April 8th, 2024 was my first official build day. Up until now all I have been doing is research and spending money. Yesterday I actually assembled something.
Safir Clutch Package Assembly and Install
I purchased the ‘Complete Small Block 289/302 Clutch Package’ from Safir to mate the Prestige Motorsports 302/363 to a Quaife QBE62G.
The assembly went smoothly thanks to the guidance provided by Bob Wood. He made sure I received the right combination of parts to ensure compatibility and answered all my questions, usually responding the same day.
I like that the Safir clutch kit includes a compact geared reduction starter, external slave cylinder, upgraded fork, fork shaft and bearings. But the main advantage in my view is the reduced diameter flywheel and bell housing so that nothing hangs down below the bottom of the chassis. I opted for an external slave cylinder for ease of maintenance. I heard too many stories about leaking internal systems that can only be serviced by pulling the engine.
That the bell housing and flywheel have a smaller diameter also means that the starter is closer to the block so I don’t think I will need to cut a hole in the chassis.
However, the starter is also closer to the oil pan. I used caveman technology (hammer and dolly) to create a divot to provide clearance. I figured if I accidentally split the pan at the seam it was no real loss as the second option is to remove the pan and have a divot welded in. I shaped the divot slowly and kept checking for metal fatigue. After a bit of buffing it will look like it was built that way.
If it cracks, I will replace with Aviaid pan 155-55360 which has a starter notch.
The fork, fork shaft, bearings, throw out bearing and slave cylinder went together without any issues. I did discover that the clearance cut into the bell housing for accessing the Allen bolt that holds the shaft lever is not big enough to fit a standard Allen wrench so I replaced the socket head bolt with a hex head.
I managed to install the flywheel and clutch only to realize that I forgot the bell housing plate. Fortunately, the Loctite had not set up.
The Safir clutch kit is nearly complete, but I did have to purchase flywheel bolts, bell housing bolts, transaxle bolts and starter bolts. I probably paid too much for all the ARP fasteners, but they do provide some peace of mind.
Now I just need a car to put it in. Hoping it will be here by the middle of the month.
Cheers,
Randy