loose flywheel bolt/pp strap breakage/flat pushrod

[treed2 at u.washington.edu (T. Reed)]

When I pulled the tranny tonight, the cause of my scraping/grinding noise
when stepping on the clutch was immediately apparent. One of the flywheel
bolts was backed out about a centimeter. Inside the bellhousing there was
a nice line traced around the circumference. I still don't understand why
it was only grinding when I stepped on the clutch, since in theory the
flywheel is bolted to the pressure plate which is bolted to the
crankshaft, and none of that stuff should move axially when you step on
the clutch.

But that wasn't all (of course not, it would be too cheap & easy to fix)..
one of the three "straps" on the back of my pressure plate lost a rivet
and had begun violently carving through my tranny case. It took several
large "chunks" which fell out of the bottom when I pulled the tranny off
the engine. One of them was 3/4 of the inner wall to the starter bushing,
which is irritating since it will probably greatly reduce the life of the
bushing and require me to keep replacing it to prevent the starter from
jamming. I already fought that battle last fall-- feels like new tranny
time...

The third thing I discovered was that my pushrod was completely flat on
the release plate end. This is surprising because last time I saw it
barely 3000 miles ago it was nice and curvy still. Not sure what happened,
but I need to buy a new pushrod I guess. Hope they're not too expensive.

So although I would like my car to run ASAP I am at a bit of a crossroads
here. If I keep this tranny, which has a chipped reverse gear and all new
seals but still leaks (albeit minimally), I have to buy:

pressure plate		~$50-$60
pressure plate bolts	~$10-$15
flywheel bolts		~$10-$15
starter bushing		~$1
mainshaft seal		~$5-$10 (it appears to be leaking again)
selector shaft cover	~$5-$15 (the 27mm allen one, it's leaking too)
pushrod			~$10-$30

total cost: 		$91-$146; just to get my car back the way it was
			 (but actually worse b/c of the starter bushing)


The alternative; finding a 4K for sale would require:

4k tranny		~$100-$200
misc seals		~$30
pressure plate		~$50-$60
pressure plate bolts	~$10-$15
flywheel bolts		~$10-$15
8v clutch disc		~$40-$50

total cost:		$240-$370; to get a 3.89 r&p and quiet reverse

Of course all of this ignores the fact that I don't have any money, but
I'm inclined to spring on a 4k rather than sink another $50 in to my
craptranny. With all the metal chips littering the starter hole I was sure
it had self machined.. looks like I got "lucky".

Problem is-- I don't have any leads on a 4k in Washington State.. I did
about a month ago, but I never heard back from anybody.

Grrr, why do these cars have to be such a PITA?

-Toby