[Larger Dave]

So my questions:
1- rear end- stick with the 8.2 I have and freshen it up or bite the bullet and go over my budget to get the 12 bolt and be done with it. Or would it be better to go with like a new 9” over the 12 bolt I’ll probably have to put new seals and bearings in anyways.

2- flywheel - would a 152 tooth aluminum be ok to run? This is the first time setting up a manual car so I’m learning.

3- clutch - I have my eye on the McLeod street extreme. It’s about what I wanted to pay for a clutch. 340 at jegs. Any reason not to go with it? Something better out there in that price range?

4- where is a good place to educate myself on all the linkage and everything that goes between engine and trans? I want to be sure I don’t miss something when it all goes together.

5- trans- rebuild kits? Is there one that stands apart from the rest and far as quality/performance? Or one that people seem to prefer?

Let me preface what I am about to recommend is based upon the displacement of your engine. A 383 is a big block (Ford called their first side oiler that grew up to be a 427 a big block, and it started out at 352 cubes). You have to replace your SBC parts with BBC parts if you want RELIABILITY. Every thing you have now will last if you never enjoy your new motor by putting your foot in it. But I doubt that is why you built this motor, is it?

1.) Your rear end is clunking most likely because you have a bad U-joint. If the U-joint is fine replace the rear end immediately as it is about to break.

By the way horsepower never broke anything (can wear out parts but not break them). Your engine's torque is what breaks parts.

An 8.2 inch ten bolt can last forever, or you will break it the first time you side step the clutch depending upon the amount of traction you get. Your tires slipping is the weak link not the strength of the gears. On a well prepared track, with 10.5 slicks, I can break a ten bolt with a little 283. All I have to do is to side step the clutch at ten grand. If you want an unbreakable rear end without the excessive parasitic drag of a nine inch design buy a Dana 60. It is the same price as a twelve bolt rear. It is what I use in all of my builds.

2.) Flywheel. Once again think BBC, not SBC. The 152 flywheel is for a ten and a half inch clutch disc. The BBC uses a 168 tooth flywheel (with a high torque starter that matches the tooth count) that is designed to fit an eleven inch clutch disc. Bigger is better on clutches.

3.) I love McLeod products. I have used them in the past. But then again I have also used Zoom, and Schiefer clutches as well, without a complaint.

4.) Head bone connected to the neck bone, da ... To find out how things go together look in the Assembly manual for your make and model of Chevy.

https://www.themotorbookstore.com/1...RCTARIsAE2_EvVpY0uCCcwyIJ9m2d7EKW_97XrfLKqzlu3wDNvcxujQnZPc10hOKtAaAuooEALw_wcB

5.) You can rebuild a manual transmission. I have done it a number of times. But you will need more than parts to do it. You will need at least a shop press (I had a fifty ton I bought used).

I would recommend buying a rebuilt Muncie with a warranty rather than trying this as a starter project. In fact I would not even consider buying a used tranny rather I would but a remanufactured one and pay the company a core charge instead of buying something that needs more parts to rebuild it than it is worth.

Big Dave

 

[Larger Dave]

Think Safety!

SFI has listed products not to separate you from your money, but to keep your body parts from being separated by an exploding fly wheel or pressure plate.

I wouldn't have a manual without an explosion proof bell housing, and a SFI listed flywheel, Pressure plate and balancer. I even use a blanket around my automatics (it was an exploding transmission that took off part of my neighbor's foot, the front half that allows you to walk and balance)

Big Dave