The pilot bearing just fell out...
 

Gents,

I pulled my 5-speed this afternoon. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary during the removal, but when I actually had the transmission out, I noticed the pilot bearing had come out of the bore in the flywheel and was resting between the flywheel and the friction plate. The pilot bearing seems fine and rotates smoothly. I can't just push it back into place.

There were no on track driving issues until I blew the trans. Could the pilot bearing have backed out and caused the transmission to explodificate?

Do I need a new flywheel?

Thanks,

It should be a minor press fit. You most likely knocked it out during removal.

just put it in the fridge for a couple of hours

I spent a little time on an SM site and it seems this is not uncommon. Never happened to me before, however.