I had a disconnect between my brain and fingers in the post above and said the opposite. Yes, I believe spacing the transmission even more would help on vehicles that need it. The concern that I would have though is the effect on the transmission input shaft, starter alignment, and axle fitment. I don't know what strain it would put on these parts being close to a 1/4" of movement. I believe it is still easier to have Quarter Master machine down the bearing. Ultimately, if this is a crankshaft problem, it would be best to solve it there. It's just not worthwhile for me to purchase several crankshafts to prove it. It would be nice if one of the shops would help.

 

While I can't imagine that much change being detrimental to axle alignment, and as long as you cut out the section of spacer around the starter, that shouldn't be a problem, but with the quartermaster's reputation for wiping out input shafts, that idea sounds like a bad one.

 

So I did some measuring on a 2.0L Evo IX motor. 0.631 from crank to bare block. the plate that goes between motor and trans is .060 thick. So with the plate installed you are looking at 0.571 +-0.005

How much did QM say they took off the bearing??

 

THUB, That was the older design. This will not happen with the newer design. My only complaint with the older one was the longevity of the clutch and how harsh it was from a stop.

 

I currently have the old school design

 

Has anyone been running this clutch long enough to tell if it seems to last any longer than the old style?

 

Well, back to the drawing board. While the machining on the backside of the bearing housing reduced the thickness, the center portion of the bearing is being pushed out when tightened. There is a raised lip on the transmission where input shaft seal sits, and it is pushing the bearing out.

I just now measured the transmission spacer plate to the tail end of the crankshaft and found .593. Does anyone have their measurement for the clutch height on the quartermaster?

 

Am I going to have to replace a input shaft after using this clutch. I'm replacing already due to another shops negligence

 

i think you need to machine the center of the bearing, not the housing.

 

The bearing will only go in so far so they would both need to be machined to meet this amount. After finally getting the time today to do some troubleshooting, I'm coming to a realization that my release bearing may have gotten stuck out. I've got a few more measurements and conversations to do tomorrow. I measured today and things are looking much better than they were. I've been working a turnaround for the last 6 weeks, so I'm having to review my notes to remember what was going on.

 

i just pulled mine out of the box and you are correct, its different than i thought it was. either way, keep us updated!

 

Wow... Craziness... this is not a good problem...

 

How much did QM machine off the bearing??

 

For me. The HTO bearing housing was not the problem. The issue was with the center slider Piece that was getting pushed up by the input shaft bearing ridge. First time I did my measurements I got 0" of clearance then unconfirmed it by installing the trans on the engine and spun the crank and the throw out bearing was spinning as well. I machined .230" of the center piece. I was aiming for .200" but over did it a tad. But anyways I ended up with .148" of TOB to clutch finger distance. Look up my thread under my name.

 

***UPDATE***

After lots of measuring and discussing with other members, it appears that the Manley crank is fine. The measurements seem to be right on with the stock crank.

Some of you may have already noticed, but the measurement calculations included with the QM clutch were backwards. The instructions say to measure the clutch from the block (actually the transmission spacer plate) to the fingers, then subtract the release bearing depth. This is backwards! You need to measure the release bearing depth, then subtract the clutch measurements.

Even still, my original bearing was touching the clutch fingers without using any shims. Quarter Master sent me a new bearing (my original one was machined down too much) and now my clearance looks to be perfect. I even had to add a small shim (1/32" black shim) to set my initial clearance at .156. My transmission is back in the car and I can visually see clearance from the clutch fingers. I am waiting on a radiator and a base map to get my car running again. Hopefully, I will be able to confirm that everything is normal in a couple weeks!