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Adding pics of the harness and route since it wasn't part of the kit. I also replaced the reverse lockout solenoid, and the VSS since they would be a pain to replace once the trans is back in the car.
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Last edited by Bigfoot928; 05-23-2020 at 02:56 PM.
Ya know, some days you just want to smash a a brick up against your head.
I spent a couple of hours carefully bending the ebrake lines so I could have as much room as possible for my dual 3 inch exhaust. I got that done and was feeling pretty good about myself surveying the work.
I’ve been waiting 3 weeks for my shifter box, and just last week I was thinking to myself, that we are pretty lucky on the 928 front with the vendors we have. The guy told me he had 3 days turn around, and his front bearing housing was pretty nice. I shipped him the shifter box & went ahead and sent the money via paypal. That was 3 weeks ago. Still don’t have it back but on Wednesday I did get a picture of a shipping label. Never mind that I had the tracking number 2 weeks ago from the USPS Informed Delivery website.
Back to today. I’ve been in communication with a guy that bought a 928 that Carl had done a 6 speed conversion on a few years back but not that many miles. When he told me what he found inside the torque tube, it had me worried and I had flashbacks to another thread where a guy bought a 6 speed kit and found the torque tube full of metal shavings. He had reached out to me as he knew I had one of the 6 speed kits, and was curious about the removal and he had a nasty sound coming from the torque tube. He later found that the driveshaft bearings were installed with multiple dents in the bearing seals, and it looked like someone used a punch to install the bearings.
I took a closer look at my torque tube from the front, & the front driveshaft bearing was partially hidden by a snap ring but I could see what looked like a dent in the bearing seal.
I decided to pull the torque tube from the trans, and took a closer look at it.I removed the rear snap ring and carefully removed the driveshaft. I found the toque tube full of metal shavings, so it appears this is an undocumented feature of all 6 speed conversion kits.
I’m glad I looked but cranky about finding all of the metal grit. Another bearing is on the way to replace the dented one, and since I’m still waiting for my shifter box no real time is lost.
The torque tube came as an assembled part and I’m laughing at myself for taping up the holes in the torque tube after removing the attached shifter box. I was worried that “dust” might get in the torque tube. SMH.
I had some issues earlier on with the trans brackets on the drivers side creating a scenario where the trans was tilted and that caused the engine to be tilted as well. I had to buy another set of brackets and Carl seemed to think it was installer error. Now I’m also reworking the 2nd set of brackets to get something more serviceable. One of the down sides to purchasing a low volume kit.
Last edited by Bigfoot928; 05-03-2020 at 09:07 PM.
I wanted to chime in. I’m the “other 6 speed owner”. I purchased the car 2 years ago (1986.5 with the corvette transaxle conversion courtesy of the previous owner and his wallet). I’ve taken to restoring the car (only 39,000 mile but other than oil changes and must have Items...no scheduled or necessary maintenance on the car). I did the TB/WP..then top end refresh and was excited to have a sorted 928 for the summer. I followed the WSM and several guides and felt something wrong with the car. I assumed it was a vacuum leak. I chased that with smoke....pulling the intake to recheck my new vac lines...nothing. Then driving the car for a PCA event I noticed this.
TT bearing? Throw out bearing? I wasn’t sure. Basically quit driving the car until I could figure it out. Fast forward to COVIC19 break...and I researched TT corvette issues...and narrowed it down to the Bearings. The bad part is it takes about 12 hours to get to the parts to inspect. Here is what I found:
The bearing made it 1500 miles (approx what the PO and I combined have driven the car). The seal was damaged on install, so a carelessly installed $59 bearing has created a massive project to find and repair it. This was a $thousands$ kit installed by the maker for the PO. Emails and a request to discuss over the phone resulted in a frustrating email chain that ended with my last set of questions and responses to his with a “understood” one word response. No return calls. That said...the mod is great considering I didn’t have to pay the price of admission, but I’d suggest you go in with open eyes and a high level of mechanical ability or deep pockets. I never asked for anything from the supplier other than advice on his creation since there is no WSM for this hybrid. Thankfully I was pointed to Sterling and have the equipment and tools to tackle the job. Look at the pic below 10 and 12 o’clock. Those tiny dents have resulted in weeks worth of nights in the garage and waiting for parts. The good news is I’m about through sorting the rear end of the 928 and have Dealt with some other suspect installation issues And inspected every single part. The kit works...I would suggest you install it. Caveat emptor ....
