Anyone done their own clutch?

Anyone done their own clutch?

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Discussion

crispian22

Original Poster:

963 posts

191 months

Wednesday 26th November 2014
quotequote all
Looking at changing my clutch in the chimaera,will be putting in a heavy duty AP item courtesy of John Eales,I have access to a mate's 4 poster ramp which will make thing's easier,but wanted to know if there's anything to look out for,i've heard it can be done by dropping the prop and moving the box rear-wards enough to change it?

Many thank's.

s p a c e m a n

10,752 posts

147 months

Wednesday 26th November 2014
quotequote all
T5 box or LT77?

Mines a T5 and I did it at a mates with a 4 post, took way longer than I thought it would, think it was 6/7 hours by the time I drove it back out again. Rear drop links, exhaust, propshaft and then undid the bellhousing from the engine (it came out ok like that by twisting it). Get photos of how the gear stick linkage looks and study them, it's the biggest pig of the job. You have to undo most of it as the bar goes over the top of one of the chassis tubes.

Just cottoned on to what you're thinking, there's no way you can just crack the box back far enough to slide the clutch in Mr Clutch style hehe


Edit: Think that I left the drop links attached and just removed the rollbar mounts, you need to undo something back there to get the exhaust off.

Edited by s p a c e m a n on Wednesday 26th November 19:56

crispian22

Original Poster:

963 posts

191 months

Wednesday 26th November 2014
quotequote all
It's a 1998 car so a T5 box,so can the box be removed from underneath then or does the chassis get in the way?
Cheers.

AV8

363 posts

178 months

Wednesday 26th November 2014
quotequote all
Box is relatively easy to drop and clears the chassis no problem, but as Spaceman says you need to get the gear linkage disconnected first which can be awkward. Don't forget to drain the fluid first.

s p a c e m a n

10,752 posts

147 months

Wednesday 26th November 2014
quotequote all
The T5 box comes off from underneath with the bellhousing still attached (think I had to twist it left about 40 degrees to get it out) but you need to remove the gear linkage first, the front part has to be done blind from underneath the car and is a little more than annoying. See pics;

Linkage goes above chassis rail..



The front bolt on the bellhousing is what you have to do blind from underneath. The bolt just spins so you have to grip the shiny pole that it's attached to..



As that pole just slides into the black pipe..



If you bend the pole you're screwed.

s p a c e m a n

10,752 posts

147 months

Wednesday 26th November 2014
quotequote all
Anyone ever cut that pipe from their chassis? Bloody tempting to do it hehe

crispian22

Original Poster:

963 posts

191 months

Wednesday 26th November 2014
quotequote all
Cheers for the pics,didn't realize the box will come out from underneath,look's pretty straight forward apart from the linkage issue.

Thank's for the help folk's!thumbup

mattrosersv

579 posts

229 months

Wednesday 26th November 2014
quotequote all
Be careful when removing the linkage. There are plastic inserts through which the bolt goes which have to be removed. I did not know this as ended up breaking them. They are no longer available.

Having done this a few times I will now remove box from bell housing in future especially if working on your own (I have done it both ways). You will need a couple of socket ujs (I used one 3/8 UJ and one 1/2 UJ and a 3/8 socket for the top left box bolt) as there is not a straight run to a couple of bolts and an air ratchet helps.

This makes access to the bell housing to linkage bar bolt much easier. A 13mm ratchet spanner comes in handy here.

No need to drain fluid just zip tie the prop to back of box as it it comes out you will get drenched.

Don't forget the 4 x 8mm bolts holding the metal plate to front bottom of bell housing.

Take a look at your fuel hose while u have bell housing off.

One for debate (I am not recommending this but it worked for me). I have a dual plate Mcleod clutch in mine which complicates the alignment as I don't have a suitable tool to align the spline of both plates, hence trying the following method (Last time I used the box itself to try and align which was a pain in the rear).

