Originally Posted by Incognegro
On a hydraulic throwout bearing once you depress the clutch pedal and it extends does it automatically retract or does it need the pressure of the clutch fingers to push it back into position? ...
...It seems once it extends, it needs to have the bleeder valve cracked to retract back to the starting point if you push it by hand.
I believe the bearing should retract on it's own. If you have to open the bleeder to get it back it sounds like a restriction or a problem with the master cylinder. The master cylinder must be fully released for the throw out to release. If the pedal holds just a slight amount of pressure on the master cylinder it won't allow the slave cylinder to retract.
Originally Posted by Incognegro
Also Is it common to have to utilize a spacer in between the bellhousing and tranny to get the proper clearance for the TO bearing?
The fact that there is a spacer available will tell you it is fairly common. When you start swapping stuff around you just have to do what you have to do.