1969 GS 400 with manual trans. I pulled the shift fork out of the bellhousing to clean and lube it as part of an upgrade to the TKX. I noticed the spring steel tang that hold the rim of the throwout bearing is worn, it's gone in one place. Since this part is replaceable, I am looking for a source for a repro one, or good used one. Or, if that fails, do you think I can keep using my worn one? If I do, will total failure be imminent? Pics attached to show you what I'm talking about, let me know if they don't work. I don't always get pics to go through. Thanks for any help you can give. I wanna get my Buick on the road again, ASAP!
YES! Thank you Paul, I don't know if I'd have ever found that on my own. I spent more than an hour the other day doing internet searches, and came up with nada. Thanks for the help, I owe you one.
You're welcome. Glad to help. I believe Jason Cook or someone posted that here long ago. I've installed one myself and it's held up great.
I look forward to the one I ordered getting here. It's good to know there is a source for these, and I have bookmarked the Vette site. What's weird is that given the price of this spring, sold all by itself, you could theoretically save money by buying an entire shift fork, made (in China) for a Chevy, on Amazon or Ebay for maybe $40 with free shipping. Not much more than this spring costs by itself ($20 plus $10 shipping) and then cannibalize it for the spring and put it on your OEM Buick fork, and re-sell the Chevy fork minus the spring.
My BBB clutch fork had the same problem. I bought a small block fork from TA Performance and robbed it of the spring.
Ah, glad I am not the only one who has had this problem, and I'm glad the robbery solution really was a feasible solution!
Here's a Chevy one for $12 on Amazon. CarID has one for $22. Amazon.com: ATP Automotive ZA-100 Clutch Fork: Automotive
I found those, too, and was tempted to go for it, but I wasn't sure the spring's dimensions would be identical to the BBB one. (They probably are identical, or close enough) The one I ended up getting, from the Corvette guys, is not identical to the original that was on my GS400 when I bought it. The upward bends at both the throwout bearing end and the ball-engagement end are radiused to be at a slightly different angle. But it should work.
I know this is an old post but how did you re-attach the spring, the original one is riveted on. thanks
When I did mine. The new one will come w a rivet and I used a ball peen hammer w a vice and socket to smash rivet.