quote:

Originally posted by mavman:
stock case powerglide w/ultrabell, and 1.80 BTE carrier assembly, in my door car. Makes roughly 700hp, bracket racing only if it matters. SBF. Had a failure of the flexplate and decided to pull the trans apart & inspect the pump, clutches, etc. All looks great. I will have address the park linkage as park was intermittent. I had done a glide for a friend, then another, and another...well long story short I have some parts leftover, including a thrust bearing (sonnax 56241) that normally is used in a 5R55E. It fits the back of the powerglide pump perfectly. I was using a washer and had about .040 endplay. Out of curiosity, I dropped the pump and shaft in without a washer or bearing and came up with a total endplay of .107. The bearing is .106" thick. When I put a gasket in, .015" thick, it brings the endplay to .015, after compressing the gasket a little. Acceptable?

Next question. I have had talked to someone in the business that mentioned to apply air pressure to the high clutch pack while checking end play, particularly with a thrust bearing. Do y'all do this or?? I never have, but haven't ever used a bearing--always used a washer and sometimes a shim if needed.

quote:

Originally posted by mavman:
Tossed it together as a mockup and then applied high gear with 125 psi. With the clutch applied, end play is .004". That is at room temp, well shop temp of about 90°F.

Years ago I was doing a few T5's for the "mustang crowd". One day I got to thinking about thermal expansion of the aluminum case vs the steel cluster and main shaft assembly. So I threw a cluster into an old case and set up a .001" preload like normal, then tossed the assembly into the oven at 200° for about an hour, to let it all heat soak. When I removed it and then rechecked end play, it was .001", which would have been around 175 degrees by the time I got the dial set up again. So I'd assume based on this that a powerglide's aluminum case is similar and that I'm ok at .004" with the clutch applied.