Un-Needed Pilot?

[mfg]

Studebaker Avantis equipped with Powershift transmissions came with an unused pilot bearing in the tail end of the engine crankshaft.......True?

[mfg]

No thoughts here?

[1963r2]

I don't know Ed but it sure sounds false.

pb

[paul shuffleburg]

It seems like it would be easier to put a .25¢ pilot bushing in while the engine is being built instead of

waiting to see if is is going to have a 3 or 4 speed tranny.

[64studeavanti]

Agree with Paul. Both of the automatics I have worked on have pilot bushings.

[r1lark]

4 hours ago, paul shuffleburg said:

It seems like it would be easier to put a .25¢ pilot bushing in while the engine is being built instead of

waiting to see if is is going to have a 3 or 4 speed tranny.

For what it's worth, the Parts Manual says that service crankshafts for '63 and '64 include the pilot bushing. So maybe all of the crankshafts had pilot bushings installed in them like Paul Shuffleburg is saying. 

Edited November 15, 2021 by r1lark

[mfg]

The answer here is TRUE! (sort of)....Although the crankshaft pilot bearing's main job is to locate and provide a bearing surface for the nose of a manual transmission's input shaft, it also serves as a 'pilot locator' for the front nose of a Powershift's torque converter.....It must be in place regardless of the type of tranny.