Thanks man, I appreciate that. I considered replacing the clutch with the newer version but if it works properly I'll run it. I've never had one apart and just by looking at it I don't think I want to...lol.
It looks like theres some life left on that clutch. You gotta watch the "shoes". They wear more on the inside than outside so they look like they have more wear than they really do.
Thanks for the tip Mike. I had frozen the crank because I planned in installing the bearings in the case first and I wanted the crank to seat with minimal effort. Just don't like pushing hard on cranks, my over paranoid brain. But I won't be freezing anything next time.
1st class all the way brother, cannot thank you enough. I'll build my other set of cases eventually and use it as a "beater" to learn how to port a 288. Gonna be a while though.
At that temperature bearings fall in and if the bearings are on the crank or metal cage you can warm them up with the case half. No pulling at all. Just push together by hand
The only pushing I had to do was getting the bearings fully seated on the crank but they took minimal pressure because I heated the inner race first. I used propane to heat the cases, kept the flame moving all over and the bearings fully seated by hand as you described. Do you use an oven to heat the cases or do you have a pyrometer to verify you're up to your desired temp?
I definitely will brother. Probably gonna be a while before my next rebuild because I'm gonna be having too much fun running my 288
. I think my next project will be a 346 or 359 for my oldest. He's got the fever after running my 357
