Pressure Plate Bolt Clearance Options

[aggiezig]

Howdy 914World

I am in the process of reassembling my car and decided to go ahead and mount the clutch and pressure plate to the flywheel. I've only done this a couple of times before on VW beetles, so not a whole bunch of experience here but seems pretty straight forward.

When I mated everything up together, I noticed there was quite a bit of gap between the pressure plate ears and the flywheel mating surface (probably .25" or so). But, I figure this may be normal and the ears cinch up when you go to tighten the PP down.

However, I did run into an issue when snugging everything up. There doesn't appear to be enough clearance around the PP to use regular hex head bolts. IE: the socket can't fit on the bolt head. Also, by the time I got them as far tightened as I could, the heads were at or below the level of the starter ring. Is this normal? Should I be using allen head bolts here for the clearance?

I read on this post about machining clearances out of concern that perhaps my flywheel was machined improperly. On that diagram, my "A" measures 21.60MM which would appear to be out of spec.

Here are some pics of the situation:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-19557-1550037644.1.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-19557-1550037645.2.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-19557-1550037646.3.jpg)

What do you guys think? Is this normal / do I need allen head bolts? Or, is something strange going on here.

[aggiezig]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)
That looks like it's sitting wayyyy too deep.
It should only be inset about the thickness of the washer, maybe a hair more.

That's what I'm afraid of. If that is the case, does that mean my flywheel is toast? Going to be pretty upset if so because the engine builder signed off on it. I knew it had been "lightened" but wouldn't think that would screw up this clearance if done properly.

Are those the OEM bolts ?, look a little large to me. I had to use a fairy thin wall socket but was fine with that. Your clearance looks tighter than mine was.

They are not OEM bolts and that could be part of the issue. These bolts have a 13mm socket head.

I just did my clutch, here is a picture of mine if that helps.

Thanks for the pic, that's helpful. Your bolt heads appear to be sticking out a bit more than mine do.

[Mark Henry]

Are those the OEM bolts ?, look a little large to me. I had to use a fairy thin wall socket but was fine with that. Your clearance looks tighter than mine was.

They are not OEM bolts and that could be part of the issue. These bolts have a 13mm socket head.

I just did my clutch, here is a picture of mine if that helps.

Thanks for the pic, that's helpful. Your bolt heads appear to be sticking out a bit more than mine do.

Stock bolts are M8 with a 13mm head. I'd remove the PP and measure.
If the friction surface is ground too much the clutch disc will hit the flywheel/crank
bolts. You can grind these bolt heads some, but only so far as you still need to get a socket on them.