Wow, 3 of us.
Same here. I drove my car home to Canada after Carl was finished with it in Wisconsin. No issues at all.
3 weeks later and about the same as above 1500 to 2000K and the noises started.
I had the tranny stripped 2 times, chasnged the new Pilot Bearings that Carl had installed, changed the arm, and most everything.
No solution. Finally I took it to a Corvette specialist in the area and he believed the TT or Tranny were at fault. The Tranny proved to be OK
and so the TT had to be rebuilt. Two of the three bearings were shot.
Another mod the Corvette guys are changing (I joined their forum) is the solenoid you just installed.
They open it and cut out 2 of the springs. In case of a failure of that solenoid (due to its location) at least you could at least muscle
the tranny into reverse gear.
Thank you for your posts. As the Corvette torque tube and driveshafts are shipped to us used, and have to either be shortened (if 928 engine is used) or lengthened (if LS1 engine is used) we do disassemble them before we make any mods to them. If the TT is to be shortened, we do that in-house. If the TT is to be lengthened, we ship them out to RPM transmissions who does that for us. They lengthen the driveshaft too.
I have no explanation for a bearing with a dent in the side shield - that's just wrong. Mechanic slip-up.
I can explain the small aluminum shavings you found inside the TTube, this comes from drilling and taping the mounts to set the 928 shifter on the TTube. This is supposed to be done BEFORE the driveshaft is installed, and it appears in your case it was not. If its any consolation, that mechanic is no longer working here. But ultimately, it's on me - I was his supervisor and apparently did not check his work as carefully as I should have.
2 failed torque tubes and an additional 3rd one found in a state that would have failed. and all 3 of them full of metal shavings. Did that one guy have other jobs we should be aware of?
o it seemed that none of the shifter boxes were mounted before assembly, & mine was mounted in the wrong place. (must have been that guy) I'm surprised he didn't drill into the driveshaft since I opted for the 3.5" heavy duty one.
Yes the parts are shipped to you used, but when you sell a kit and handle the parts cleaning the inside before assembly should have been done. It should have also included looking over the shifter box since you modified it. Mine was completely shot, not your fault but I should have been notified, so I could have gotten a new one.
The list of problems with this "kit" are long and detailed. not just by me. You should have included an outrigger for the drivers side brackets like there is on the passenger side. I'm on my 3rd set of brackets trying to get it aligned properly. I'll make my own outrigger. additionally, no information about wiring or connectors.
Originally I was fairly impressed with the "kit". not anymore after futzing around with it for years. and you should use Allen bolts on the Drivers side brackets, as well as made a cutout in one of the brackets so the bolts are accessible. The whole center section is off, and will have to be cut up and re-welded since it hits the diff.
I'm not sure how you could possibly make it right. A size-able refund for selling me a defective "kit"?
I own the issue of the metal shavings in the torque tube. That's on me. And I can only think that the dent in the bearing shield happened during our assembly also.
I have already taken (this morning) steps to make sure that this does not happen again. The torque tubes will be drilled and tapped for the shifter box while empty, then cleaned of shavings and assembled.
Let me do this: I will put a $100 credit on account to anyone who can document that they have found aluminum shavings within their torque tube from us. A photograph is all I need. I need your name to apply the credit to your account here. We do not track Rennlist handles, so I do not necessarily know who you are just by your Rennlist name. Please just send me an email to carl@928motorsports.com with the aforementioned photo, and I will see to it that the credit gets put into your account.
My sincere apologies. We get better, always better.
Carl,
I'm glad to see you take ownership but $100 credit is a joke right? The 3 bearings in the driveshaft cost more than that. The front bearing that found was rated for up to 5000 RPM. I have not looked at the rear bearings yet to see what the specs are.
Last edited by Bigfoot928; 05-04-2020 at 01:56 PM.
That yellow part is not part of Carl's kit. at least it wasn't included in mine.
no slinger here either...perhaps there is a reason? I’ll have to look at the diagrams but does that go in or outside of the TT?
(edited: I didn’t see the exploded diagram...ordering now...thanks for the heads up)
04-26-2020, 09:10 PM
