the old clutch disc is also coated with a light film of grease. I'm surprised it wasn't chattering severely. It really could still be used but I'm installing a new one.
Also, as I look up into the inside of the bell housing it too is all greasey. Gotta clean up that mess! Both the flywheel and pressure plate working surfaces are in very good condition. That I'm pleased about!
I'll be cleaning out as much grease as I can and then reinstall the clutch with the aid of that tool you send me!
Oh, I didn't see any signs of broken springs anywhere. And the tranny front bearing retainer is in excellent condition.
In the end I think my biggest problem was that T.O. bearing!! Why it wasn't replaced in '95 I'll never know. I just hope the new one lasts a long time. The second biggest problem was leaking tranny seals which left a coating of oil all over everything near it.
With any luck I should be good to go for a long time now! Don't know if I can put 50-75,000 miles on "Lucille". Time is running out unless I take her on one hell of a road trip!!!
