new to the site, normally a lurker. I am pulling my hair out over this atm. Got a 2009 HHR SS and it shredded 3rd gear a while back and deiced to pull the trigger on an F40 swap. Got the OTP kit with a regal F40 transmission. Kit is awesome and everything so far has been easy to just bolt in. New shifter is in. New mounts are installed. Transmission is brand new. Got a specC clutch setup with flywheel. Everything was supposed to be "Bolt in" but I've been stuck on the damn throw out bearing. I used the spec tob at first with the .25" spacer because when I measured everything it seemed like thats what I needed. I unfortunately had the wrong info on what the air gap was supposed to be and blew the **** out of that one. My fault. Watched the zzp video about measuring air gap. AH, need a 3/16th air gap. Re-measured everything with a new spec tob and found I needed a 0.550" spacer. Got one made. Installed it. Blew it out as well. WTF?

On the engine side I have a measurement of 3" and 1/8th. On the trans side with the 0.55" spacer made I have a 2" and 15/16th measurement to the tob pushed all the way in. That leaves me with a 3/16th air gap right? Thats right on the money, or should be? Well it still blew the tob after a few pedal pumps while bleeding. I stuck a camera in there and some how it looks like despite all my measuring the tob is only half compressed with the transmission bolted up and pedal up? It should be bottomed out or very close.

Am I some how not measuring right or am I missing a step? I cut a piece of bar stock to fit around the clutch housing so I could put the one edge against the fingers and then measured down to the mating surface of the block. And then on the transmission I clamped a leveler bar across the mating surface of the bell housing and measured from the bottom of it to the top of the tob while pressing it all the way in. Thats how they did it on the zzp video. And I did that last one without the spacer to figure out I needed the .55 spacer and got it custom made.

So I am at a loss as to why i've blow 3 tob so far (well 2, 1st one was 100% my own fault). Am I missing a step? Am I not measuring right? Is the 3/16th air gap too big? Help, please.

 

I’ve researched the Cobalt SS site, the ZZP and OTTP site, non offer much information about which TOB to use or measurements for any spacer requirements. Until I looked into TOB and TOB spacers
you mentioned the clutch you pitched was different, are you meaning the clutch in the kit?

 

pitched as in tossed in the trash? only part i've trashed is the 3 blown tob. i'm still trying to make this work with the spec clutch and flywheel. Its a SS233F-2 clutch setup with the SS23A-2 flywheel setup.

 

There’s mention of clutch and flywheel in here



This throw out bearing and spacer.

https://zzperformance.com/products/f40-throwout-bearing

https://zzperformance.com/products/t...bearing-spacer

 

Is your spacer machined for the to be pressed into it like in this photo?

 

A tutorial about the swap