Pilot bushing depth

[turbohunter]

Hi y’all.
About to install clutch in the mustang. I just installed the pilot bushing and it’s about .045 proud of the crank flange.
I don’t remember it being proud of the flange and I really don’t want to beat on it to seat it.
It’s a Dorman bushing .500 thick.
Anybody have a memory of this?
Edit
Oh the crank is a 1U

[drdano]

I recall mine sat level or just proud when I had my disaster happen.  If you can, mount up everything but the clutch and fork and check through the bellhousing fork window and see what clearance you have with the spines on the input shaft.  A half hour could save your motor.

[turbohunter]

Thanks, that’s my plan.

[turbohunter]

Ok took the flywheel off and mounted the bell housing.
Measured from bushing surface to face of bell/tranny, then measured from face of tranny up the input shaft. I have .225 clearance to the spline bump. Subtract.045 and I get .180 clearance. Should be fine.

[turbohunter]

Woke up this morning with that feeling of “what if I measured wrong”.
Mocked the whole thing up. Plenty of room.
Better to know for sure.
For those that may have the same deal in the future, here’s a pic.

[drdano]

Excellent.  I’d also double check the length of those flywheel bolts to make sure they are not going to hit the back of the block.   Ask me know I know....

[turbohunter]

Lol
I’ve done that before myself.

[6667fan]

I’m all in on this as I had a thrust bearing wear problem last year on my 482. Not certain of the cause but what is being mentioned here is good info.

Thanks,
JB

[Dan859]

I had the same problem.  I had my Comet built while I was overseas.  The car has a TKO transmission and a Quicktime bellhousing.  The builder didn't check the input shaft length vs. the depth of the bellhousing; the shaft was too long for the bellhousing.  I came home, got the car shipped up to me, and started driving it.  It only took a couple days to totally trash the crankshaft.   

[TomP]

Are those flywheel bolts going to clear the clutch disc? Better check. Hold the disc against the flywheel and try to turn it.

[turbohunter]

I installed the clutch yesterday Tom. Didn’t feel any problems when I put the disc up there.
I think the close proximity of the lense to those bolts make them look huge.
I’ll pop a feeler gauge in there though now that you’ve got me thinking about it.

[turbohunter]

No prob, lots of room.

[cammerfe]

Pushing the crank forward due to a 'too-long' input shaft has been known to cause some sort of clearance problem such that there is difficulty with the 2-6 crank throw. I don't understand it but I had it happen on an FE engine I had on a dyno. The dyno's drive spud was small-block length and caused a catastrophic failure in the 2-6 location. I mentioned it to Jim Dove and he described the mess before I had a chance to tell him all the particulars. He'd had the same thing happen and found the over-long drive spud. Why it causes failure on the 2-6 and not at the thrust bearing is still a puzzle. My engine lasted about a half hour before coming apart. Broke both cylinders and windowed the block on both sides.

KS

[turbohunter]

Seems that you can’t measure enough at this interface.