First time swapping my clutch, help.

[95Vert]

Ok guys, I installed a new tranny a couple of weeks ago but I didn't drop the bellhousing so I don't know what's required to replace the clutch. Would it be easier to drop it out all together or remove the tranny and then the bellhousing? Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[HGFireHazard]

Some guys go one way and some guys go another.

I don't have tiny hands, and I don't know if you do, but the easier method for me was to take the transmission off the bellhousing and then take the bellhousing off of the engine.

The top bellhousing bolts would have taken nothing short of a miracle for me to get at. However, some guys say that if you unbolt the transmission crossmember and let it drop a couple of inches (have someone watching your engine bay to make sure nothing hits near the firewall) that you can reach the top bolts. However, my recommendation is still to take them off one at a time.

You could use roughly a foot and a half of extensions and a solid swivel. If you aren't replacing the pilot bearing I'd say everything else is cake. Just unbolt the pressure plate evenly, same with the flywheel (make sure to resurface/replace).

Good luck!

 

[95Vert]

Well, I am replacing the pilot bearing. What's the deal with that?

I had forgotten about resurfacing the damn flywheel!

 

[HGFireHazard]

Resurface or replace, if you have the money they can be found for about $100.

I had no problems using a slide hammer and pilot bearing removal attachment from autozone. Some try packing the bearing with grease, getting a socket and using the grease to hydraulically remove the bearing, but it's messy and sometimes doesn't work. I had it out with the slide hammer in 10 seconds.

 

[99FiveOh]

Slide hammer FTW! I tried the grease method last time just to save a trip to Autozone and to see if would work, and it did, but took alot of grease and about 10 minutes! Be prepared to leave Autozone with 100 bucks of your money while you use their tool, which I think is absolutely ludacris!

 

[mustanggt94]

Slide hammer FTW! I tried the grease method last time just to save a trip to Autozone and to see if would work, and it did, but took alot of grease and about 10 minutes! Be prepared to leave Autozone with 100 bucks of your money while you use their tool, which I think is absolutely ludacris!

Advance Auto has a pilot bearing tool that seems like a better design (doesn't require slide hammer) but for me the little hooks didn't come out far enough. Might be worth a shot since it only costs $30 (you get it back when you return it, just like Autozone).

 

[Red1990Lx]

Some guys go one way and some guys go another.

I don't have tiny hands, and I don't know if you do, but the easier method for me was to take the transmission off the bellhousing and then take the bellhousing off of the engine.

The top bellhousing bolts would have taken nothing short of a miracle for me to get at. However, some guys say that if you unbolt the transmission crossmember and let it drop a couple of inches (have someone watching your engine bay to make sure nothing hits near the firewall) that you can reach the top bolts. However, my recommendation is still to take them off one at a time.

You could use roughly a foot and a half of extensions and a solid swivel. If you aren't replacing the pilot bearing I'd say everything else is cake. Just unbolt the pressure plate evenly, same with the flywheel (make sure to resurface/replace).

Good luck!

Like whats said above... I would normally replace the flywheel bolts as well... It's not required, but you are in there and they really aren't that exspensive. Tourqe them to specs as well with a little Lock-Tite. Also, when you go to put your clutch back in, before you tighten the pressure plate down, use the supplied clutch alingment tool as well. That will save you a lot of head-aches as well when you go to put your tranny back in.

 

[HISSIN50]

If desiring a long write-up, and another with pictures, see the Tech Sticky thread that's around here somewhere. 5Spd Gt had a nice write up (and a link to the picture article). David included part numbers for bolts and all that stuff too.

Good luck.

 

[94-302-vert]

I tired the $30 pilot tool and it was junk. We did the grease trick in a matter of a couple minutes... the worst part is jsut getting somethign that is the right size to BARELY fit into the pilot bearing.

 

[5spd GT]

If desiring a long write-up, and another with pictures, see the Tech Sticky thread that's around here somewhere. 5Spd Gt had a nice write up (and a link to the picture article). David included part numbers for bolts and all that stuff too.

Good luck.

That is what I was going to say

 

[99FiveOh]

I did it with a socket and extension. I used electrical tape on the end of the extension and stuffed it down into the socket. After about 4 or 5 grease re-packs it finally came right out! I was stunned that it worked. Read around, there's other things you can pack into the pilot hole to make it work faster, I think I seen bar soap shavings mentioned before.

 

[95Vert]

Thanks a lot for the advice guys.

The_Mustang, I don't really understand how you did that. Please explain.

Paul had his engine out if his car today so I got to see everything close up. Like mentioned above, I can pack black tape in the pilot hole and then use the grease method to see if that works. I wouldn't mind RENTING the tool from Auto Zone, as long as they do RENT it and not sell it.

A question, how can I keep the flywheel from turning when I try to loosen the clutch and flywheel bolts?

Good idea on the loc-tite, I need to get some of that.

 

[95Vert]

That is what I was going to say

Thanks bud, I read it and it's very detailed. Thanks.

 

[99FiveOh]

I used black tape to go where the extension fits into the socket, this seals it off so the grease can't escape that easily.

 

[HGFireHazard]

Put a small screwdriver through an extra hole in the flywheel and wedge it against the block. I had to use a pretty small one and thought it might break, but it held up no problem.

 

[99FiveOh]

A question, how can I keep the flywheel from turning when I try to loosen the clutch and flywheel bolts?

Good idea on the loc-tite, I need to get some of that.

The pressure plate bolts usually won't make the engine turn because their not supposed to be torqued that tight, and they're small. The flywheel bolts will usually come loose if you just tap on the ratchet or breaker bar.

 

[ProKiller]

leather palmed gloves and an extra set of hands help with the flywheel. i used a long extension on the pressure plate alignment pins and that worked fine. to put it back on though, i used an actual flywheel holder tool from snap-on. that thing was awesome! can't tell you how much easier everything is when you have the right tools for the job.

just make sure that if you get a new flywheel make sure its the same inbalance as your harmonic balancer.

 

[95Vert]

I'll just be resurfacing mine.

Thanks again guys.

 

[95Vert]

I freakin did it. I took me 4 days but I did it, lol. It's pretty straight forward and now that I've done it once I'm sure I can get through it in several hours. What held me back were stupid things like the damn input shaft retainer was aluminum and it swelled up not allowing the release bearing to move, so I had to wait to buy the steel one and install it. Then I got everything up and the clutch was SUPER loose. So I had to wait another day to buy the firewall adjuster. I realized that long tubes and the bellhousing don't like each other very much. I had to remove the bellhousing from the tranny in order to get it up there. But all in all, I saved some cash and learned something new!!!

Thanks to all