Clutch Fork and an Oil Leak

Well, I am a little embarrassed.  I went to install the clutch fork through the clutch fork hole in the bell housing and guess what?  You know the answer, it doesn't fit, the hole is too small.  Aghh...   I had to remove the shifter, shifter linkage, transmission and  the bell housing.  The body is on the car so all of this was done while lying on my back.  Sheesh...

I found oil coming out of the hub on the front of the transmission and the side plate.  I found a brittle gasket and no gasket at all.  A quick trip to Napa was disappointing as the guy behind the counter said they don't carry gasket sets for manual transmissions, only automatics.  Go figure.  So I bought a set of gasket paper and made my own.

I freshened up the clutch fork with a little sand blasting followed by paint.

A 1963 clutch fork uses a push rod to fork configuration much like a push rod to rocker arm, basically a ball and half of a socket.  In 1964 the clutch fork was changed to a pinned configuration as shown below.  I decided to install the 1964 configuration simply because it looks like it would be less likely to fail.  I might change my mind later but for now this is what we will use.

All the fasteners I use are new and either stainless steel, Grade 5 or Grade 8. 

Everything is buttoned back up and we have a functioning clutch. 

It won't take too much more before we can Fred Flintstone (Ty's expression) this thing around the block. Stay tuned for that!