66 327 pilot bushing problems

[William C.]

Re: 66 327 pilot bushing problems

Original pilot bushings were bronze bushing although rather thick in the wall area. It sounds like your pilot hole in the crank is not designed for the standard pilot bushing.

[Peter L.]

Re: 66 327 pilot bushing problems

Bill,
From what I read of the previous posts, it is a standard hole, possibly for an auto trans. Others have said they had the exact same hole that I did. And, there is a Dorman bushing that is exactly the correct size for the hole and trans shaft, which leads me to beloeve that is a correct hole, just not for the bearing that goes with a 4 speed trans. I will wait until someone gets back to me with their experience using the bushing instead of the bearing with a 4 speed.
Thanks,
Pete

[Peter L.]

Re: 66 327 pilot bushing problems

Greg,
Did you mate your engine to a 4 speed trans? I am doing the esame thing, and was wondering about the life of the bearing when used with the 4 speed. What is your experience since you installed it?
Thanks,
Pete Loscalzo

[Joe L.]

Re: 66 327 pilot bushing problems

Bill,
From what I read of the previous posts, it is a standard hole, possibly for an auto trans. Others have said they had the exact same hole that I did. And, there is a Dorman bushing that is exactly the correct size for the hole and trans shaft, which leads me to beloeve that is a correct hole, just not for the bearing that goes with a 4 speed trans. I will wait until someone gets back to me with their experience using the bushing instead of the bearing with a 4 speed.
Thanks,
Pete

Pete----

I recommend using the bronze bushing rather than the needle bearing piece. The bronze bushing is going to last you a lot longer than you're ever going to need it.

[John H.]

Re: 66 327 pilot bushing problems

Does anyyone have experience with using the bronze bushing with a 4 speed manual transmission?

Peter -

Don't agonize over the Oilite bronze pilot bushing - I've had umpteen 4-speed Corvettes over the last 50 years with bronze pilot bushings, and have never had one fail; just make sure your bushing doesn't attract a magnet before you install it - there are cheap Chinese bushings out there now with iron in them, and they'll be trouble. A worn bronze pilot bushing won't tear up the hardened end of your input shaft, but a failed needle roller bearing will.

[Peter L.]

Re: 66 327 pilot bushing problems

Guys,
Thanks for the advise. I got a bearing and am going to install it today. One stupid question. Once installed, should I grease it in any way when I install the trans shaft into it, or should I leave it dry?
Thanks again for the help.

[Joe L.]

Re: 66 327 pilot bushing problems

Guys,
Thanks for the advise. I got a bearing and am going to install it today. One stupid question. Once installed, should I grease it in any way when I install the trans shaft into it, or should I leave it dry?
Thanks again for the help.

Peter-----


I coat the bushing with a few drops of light machine oil.

[Peter L.]

Re: 66 327 pilot bushing problems

John,
I got a Dorman bushing, and the magnet stcuk to it, indicating there was iron in it. I contacted Dorman, and they told me that their standard bushing, specifically for this application (changing an auto to manual trans, for Chevy's, thru BB engines) is a 60% iron, 40% bronze material, and that is their standard. They also stated that is was oil impregnated, so it could be assembled dry. So having iron in the bushing, seems to be an accceptable appraoch. If you'd like, I can forward you the email I recieved stating this. Have you seen bushings that don't have iron content?
Thanks,
Pete

[Joe L.]

Re: 66 327 pilot bushing problems

John,
I got a Dorman bushing, and the magnet stcuk to it, indicating there was iron in it. I contacted Dorman, and they told me that their standard bushing, specifically for this application (changing an auto to manual trans, for Chevy's, thru BB engines) is a 60% iron, 40% bronze material, and that is their standard. They also stated that is was oil impregnated, so it could be assembled dry. So having iron in the bushing, seems to be an accceptable appraoch. If you'd like, I can forward you the email I recieved stating this. Have you seen bushings that don't have iron content?
Thanks,
Pete

Pete-----

The Federal-Mogul bushing in the attached photos has no magnetic attraction whatsoever. However, this is the "standard size" bushing. I don't know if Federal-Mogul makes a bushing of the size you require or, if they do, if that bushing has iron content.

DSCN2793.jpgDSCN2794.jpg

[Tom D.]

Re: 66 327 pilot bushing problems

Ten or so years ago, I wrote an article about this. Greg probably has a turboglide crank. I have the dorman "adapters' around here somewhere. Part numbers and sizes (o.d.) were in the article. I will see if I can find it.