'66 Cj5 Tux Resto-mod

I’ll look into that, thanks.

@Fireball or @timsresort what would you guys recommend as the best supplier for the clutch fork and throw out bearing? Obviously the one I have on there from Kaiser Willys sucks.

I could clean up the old fork which looks to not be in terrible shape, and put on a new throw out bearing? Or is it better to start fresh with a high-quality assembly

 

I would be inclined to use the original fork if there is nothing wrong with it. It's likely higher quality than any reproduction part and I imagine there is only one supplier for reproduction parts.

Inspect the old one carefully. If it has issues, there is a decent looking original on ebay right now: https://www.ebay.com/itm/154858735979

 

I'll take a good look at it tonight. I suspect it can be re-used once cleaned. The "tangs" that hold onto the "mushroom" look like they are much narrower and will hold tighter.

I found this SKF bearing on RockAuto that looks like a good one: https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=1836112&cc=1381227&pt=1968&jsn=1

Any advice to get the old throwout bearing out of the old fork, and put the new one in? Is this easy to do? Any tricks?

Also - trying to do this surgery in my head so I am as ready as I can be. Do I really need to take the entire transmission assembly out, or will it be possible to slide it rearward and down enough to get the input shaft out of the engine to slide the t/o bearing and clutch fork off the shaft and slide the new one in, and replace the new fork out the LF bellhousing window?

 

I just did this a year ago and it seems like I remember that the fork will not fit through the Trans side if the bell housing.
Do I recall that your exhaust has flanges, so you can remove the “center” section? If so, maybe you can roll all 3 pcs backwards on a trans jack to work through the front of the bell housing, but it would be tight.

Also, my clutch fork was wasted. I believe I got my replacement from Novak. Maybe it will be in my receipt file. I’ll check when I get home.

 

I will be able to remove the exhaust from the Y-Pipe and drop it down out of the way.

The fork will not fit through the port on the LH side...interesting idea regarding keeping the BH on the transmission and unbolting from the block....will have to think about that option.

 

Coming out wont matter, but if you can have the bearing on the fork and on the trans bearing retainer all in the BH going in, that would be nice!

 

this is how I do mine
no chance of knocking throw out bearing off fork or ball stud
no need to remove Y pipe . but you do need to remove transmission top

 

Well yeah! That's how I had it going in...with no body on of course.

 

Will I have enough aft movement to clear the input shaft from the engine block?

 

yep . I also took some 4" bolts and cut off heads for alignment studs , which helps alot putting it back in with bell housing on transmission

 

Grant, I just went out and looked, I have 2 good originals that came out of jeeps I did hydro on. If you want one, it's yours.

 

I’d be glad to have whichever one you think is better of the two…I took a closer look at my original and it’s pretty badly worn at the top:

 

PM me your address

 

Yeah, that's shot. Looks like bearing seized and spun in it somewhere along the way.

 

This is what makes this forum great.

 

god damn dude. that looks GOOOOOOOOOOOOD

 

There is something else going on in there? There should not be anything inside the housing that rotates enough to wear the end of the clutch fork. You need to pull the bell off as well and have a good look.

 

What would I look at?

That’s the old clutch fork that was on there from at least 2008-2018 (perhaps as far bas as the 1990s)….there was no return spring on the old clutch fork, and the cross-shaft linkage was very badly worn and loose.

When I rebuilt it I installed:

• New clutch fork (about to do that again but with an OEM one from Tim not Chinese crap Crown/Omix)
• New throwout bearing
• New main shaft output bearing in the transmission housing
• New pressure plate
• New clutch
• Resurfaced and balanced old flywheel
• Advance Adapters chain clutch.

 

Oh thanks! It actually drives great now too....but who knows how long until the loose clutch fork comes off the pivot mushroom and I don't want that happening in the woods somewhere.

 

This is what caused the old fork to wear out. The return spring is there to pull the fork back and get the release bearing off of the clutch fingers. When this doesn't happen the release bearing housing can spin in side the fork and wear into it.
You can put a little tack weld on the release bearing collar so that it does not spin in the fork.