White X on flywheel and yellow dot on pressure plate....

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02-07-2009, 01:03 PM

#16

Chevycobb

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just got back from driving it again and im noticing no vibrations up to about 5k rpms that didn't seem to be there before. just the typical vibrations you may feel from harder mounts.

02-13-2009, 03:25 PM

#17

ACE1252

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Ok gents, I've got an update.

My Valeo LT4 clutch kit arrived today. Here is the kit.....

There is a difference between Valeo and the Duralast that is major(in my opinion).

Here is the Valeo LT4.....

Here is the Duralast LT4....

The drilled holes in edges of the pressure plate are where Valeo BALANCED the plate. The Duralast one does not have any weight drilled out of it. It appears that the Duralast one is not balanced. I have been through two new Duralast ones and both have bad vibrations above 4000rpms.

For reference again....my SLP plate has weight drilled out of it.....it is a Valeo LT4 plate.

I'll know for certain if the Valeo is right when I put this bad boy in tonight. I'll update then.

Last edited by ACE1252; 02-13-2009 at 03:32 PM.

02-13-2009, 03:28 PM

#18

Chevycobb

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good to hear! hope the results are good!

02-13-2009, 05:58 PM

#19

Green96Z

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Good info, maybe you should post some of those pics in the sticky. Is it just me, or does the Duralast seem smaller than the Valeo? Could just be perspective.

02-13-2009, 08:18 PM

#20

ACE1252

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Green96Z

Good info, maybe you should post some of those pics in the sticky. Is it just me, or does the Duralast seem smaller than the Valeo? Could just be perspective.

Both are the same size. Without any markings on the outer casing, it would be tough to tell them apart. But I think no holes drilled around the perimeter of the pressure plate is the smoking gun to the Duralast not being balanced.

I still plan on having this Duralast plate tested. I'm going to have my Dad machine off the cast in weight on one of my old LT1 flywheels. I will then have it zero balanced....then have that pressure plate checked. I'm curious on how out of balance it is.....

I've got my tranny back in my car....I still have to bolt up the driveshaft, torque arm, shifter, and a couple of other things.....so in a couple of hours I will be able to test out the Valeo plate.

02-13-2009, 11:35 PM

#21

ACE1252

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I just got back from my test drive and I am very happy to report that my car now revs to 6500 silky smooth.

The Valeo pressure plate fixed my problem. It's very clear now that the knock off plates sold at Advance, Auto Zone, etc are not balanced. All, beware of these plates.

Thumbs up to Valeo for putting out a quality product!!!

Last edited by ACE1252; 02-13-2009 at 11:42 PM.

02-14-2009, 02:16 AM

#22

grimjeeper73

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you guys are making me dread this coming week of replacing my clutch lol

02-14-2009, 11:00 AM

#23

ACE1252

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LOL!

Pulling the tranny for me is now not an issue. I've had this thing out 4 or 5 times in the past 3 weeks. Once the car is in the air, I can have it out in 40 mins. working by myself.

The pointers I can give are this.....

Tranny jack is an absolute must....best $200 I spent.....unless you want to curse quite a bit. The pitch and angle changes that the jack allows for the tranny is a must.
When you secure the tranny to the jack, make sure it can't move(chain it securely to the jack)....if it does move, you will have a heck of a time getting it to line back up easily with the motor. You will know what I mean if the tranny moves on the jack after pulling it from the motor.
Use the actual tranny input shaft to properly align the clutch disk.
I had trouble with the disk either being too high, low, left, or right with the "plastic" input shaft. Use the plastic input shaft to get in the ballpark. Snug one bolt of the pressure plate to secure the disk. Remove the plastic alignment tool. Without the bell housing on, get the splines of the tranny input shaft into the disk. Loosen the snug bolt, now go the rest of the way in...the tranny will practically go all the way up to the pressure plate. Now snug that pressure plate bolt back down. Move the tranny back and forth to make sure there is no binding. Remove the tranny. Now you are done with aligning the disk and will have zero problems getting the tranny to go in....now tighten all the rest of the pressure plate bolts in a star pattern 1/2 turn at a time. Torque to 22 Lb/ft.
If the tranny does not go in there with zero pressure.....STOP. Something is either in a bind or not lined up right.
Stay away from the "cheap" LT4 plates, get a Valeo kit from the start. My lesson was hard learned, but I think it proves what I read about the non-Valeo plates.....they are not balanced.

Last edited by ACE1252; 02-14-2009 at 11:16 AM.

02-14-2009, 09:12 PM

#24

Green96Z

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Quote:

Originally Posted by ACE1252

[*]Tranny jack is an absolute must....best $200 I spent.....unless you want to curse quite a bit. The pitch and angle changes that the jack allows for the tranny is a must.

Definitely a must. But I just rented one for $15.

02-14-2009, 11:23 PM

#25

ACE1252

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Green96Z

Definitely a must. But I just rented one for $15.

That works too!

01-31-2010, 12:18 PM

#26

maddog05

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LT1's are externaly balanced engines: the back half is balanced by the flywheel

Quote:

Originally Posted by ACE1252

I dropped both the flywheel and plate off today and learned something from him that was actually staring me in the face.

These flywheels are not neutral balanced from the factory(for some reason I thought they were). See this huge weight cast in at the top of the flywheel? That is part of the weight system that balances the stock LT1 crank, pistons, etc. They are balanced to some type of spec, but it is not neutral.

He was going to use the the flywheel as a jig to bolt up the pressure plate....but with the flywheel not being neutral balanced that idea does not work.

He is going to see if he can locate a neutral balanced flywheel with a bolt pattern that will match to the LT4 pressure plate. Hope to have more information soon.

The stock flywheel balances the rear half of the engine. If the engine builder or machinist balanced the engine internally then a neutral whell is needed.

07-03-2010, 09:04 AM

#27

ACE1252

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Updating thread with where to get a Valeo clutch kit.

***Links removed, no longer valid***

As of 9-22-2017, Valeo is making the clutch kits again. You can find them on Rockauto.com.

However, there could be some concerns....see here...
https://ls1tech.com/forums/lt1-lt4-m...l#post19730784

Last edited by ACE1252; 09-22-2017 at 10:59 AM.

07-18-2010, 08:03 AM

#28

onefastmx5

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Great info!

01-03-2011, 09:37 AM

#29

Ricardo

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Re: White X on flywheel and yellow dot on pressure plate....

Quote:

Originally Posted by ACE1252

Updating thread with where to get a Valeo clutch kit.

http://www.oereplacement.com/advance...=CLUTCH%20KITS

http://www.oereplacement.com/

ERIC
This is an old thread, but how is your Valeo clutch holding up?
I am heading in the same direction as you were. I just want an OEM replacement clutch for a bolt on car and dont want vibrations. I installed a "DELCO" clutch kit from former ebay vendor "thepartslady" and it turned out to be an overseas manufactured-not balanced pressure plate-knockoff. The vibration is noticeable around 4000- 6000 RPM.