clutch question.

[stang dreamer]

hey guys, im having trouble locating someone to work on my 98 svt here in britain, every time i take it to a garage i see them gettin their probing shaft out of the back ready to take all im worth. the most common thing i hear is "woah that is going to be a ball ache mate, going to cost you."

question is, how hard is it to change when you have the right equipment? i dont want to pay top $ and wait a week or so for a clutch change when it would only cost a fraction of the time and cost elsewhere.

any advice?

 

[Price1]

Are there any rear wheel type drive cars in the UK? I should think so. The process is the same, remove drive shaft, remove h-pipe, remove shifter, remove starter, drop tranny. The only difficult part is the top starter bolt, tough to get to, and the top two bolts on the tranny, which can be more readily gotten to after removing tranny mount and pulling down on the tranny/engine to get a little more clearance.

It is not rocket science; they see a "foreign" car and start setting you up. Are there any shops that specialize in higher performance cars?? Ask them why it's going to cost so much and just how many hours they think it will take. I can do a clutch job in 10 hours BY MYSELF!! And, I am a shade-tree mechanic not a shop pro.

Get your own clutch/pp/tob/flywheel (rather than having it machined) and a pilot bearing. They will have a more difficult time getting parts.

Good luck; let us know how it turns out.

 

[stang dreamer]

they have quoted 4 hours, at standard labour rates... if its going to take that much longer then i dont think i can afford it. its a PITA being in the UK with an american car, as the places that want to work on it say they dont know the car, and the time taken and obviously the labour rates then shoot through the roof.


oh yeah, i have the clutch kit here, includes the pilot and thrust bearings, pressure plate, clutch disk and alignment tool... i have no idea what PP or TOB means but it sounds expensive. whats the benefit of having a new flywheel over it being machined?

 

[COBRA90GT]

...i have no idea what PP or TOB means but it sounds expensive...

PP = pressure plate

TOB = throw out bearing

 

[Price1]

If you can get them to write a quote for 4 hours, man, I would jump all over that. I was assuming, with respect to a new flywheel over machining the old one, that machineing/labor prices are so much more expensive. I don't think an American shop would even touch a clutch job for 4 hours anymore; more like 6-8.

Good luck!!

 

[stang dreamer]

ahh so it is going to cost more than the four hours quoted then? these guys dont know how to fit these things, so they are obviously luring me in with minimum prices and such. is the flywheel machining a defnate must do thing then i take it?

thanks guys

 

[stang dreamer]

started the cobra today to keep the battery charged, clutch on the car squeaked as usual, by the noise started to go away, until i noticed the smoke coming from the car. underneath started to smoke ever so slightly, but enough to smell it.

PLEASE tell me theres going to be no damage to the flywheel? i cant afford to replace it, yet cant afford to sell the car as i will take a huge loss, and cant really afford anything

 

[Price1]

Surfacing the flywheel is really not an option unless you'd like to do this again. If your clutch is smoking, it's messing up the flywheel - maybe metal on metal. Again, get them to write you a quote for the clutch and flywheel R&R. Then, if they try to up it, at least you have something to fall back on.