i have a ‘62 Valiant that had a 65(?) 225 in it. I pulled the engine and will be putting in a newer (68ish) 225 that I rebuilt. My question is that my crankshaft in the new engine does not have a pilot bushing in the end of the crankshaft. Is it supposed to? I have an automatic transmission and thought these bushings were for manuals only? I’ve tried searching for an answer and get mixed responses. My old engine that I pulled has a bushing installed so that’s got me thinking that it was there for a reason. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

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If it is an automatic, you do not need a pilot bushing. If it is a 68-up motor, the pocket in the crank will be larger (1.815") than the early converter nub (1.565") and you will need an adapter ring/bushing that slides into the crank pocket. Charrlie_S has them, I believe, or I think Pat Blais may have them on ebay?

Lou

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Thanks for the reply but am I just being a noob? First you say if it’s an automatic (which it is) I don’t need one but then you say if it’s newer then 68 (which it is) I do need it? Are you talking about two different things? Thanks again, I may just be over thinking this. If the torque Converter is bolted directly to the flex plate, what’s the bushing for anyway? I’d hate to install a fresh engine only to have something fail that I could have fixed so simply.

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Though the converter bolts to the flexplate, its snout centers on the crankshaft hub. In 68 they increased the size of the register; the crank basically has a bigger hole. The bushing is used to 'adapt' the smaller pre-68 converter snout to the larger 68+ crank. If you don't use it, the converter will not run true to center. It should be noted the bushing is a 'non stock' affair; the factory never used one. So don't look for it in any service or parts manuals.

Thanks for your help! I checked deeper and the old block must have been newer then I thought. The crank in the old engine had the bushing in it. I was able to pull it out and should be able to reuse it. I was totally confused on the difference between a pilot bushing and this adapter sleeve. You guys are great! Your help is much appreciated!!

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A pilot bushing is used with manual transmissions, it supports the end of the manual transmission input shaft.
Automatic transmissions have the torque converter. The center of the torque converter rests directly in the end of the crank, but in your case, there is a sleeve to adapt the smaller 'snout' of the early torque converter to the larger crank hole of the later crank. Basically, all manual transmissions use a pilot bushing (or bearing). Automatics do not need one, however yours has an adapter due to the size difference.
See, clear as mud.

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LEANED & MEAN

While we're on the topic...it's very common to pull an engine /trans apart and see lots of that fine rusty powder in the end of the crankshaft where the converter registers. This proves two things - 1) there is plenty of movement between the converter and crank and 2) you should use a little grease or anti-seize compound at this juncture.

I never knew that any movement at this connection was acceptable, I agree with what your observation indicates, just question your solution . Seems to me a better more properly torqued group of crank fasteners is the goal, maybe with addition of locktite ot maybe a better balanced converter or find whatever is the cause of the loosening. Also U am a bigt fan of antiseize, but here, its benefit is secondary, IMO.

It's not fastener looseness that allows movement, it's the natural 'flexing' of the flexplate, fore and aft, that causes movement. You could use a much thicker flexplate to alleviate this but I'm supposing the factory wanted to see some flexing for reasons of the 'axial happiness' of the rotating pieces. I don't know that for a fact but most drivetrains like to see some forgiveness in that direction.

Thanks again, in my case there wasn’t any rust or metal bits at all. The torque converter “snout” was scrapped some but everything looked really good. I used a pilot bearing/bushing puller (Free rental at autozone) to pull the adapter out of old crank and pressed it into new crank. Easy as could be.

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