I fitted the bell housing then wedged the clutch pedal down (Making sure the release bearing was square against the clutch fingers) with the box in gear I then offered the box up, a couple of small twists and was amazed it went straight on in a couple of seconds.

Like I say, not recommending this approach and anyway aligning the single plate it easy anyway with a cheap tool, or bar wrapped in tape if like me you are a cheapskate.

Anyway, not a complicated job. I have had a bit of practice now... My box was on the floor of the garage in an hour and 15 minutes last time. I believe some of the guys here can do a clutch swap in under 3 hrs.... I would budget double that the first time around.

Good luck

Matt




Edited by mattrosersv on Thursday 27th November 10:05

OleVix

1,438 posts

147 months

Thursday 27th November 2014
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Had the box out three times, all times I found it much easier to take of the centre console with the dooropener knob/gear stick and detatch the gear linkage from there! Its a right pig from underneath, even if youve done it before.

Sardonicus

18,928 posts

220 months

Thursday 27th November 2014
quotequote all
OleVix said:
Had the box out three times, all times I found it much easier to take of the centre console with the dooropener knob/gear stick and detatch the gear linkage from there! Its a right pig from underneath, even if youve done it before.
yes Never done it this way myself but I know Phazed swears by it rather than at it wink fiddling with that linkage and those small thin thrust washers is by far the worse part of the job IMO frown

mattrosersv

579 posts

229 months

Thursday 27th November 2014
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Another one for centre console off here.

s p a c e m a n

10,752 posts

147 months

Thursday 27th November 2014
quotequote all
You need to split the box that way though don't you? I took all of the centre console off but still needed to do the one on the bellhousing from underneath.

mattrosersv

579 posts

229 months

Thursday 27th November 2014
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Yes, can't see you would get the bell housing to linkage bolt off through the console (not tried mind).

Sardonicus

18,928 posts

220 months

Thursday 27th November 2014
quotequote all
Once the box is lowered slightly you can work blind above your head and remove the gear linkage sliding bar 13mm nylock from underneath wink

s p a c e m a n

10,752 posts

147 months

Thursday 27th November 2014
quotequote all
Yep, that's why I didn't see the point in splitting them when I did it. Take the centre console off to do the back bolts but just fiddle about from underneath to do the one on the bellhousing and take it all out in one go. smile

lancepar

1,011 posts

171 months

Thursday 27th November 2014
quotequote all
Can I just ask a quicky, does the chassis cross member mean you have the same hassle with removing the Sd1(LT77) gearbox. (I'm still sitting on the fence).

s p a c e m a n

10,752 posts

147 months

Thursday 27th November 2014
quotequote all
No, as the LT77 box doesn't have the home made TVR special gear linkage. The reason for the linkage is because they made the car originally with the LT77 box, when they updated it to the T5 the gear stick was too far back so they had to make the linkage to bring it forward to the same position as the LT77. Tried to google a picture of the two boxes next to each other but couldn't find one.

carsy

3,018 posts

164 months

Thursday 27th November 2014
quotequote all
lancepar said:
Can I just ask a quicky, does the chassis cross member mean you have the same hassle with removing the Sd1(LT77) gearbox. (I'm still sitting on the fence).
No chassis intermingled linkage with the Lt77 thumbup

However you wont get the box and bell housing out together in one piece. As you pull the box back it will fowl the chassis before it frees. You have to free the bellhousing from the engine, then get into the bellhousing and undo it from the box, then wiggle them out seperately.

Its good fun thumbup

db484bhpv8

8,655 posts

219 months

Thursday 27th November 2014
quotequote all
OleVix said:
Had the box out three times, all times I found it much easier to take of the centre console with the dooropener knob/gear stick and detatch the gear linkage from there! Its a right pig from underneath, even if youve done it before.
definately the easiest way.
I had a year where i went through clutches more than i filled the tank with petrol! I had the gearbox out 4 or 5 times and the time to remove and replace the gearbox and new clutch came down to about 4 hours all in.