It's been awhile since I've been on here! Y'all are always a ton of help so here we go!

Ok so I have a 460 and T18 in my truck. I built the motor 5 years ago and just started it for the first time the other day and got it rolling down the road. The motor is rebuilt along with the T18 and all the clutch parts/components.

Here's the problem I'm having. The slave master cylinder and slave itself are new. When I adjust the clutch pedal rod under my dash, I can peek in the bottom of my bellhousing and see the throw out bearing spinning! If I grab the clutch fork and squeeze it pretty hard and depress the slave the throwout bearing stops spinning. I've been reading and some guys say this is normal for it to spin, some say it's not. As I see it, it's only to be used to engage and disengage then relax. Not go 2000rpms or more going down the road and wear prematurely. Should I get a clutch fork return spring like for a non-hydraulic cable style clutch? Or should I leave it alone?? I took the rod allowed more slack and the throwout is still spinning anyway. I did not notice the throwout bearing spinning till after I adjusted it to shift into gear better. Now even though I have a hard time screwing around getting it in gear it's still spinning. So I gotta get it back shifting normal since it spins either way and decide what to do in terms of leaving it alone, add a fork return spring or get a solution from you guys.

Also....my damn rope seal is leaking on my rear main cause it sat so long before I got it running. Gotta yank the pan and change it. Any suggestions on a good rope seal that won't leak or any solutions?

Thanks so much!!! -Jon

 

Can't help with the clutch, but here's 7 pages' worth of tears and gnashing of teeth describing the process of dropping the oil pan on a 460 without pulling the engine:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...on-pulled.html

Not exactly recommended with the 460.

Here's my experience with a 351W, not nearly as bad. Some of my suggestions would also apply to the 460 if we can't talk you out of it:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...y-84-351w.html

 

It's that bad to do the rear main in the truck huh? Damn....I did it with the motor upside down on the engine stand when I built it. Too bad it's leaking, I might suck it up and deal with it awhile I suppose lol thanks for the info!

 

The throw-out bearings on the hydraulic clutches do rest against the clutch and spin at all times. That's the way it's designed.

 

X2

it's much easier on the bearing to be a near constant velocity that to accelerate from 0 to 3,000 rpm's every time you shift.

 

Thanks for the info! I feel better about it!

One last thing, I got the clutch pedal rod all adjusted today and still is sticky going from neutral to 2nd which is basically my first gear since 1st is granny. I gotta go in granny gear first then it pops in 2nd all while sitting still. New clutch and rebuilt tranny. I keep being told the synchros need to break in and what not. Any tips or thoughts on that?

 

Do you *really* have a T-18 in your truck?
Because only T-19's were put behind 460's (that I know of) and a T-18 has *non* synchronized 1st gear, where the T-19 *is* synchronized.

 

t19's where behind diesels and 460's.

You will have to wait a couple of seconds before it will go in gear if the tranny has been sitting there spinning with the clutch released. Cold oil will make you have to wait longer. A fast idle will make you wait longer.

If you keep waiting and trying and it never really wants to go in, try reverse. If it keeps grinding and grinding, you have a clutch problem.

 

My T-19 was a very durable gearbox (and being a 4x4, already had the 6.32:1 first gear) but never liked to be hurried.
They do have synchro first, and unlike the T-18 don't need to be double clutched going down into 1st.

 

It's a T18. I had my tranny guy rebuild it that works for me at the shop my father and I own. It was on my 351W and years ago and I got the advise from Franklin2 how to do the swap when I was 19.
I got a T19 from my buddy with a 460 bellhousing and put it on my T18. Here I am six years later, 25 years old just now finishing the project. I had a kid, bought a house and all that so it got put on the back burner. I wanted the straight cut granny gear with my 460 just because I'm an *** and like the super low 1st. I don't have hills here and won't be shifting into 1st so a synchronized first gear isn't needed here really. I've got a Dana 70U going in the rear and 1979 Dana 60 going in the front, f350 rear springs with tow truck helper springs, 37" BFG hummer tires, 16.5 aluminum Mickey thompsons, 4" lift. I'm building it pretty stout. Getting painted next month too. Feels great to be driving it again. Nothing beats it.

Franklin2 one last question I hope you can answer. My 460 block is 1985 and my heads are 71 with a mild cam, like an RV cam. What degree should I set my timing at?

 

I've also got two original Ford fenders that are from Ford, New, never put on that my dad bought in 1999 when my father owned the truck.

 

I am not up on the 460's much. Straight up at zero would be my un-educated guess. Someone else may know better or you could ask down in the 460 forum on this board.

P.S. I thought you maybe talking about the cam timing? If you are talking about the base distributor timing, it depends on what dist you are running. If you are running a stock DSII, I would start at 10 BTDC, with the vacuum advance line off and plugged. Then keep giving it timing till it pings on a hard pull on a hill when it's warmed up. You may be able to go way up to 12-14 BTDC before it starts cranking over hard.

After that, I would get a adjustable vacuum advance unit and slowly start bringing it in till you get pinging, and then back it off a little bit.

The advanced static timing will give you a nice power boost at tip-in and part throttle.

 

Ive had a couple of 'rv' cams in my 460.
Summit 3500 & 3501

I actually like the stock cam set 'straight up' better than either of these.
It doesn't run out of steam.

I wouldn't look to advance any of these three.
Using a stock replacement timing set for an '88--> EFI engine gets you a straight up double roller timing set for less $ than many aftermarket "performance" sets.

 

EDIT: this is for dist. timing and what I thought the OP was talking about but you guys could be right on the cam deal.


For timing you cant say "set to this" as each motor even if built the same way & parts, would need different settings

Also know timing is a 3 step deal:
1- base, what you set at idle vacuum removed and plugged.
2- centrifugal, what the timing is at say 2500 rpm. Take this reading subtract the base and you have centrifugal timing.
3- vacuum advance, hook up vacuum bring the rpm up to say 2500 rpm that is vacuum advance timing. Take that reading subtract base timing and centrifugal timing and this it vacuum advance timing.
Total timing is all of that tighter at say 2500. Most v8 motors like 34 to 38 total timing but again some like more and others less you have to play around to see what your motor likes.


As a starting point start with stock settings and play doing 1 change at a time making notes as you go of what works and does not.
Dave ----

 

Jeg's has a pdf of the instructions for the Crane 99607-1 adjustable vacuum advance on their website.

If you don't have egr connected you might want a mechanical advance plate with a narrower slot or to bush the stop pin.
A lot of these emission era distributors have huge slots like 18 & 21L (36 & 42 degrees of *mechanical* advance)
You can't really add a lot of vacuum to that, and it makes it sluggish.