Clutch Failing

[DavidH]

Originally Posted by demonspeed

You could always r&r it this way

That's my plan when I do mine. I'll make it a winter project with all new cooling parts, oil pump, etc.

[fz4k98]

Originally Posted by Valkyrie14

Going to try. I haven’t done a clutch before but I looked at some threads on here, it looks like something I can tackle. My only concern is if my Jack stands go high enough I can clear the bell housing on a transmission Jack from under the car.

If you can get the trans out and it is on a trans jack, it does not need to come out from under the car. Just slide it down the driveshaft tunnel toward the rear and you will have room to work on the clutch.

I had my trans in and out 4 times in one year but am using a hoist. If you are struggling with the top bolt or clearance you can have jack stands supporting the body while lowering the front subframe enough to clear. This is how I do mine. I ...
Support the body,
place jacks under the subframe,
loosen bolts to the last three threads but leave them in as a guide,
slowly lower the jacks supporting the subframe until the frame touches bolt heads.
Revers this for installing.

[demonspeed]

For the top bellhousing bolt I’ve found it much easier to just pull the intake.

[Valkyrie14]

I have an LSA blower and I saw that the lid will run into the body as I try to lower the trans. Because of that I was thinking of pulling out engine and trans. I have a hoist and engine stand. I have a couple of other projects to clean up the engine bay if I did it this way.

Step wise, is pulling the engine a lot more work than just dropping the trans?

[SIM GhostrdrZ]

I just changed out my clutch in ZL1(lsa). I lowered front subframe to get top bolt out and supercharger did not hit firewall. I used long extension to get top bolt out and back in. I’d think pulling engine/trans together would be more of a hassle but that’s just my opinion.

Hope the pic helps to see where top bolt is with subframe lowered. I removed rear bolts more so to angle rear engine downward. But you’ve got to watch the firewall to supercharger spacing so you don’t damage either.

Good luck

[demonspeed]

Originally Posted by Valkyrie14

Step wise, is pulling the engine a lot more work than just dropping the trans?

In my case, I started with the engine for a rebuild before pulling the transmission. In hindsight, I’ll never pull the engine again without also pulling the transmission first. If you read a lot of threads, you’ll find it’s pretty common to be next to impossible to get the engine and transmission to slide back together smoothly. I’ve done several clutches/transmissions in various vehicles and never had the challenges getting things together like this.

That said, I believe it’s a lot of work. Difficult? Not necessarily. I purchased the factory service manuals; combined with this site there isn’t anything you can’t figure out.

My biggest hurdle was I simply don’t have the time nor ambition at this moment in my life to have wanted to do any of it, so it’s been a drawn out (re: ten-month) process which has involved a lot of “while I’m doing this I might as well do this” type of scope creep

Whatever the case, buy a lot of Brakleen before you get started.

[fz4k98]

I have not pulled the engine on this car, but lowering the subframe only added about 15 minutes to the removal for me. I also had two 2 ft extensions and a swivel with some duct tape to control it to get to the trans bolts. I have a whipple on the car so the engine would not tilt enough to get to the bolts unless i did the subframe.

[Valkyrie14]

I did cradle bushings on the rear subframe and dropped the gas tank at the same time to do a dual pump. Is it a similar theory to lower the subframe to get at the trans? I don’t have to remove it, just remove the bolts on the rear of the subframe and then loosen the front bolts?

[Valkyrie14]

Sidenote, Jeff at Tick said they haven’t had issues with squeaking on their master cylinder. He suggested I send it in for a rebuild. That would save me money, but are their other master cylinders out there?

[fz4k98]

Originally Posted by Valkyrie14

I did cradle bushings on the rear subframe and dropped the gas tank at the same time to do a dual pump. Is it a similar theory to lower the subframe to get at the trans? I don’t have to remove it, just remove the bolts on the rear of the subframe and then loosen the front bolts?

I loosened all 6 bolts equally as far as possible as the supercharger would hit the firewall if i tilted it down. Also, the trans jack needs to be lowered while lowering the subframe in order to not put stress on the motor mounts. I would lower the front about a half inch, lower the back about a half inch and repeat.

I had a tick master cylinder and it squeaked after about 3 months. It would not hold pressure after a year and needed to be adjusted a lot. I went back to a new factory master cylinder.

[Valkyrie14]

Thanks to a state tax return I am happy to announce I ordered dual disk Monster clutch. Should be here in a couple of weeks. Thanks to everyone for the input. I will post some pics of the old and the new clutch.

Had enough to also get an MGW short throw shifter. Should be a whole new experience when I am done.

I talked to the guys at Tick and TSP before ordering, both laughed when I told them I have 100,000+ miles on a forced induction engine. Truth is I bought her at 50,000 miles and it had a nitrous tank in it. I may have bought it with a burnt clutch, which means I still have yet to see what my car can really do. I’m jacked about this.

[Valkyrie14]

Did tear down today. Thought I would post pics of the old equipment. The slave cylinder, which I thought the source of my problems, looked great. The clutch on the other hand…was beat.

Probably not the worst anyone has seen, but looks rough to me.

Can’t wait to get the twin disk involved, also putting on a MGW short throw.

[demonspeed]

PP & FW definitely show how bad it was slipping. Should feel like a new car when it’s back together

[Valkyrie14]

Really struggling to get the spline into the clutch. The clutch alignment tool slides in and out smoothly. I didn’t change the shaft. So this should go back together.

I have opted to go with the bell housing alignment method. I have all of the bolts in and started about 2 or 3 threads. I am thinking of doing a Star pattern to tighten the trans to the engine.

I am worried that the spline isn’t lined up right. Or that I measured the new clutch wrong and need to use shims. The instructions Monster gave said to use a micrometer, but I don’t have one. The clutch side was around a 1/16th of an once shorter than the slave fully depressed.

Am I missing something?