Did you replace both the cover and movable sheave bearings? (bushings some like to call them)

 

I did not replace them. There is quite a bit of Teflon left on them so I assumed they were fine?

 

With spring out wiggle both the cover and the movable sheave on the center post.
Those should be replaced when doing a re-build.
I don't think the material is Teflon.

 

If you can compress the clutch fully closed by hand that makes me think the spring is weak.

 

I would agree here.. weak spring. I have three 800 clutches and can bounce about a inch towards closing max on all three (on the bench)

 

Can you check the towers to see if they are spaced wider at the top or bottom? Did you replace the buttons? If they are too tight it might affect opening and closing. If they are too loose they could slide at an angle and bind.

A random thing I did once happened when I was torqueing down the spider. It goes against the spacer that sits on a shelf on the primary shaft. When I torqued it, it spread itself out and made it difficult to open/close. See if it measures the same diameter as the bearing. It is part number 18 in the diagram below.

BTW... Parts #4 and #1 are the bushings and they are lined with teflon.

 

Another thought would be the spider has backed off.

 

The primary spring could be a problem and causing the grinding going into gear. If the primary spring is weak, the flyweights could be moving the sheave prematurely even at @ idle. I would imagine though if this were the case his engagement RPM would have to be around 1200-1300 rpm. He also wouldn't be able to rev very high as the flyweights would open too quickly before it reached peak rpm. Something is causing the primary not to release the belt at idle. Maybe it's the belt itself.

 

True, but something tells me, we may never find out what his issue is/was. He hasn't been here since April, so I doubt he'll be back until he wants to know how big of tires he can fit without a lift!!!