z28monster

iTrader: (1)

hey guys i have what looks like everything i will need to do the auto to T5 swap in my 86 roc.....

well any way i have the whole clutch/brake petal assembly..... well i think i do..... are there suposed to be springs behind the petals to return them? i herd something about springs to make them return but my petal assembly doesnt have any springs on it at all and i can move both petals freely back and forth...

nuthing is hooked up or anything at all and the auto isnt even out yet im just trying to make sure i have everything to do the swap first.... i dont want to get 3/4 done and forget something.......as of now uther then the spring deal all i need is a 86 or older fly wheel for the T5 swap and im set..... i have already bought a brand new clutch for it because the tranny didnt come with one.... looks liek the guy that got all the stuff was to lazy to unbolt the fly wheel from the engine he got it off of..

also if you were wondering its "borge warner" tranny that i have...

TKOPerformance

The brake pedal and the clutch are both hydraulic, so they return on their own. No springs. Make sure you got the complete hydraulic assmbly, master cylinder bracket, pushrod u-bolt, and all the other related hardware.

RB83L69

No springs.

Make sure you have the 2 little brackets (sort of like rods, actually) that connect between the ends of the pivot bolt, and the U-bolt thingy that holds in the clutch master cyl.

rbjones

I bet your 305 lives forever. This might be a good time to get a factory lightweight flywheel.

z28monster

iTrader: (1)

i do indeed have all the other hardware needed then to do the swap other then the fly wheel.....

how much better is a light weight fly wheel over a stock style one??? if it is a big difference i will invest in the light weight one then.... but i dont want to shell out an extra 200 bucks for no reason.....

get back to me....

rbjones

OK--a light flywheel gives your car much better throttle response and you can get a factory GM one for about as much as you'd pay for a stock new one, maybe $150--$250.
A stock one will weigh maybe 35-36 lbs. and is designed for Mom to be able to dump the clutch at idle and the motor will keep running, store enogh energy to jerk her off the line instead of killing it embarrassingly at intersections. A light flywheel, maybe 15-16 lbs., doesn't need to be nursed off the line but doesn't take so much power to get spinning, putting that power right to your wheels. Early Z-28's came with them, as did Corvettes and other performance Chevies over the years and they are still available through GM parts. I bought mine from Scoggin-Dickey last August over the counter for about $150, bolted it to my two-piece mainseal '82 305 and have been playing with it ever since.
You can also pay big bucks for a steel-faced aluminum one that weighs the same and performs the same from an aftermarket company but, if you're not going for higher classes of sanctioned racing, you just don't need to spend that money; and difference in responsiveness on the street is incredible. My dud of a stock, low compression 305 is fun to play with and sounds great largely due to the light flywheel and, someday when I put in a serious motor, that same flywheel will go on it, making it a "highly responsive" power unit. I've read on this site that GM has pretty much the same flywheels for one-piece rear main engines, too, in the same price range.

z28monster

iTrader: (1)

being my engine is an 86 lb9... do i need to order one for a 2 piece rear main seal or 1 piece rear main seal....?

and if this info is right wich i believe it is i will def be buying a lighter fly wheel then if they are priced about the same any way....

TKOPerformance

Should definately be a 2-piece RMS engine.

rbjones

TKOPerformance--yes, we definitely lost some posts when the site went down. I was saying something about light flywheels being worth turning the idle up for the sake of control when the lights went out.

LB9_IROCZ28

Mine is 1 piece. My block is stock, but I may have a "later" block, as mine has the spider mounts in the lifter valley for a roller cam and the bolt holes under the timing chain cover for a roller cam retainer. Just my experience though....

Anyway, I've seen that some of the aftermarket flywheels are capable of being used on both 1 piece and 2 piece RMS engines. I do believe that the counterweight for external balancing being the only difference.

rbjones

Interesting. Our local high school auto shop teacher likes those transitional blocks, about '86-'87, 1-piece rms and roller cam but still use a mechanical fuel pump. You can build them any way you want and they don't leak. All my stuff is old-style, 2-piece rms so I don't get things mixed up--but he says the 1-piece is definitely an improvement.

TKOPerformance

'86 was a transitions year, so some blocks will be 2-piece and some 1-piece. The 1-piece blocks should have the bosses for the valley spider, even if they aren't drilled & tapped. Nothing is aboslute though. I've got an '88 truck block that is a 1-piece RMS with no provisions for a roller cam. Plants just used up what they had in stock and then phased the new stuff in. Some used both styles on the same line at the same time depending on what they had in stock. Checking is the only way to be sure.

If someone is trying to sell flywheels that are "univeral" I would stay away, stay far far away. The fact is that this is impossible to accomplish correctly. The two engines use a different bolt pattern due to the different crank flange. I've heard of people re-drilling 2-piece flywheels for the one-piece pattern and then having the old holes welded shut and the flywheel heat relieved, which should work, but that's a lot of expense and effort when you can just buy one off the shelf for either engine.

The 1-piece RMS is a definite improvement. Seals have come a long way from the original rope seals used 40-50 years ago. The two-piece was an improvement over them because it was madce from a better material. The 1-piece is an improvement becuase it has no seams to leak.

jmd

iTrader: (4)

No, 1986 blocks are one piece rear main seal and are not setup for the roller lifter spider.

No 1988 trucks had roller cams. If it's an 88 block, it just needs the valley bosses drilled & tapped.

TKOPerformance

If I had the motor out of the truck I'd take a picture. Trust me it's an '88 350 block from a truck. It's got a 1-piece RMS and in the valley were two bosses, not the three you need to make a roller cam work. I initially went out and bought all the stock roller cam hardware because I figured it was a slam dunk. When I found out none of it would work I ended up using link bar lifters and a front cam stop that I fabricated.

I also had a Camaro run through my shop that was an '86 car with low miles. I highly doubt that the motor had been replaced, unless it was done under the original factory warranty. The car had an intake leak, and when I pulled the intake to replace the gaskets guess what I found? Three bosses in the lifter valley, all untapped.

Stranger things have happened. The only way to be 100% sure is to visually verify it. Just going by year leaves way too much to chance. This goes for gear ratios, axel spline count, and anything else that might be one thing or another. Don't take chances, because you will invariably be worng and have to send back one part for another.