i turned the crank and when looking through the inspection hole i could see the pressure plate spinning alongside the flywheel....does this mean the splines are in fact aligned and its safe to bolt that tranny back onto the motor?

 

urgency bump

 

Of course the pressure plate is spinning alongside the flywheel, they are bolted together. There are dowels that align the pressure plate so that is not an issue. Clutch alignment has to do with the clutch disc underneath the pressure plate and it's splines. There is nothing to align it (center it) when you bolt the clutch parts on. Once in the car, the input shaft of the trans keeps it centered. But you cannot get the trans into place unless you have the disc centered during installation. They sell plastic tools that simulate an input shaft in order to center the disc as you are bolting down the pressure plate.

Simply put, if you can bolt up the trans without too much difficulty, then it is aligned.

 

update.....took the clutch off and noticed that the small sprung hub within the PP had come undone and was now floating inside the PP. Fixed that situation and when i went to put the PP back on i noticed it was slightly more difficult compared to the first time i put it on. Should it get to a point where i need a rubber mallett to bang the PP onto the dowels?

 

I am not quite sure which parts you are referring to. Sprung hub on the pressure plate? Do the mean the hardware that the release bearing clips onto in the center? If so, they have to be put in correctly or you are going to go through this all over again after you get it back together.

 

turns out i dont have the right clutch. hilarious. ive been slaving away now for 2 weekends trying to figure out what was wrong. Clutch is a Clutchnet EZ Lock-Pro with their race PP .....its for an Evo VII and the engraved dowels in the flywheel DO NOT MATCH. can anyone confirm this?

 

EVO 7 pressure plate will bolt right on since the flywheel and disc is the same... but it won't work. The geometry in the pressure plate is quite a bit different. If you want to show a photo of the pressure plate I can confirm which one it is if you like, or just call Oleg at Clutchnet on Monday. They are good folks who will treat you right.