Clutch Job

[Vette66AirCoupe]

Tomorrow a couple of buddies are coming over to give me a hand pulling the clutch and flywheel out of my '60. I'll have the flywheel resurfaced and I have a new clutch, pressure plate, throw out bearing and pilot bushing available. Does anybody have any good tips for expediting the process? What kind of things should I be looking out for after I get it disassembled? Thanks.

 

[tigernut]

I'd make sure your rear main seal or transmission shaft seals aren't leaking, so you don't cover the new clutch in oil.

Don't know what clutch you bought, but make sure you follow the manufacturers instructions. My LUK clutch was very specific about what NOT to grease on the throwout bearing.

There also was a thread last year about someone having their flywheel resurfaced and it was not done right (too shiny) and caused clutch issues.

Doug

 

[BarryK]

Terry
need an extra hand to help out tomorrow?

 

[critchie]

Take off the transmission mount and lower the transmission as much as you dare. Lowering it makes it easier to get at the shifter and the speedometer cable. Keep an eye on the distributor shield and the radiator fan when you do this. A jack on the oil pan will dent the oil pan. Even with a piece of lumber in between.

You need something to hold up the back of the engine after you undo the transmission mount. The transmission mount is the 3rd leg of a 3 legged stool. John Hinckley's "U" made out of 1" x 6" lumber works great. I use it with a scissors jack. Look in the archives. He also wrote the definitive article on changing a clutch in a C1, but I haven't seen it lately.

The ST-12 instructs you to make 1/2" studs and install 2 of them in the bell housing so that you can hang the transmission on them to aid in installing it. Make them about 3-4" long. Buy 1/2 - 13 bolts at Home Depot or Lowes and cut off the heads. Cut a slot in the top so you can turn them with a screwdriver. Good idea. Works nice.

DO NOT USE THE EARS ON THE TRANSMISSION TO DRAW IT INTO THE BELL HOUSING. They're surprisingly fragile. The transmission should slide right in. Sometimes helps if somebody depresses the clutch pedal while you're trying to get the transmission in.

I've had good luck with the cheap plastic clutch alignment tool that comes with the clutch kit. But others have not. (Must be that clean living.)

Harbor Freight sells a transmission jack for around $70. Are you going to do the "on your chest and bench press it" thing?

It shouldn't make any difference, but you may wish to mark your driveshaft so that you put it back in the same way.

Plug the rear opening of the transmission after you remove the driveshaft. There's $1 plugs made for this purpose that may be available at your FLAPS. If not, use a rag. Otherwise, tranny fluid will spill out when you lower the transmission.

The ST-12 will tell you how to align the shifter. Do that on the tranny when it's out of the car. Then remove the shifter and tie the rods together so that they don't move and go out of alignment.

No beer until the car's off the jack stands and back on the ground.

 

[IH2LOSE]

Make sure the pilot bushing fits on the trns input shaft prior to driving it into the flywheel

 

[Vette66AirCoupe]

Thanks for all of the advice, all went well so far. The clutch was dry and the rear main seal which I was afraid might be leaking was also dry. It looks like I have some slight leakage from the top side coming down and running inside the bell housing. I also think the down draft tube is spitting some oil on the flywheel dust cover giving the appearance of more leaking than is reality. I'll be replacing the valve cover gaskets anyway as the covers are out being refurbished currently. I'll check for other leaks as well. I have stopped the project temporarily as I will be having the flywheel turned down and I think I'll take my starter to the guy that did Barry's starter and get it rebuilt while it's out. No time like the present! My buddy showed me a trick for getting the pilot bushing out. We packed it with wheel bearing grease and then hammered an old input shaft into it. After about 5 tries the grease compressed enough to pop the bushing out. Pretty cool trick! I noticed that the transmission is leaking where the shift linkage goes through the case. I'm thinking I should get it inspected and at least resealed while it's out.

Barry, thanks for the offer, I already had too much help! It made for a lot of laughs but it also held up progress at times.

 

[BarryK]

No problem Terry, i'm sure you didn't need my inexperienced hands anyway, you had the experts there. I just offered in case you may have needed extra hands to help drop down the unit or something any bozo could do
glad it went well for you.

your starter should take all of one or two days if you are taking it over to Tri-State. When you go in ask for Tom.

 

[JohnZ]

Here are the 1/2"-13 bolts with the heads cut off, rounded, and screwdriver slots cut in them, for use as the two top bolts for remove and install (and the plug for the output shaft to contain the stinky trans lube)

 

[ChuckG]

Make sure the pilot bushing fits on the trns input shaft prior to driving it into the flywheel

HOW TRUE this is. This has happened to me twice within the past 10 or so years...not on my cars....but helping friends with their projects. Chuck