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while reading ocwd (daves) post-(nice work dave), i came across the requirement to soak the pilot bearing in 30 wt oil before installing. AAAKKK!! i didnt do that!! i simply pressed it into the flywheel and lubed the input shaft with a bit of hi-temp grease and put it all back together.
everythings back in the frame now.. QUESTION IS: HAVE I ASSURED MYSELF OF AN EARLY PILOT BEARING FAILURE?? RICK

Early failure, maybe. How much time do you have. Unknown. Probably 15 or 20 thousand miles or more! I wouldn't worry too much. A lot of those bronze bushings are pre-oiled by their manufacturer.

thx wes.. i had visions of pulling it all back apart again.. not too appealing when you're into the re-assy stage!! btw i went to TM9-1804A pg 83 paragraph 73 and theres no mention of lube for the bearing.. did you guys learn this trick from experience? again thx for this site, i can always find valuable info here. rick

What I'm surprised about is you didn't have to ream the bushing after you pressed it in.

BTW: Bronze and steel wear well together even without lube and If it's an Oilite type of bearing than it may already have oil in it. You can call the retailer and ask them. I wouldn't worry a bit either way.

That's is correct. None of the service manuals or TM's cover oiling the pilot bushing since they assume you bought the correct bushing which is already oiled. It is an old hat carry over from situations that called for fabricating new bushings from bulk stock and the need existed to oil the finished bushing.

THANKS GUYS.. THINGS MAKE MORE SENSE EVERY DAY.
I CALLED CARL WALCK AND HIS BUSHINGS ARE OILITE,PRE-OILED-WHEW!!
AND 53A1, I MIC'D THE PB BORE AND THE INPUT SHAFT DIA AFTER PRESSING THE BUSHING TO THE FLYWHEEL AND DETERMINED I HAD ADEQUATE CLEARANCES (I DONT REMEMBER NOW HOW MUCH THAT WAS).
I'M GETTING TO THE SHEETMETAL SANDBLASTING AND BODY WORK STAGE NOW (NOT MY FAVORITE). GIVE ME STRENGTH!! RICK