Clutch & Gearbox removal - DIY job?

[sk7ine man]

Hi all,

Just had the most wonderful drive back from work today in the Cerbera in this glorious sunshine with the car running beautifully save for a few minor niggles...an intimate moment when everything just clicks....

The clutch is due to be refurbed/changed as its starting to slip a lot worse now, and ive been considering doing it myself slowly over the course of 2-3 weeks in my new house which has a small but adequtely sized garage. Now ive done a clutch change on a Vectra and on other cars a couple of head gaskets, bushes, suspension changes, exhausts and a complete dash in out job on a Supra so i think by following Mad Marks guide it doesnt seem to be a daunting task.

However, i dont have a ramp to get it to the ideal height but is it something that can be done on the floor with axle stands, trolley jacks etc ? I really want to have a crack at it and save paying a work colleague £300 for the pleasure purely from an enthusiasts point of view rather than skimp on money but i dont want to be stuck trying to get it out/in....any thoughts/suggestions??

Thanks all

[JensenA]

I've never done one so I can;t say yes or no. I'm sure a ramp would make it a lot easier, but have you read this? It may help you decide.

[sk7ine man]

JensenA said:

I've never done one so I can;t say yes or no. I'm sure a ramp would make it a lot easier, but have you read this? It may help you decide.

It would but im sure its not as hard as a transverse engine g/box thereyby needing to remove drivehsafts/subframe/wishbones etc as far as i know its just chassis cradle, exhaust, propshaft, box mounts, box lever....

Did you add an attachment? i cant see it!

[clive f]

you should be able to do it okay if you can get it as high as is safely possible on axle stands, at least with the t5 box you can seperate it from the bell housing, so you`ll just need an extra pair of hands to remove and replace the box as is bloody heavy, unless of course you can eat 3 shredded wheat!

[Tanguero]

Its is no great problem to do it yourself on axle stands. The only tricky part of the operation I found was getting the gearbox lined up with the plates when putting it back on. I struggled with that untill I made a mini transmission jack with an old scissor jack screwed to a board with castors. With that to take the weight it wasnt too bad.

[JensenA]

Sorry Mate - Here it is.....


http://www.thetvrsite.com/engine/4-engine/16-clutc...

Edited by JensenA on Sunday 23 August 10:21

[plug]

I have done mine before with the car on axle stands using madmarks guide, it is a fairly simple job athough some of the bolts are real gits to get to and the gearbox is very heavy.

[sk7ine man]

Thanks for all the advice guys, i think im going to do a trial lift to see if i can firstly get it high enough to be safe to work under and go from there but it seems a feasible option now, thanks all

[esso]

I did mine in a garage with a pit.It is pretty straightforward if you have Mad Marks guide but you will require some long thin allen key extensions making up to undo the gearbox & bellhousing bolts.You will not be able to remove the gearbox completley because of the manifolds but you can pull it back far enough to remove the bellhousing.Good luck,take your time & if you find yourself losing your rag,walk away & have a cup of tea!!!

[sk7ine man]

Thanks esso. I've got a few long extensions for that, what size allen drive is needed for the box to bellhousing bolts?

Plan is to do it over 3 weeks, I've got a spare trolley jack which I'm going to use to support the box and pull it back and keep it propped in position. I'm sure you guys will be the first to know if I get stuck with anything

[Tanguero]

sk7ine man said:

Thanks esso. I've got a few long extensions for that, what size allen drive is needed for the box to bellhousing bolts?

Plan is to do it over 3 weeks, I've got a spare trolley jack which I'm going to use to support the box and pull it back and keep it propped in position. I'm sure you guys will be the first to know if I get stuck with anything

As I recall you need both 8mm and 10mm allen keys and a good long wobble extension or two.

I tried using a spare trolley jack but found it wasnt anything like manuverable enough when lining things up for reassembly, hence putting a jack on a platform with castors. That made it fairly straightforward to get it all back together after the best part of a day struggling without.

[sk7ine man]

Tanguero said:

sk7ine man said:

Thanks esso. I've got a few long extensions for that, what size allen drive is needed for the box to bellhousing bolts?

Plan is to do it over 3 weeks, I've got a spare trolley jack which I'm going to use to support the box and pull it back and keep it propped in position. I'm sure you guys will be the first to know if I get stuck with anything

As I recall you need both 8mm and 10mm allen keys and a good long wobble extension or two.

I tried using a spare trolley jack but found it wasnt anything like manuverable enough when lining things up for reassembly, hence putting a jack on a platform with castors. That made it fairly straightforward to get it all back together after the best part of a day struggling without.

I've got a clutch alignment tool for the t5 box so should aid putting it back on, that's a good idea you had with the castors,any pics of it? Failing that I'm sure me and my bro would be able to lift it back in?!

[ancol]

make sure when undoing the allen bolts you keep hex drive square as poss cos if you round off the pins would be difficult job then. i did mine few months back on ramps and axle stands so the whole car was up in the air still a bit of a squeeze but not too bad as said above the best thing is to take your time if you get ratty with it walk away have a cuppa and all seems better when you return. you will need an impact driver really to get the pins out of the slave cylinder they are bloody tight,good luck with it anyway

[sk7ine man]

Ill be inspecting the slave but it operates fine and was changed by the previous owner 2 years ago. I've got 8 & 10mm hex bits and ill prob soak the bolts iff possible in penetrating fluid overnight. Was it tight getting under the car with just axle stands?

[sk7ine man]

ancol said:

make sure when undoing the allen bolts you keep hex drive square as poss cos if you round off the pins would be difficult job then.

Ancol, do you mean pins as in the allen bolts holding box to bellhousing?

[Tanguero]

sk7ine man said:

Tanguero said:

sk7ine man said:

Thanks esso. I've got a few long extensions for that, what size allen drive is needed for the box to bellhousing bolts?

Plan is to do it over 3 weeks, I've got a spare trolley jack which I'm going to use to support the box and pull it back and keep it propped in position. I'm sure you guys will be the first to know if I get stuck with anything

As I recall you need both 8mm and 10mm allen keys and a good long wobble extension or two.

I tried using a spare trolley jack but found it wasnt anything like manuverable enough when lining things up for reassembly, hence putting a jack on a platform with castors. That made it fairly straightforward to get it all back together after the best part of a day struggling without.

I've got a clutch alignment tool for the t5 box so should aid putting it back on, that's a good idea you had with the castors,any pics of it? Failing that I'm sure me and my bro would be able to lift it back in?!

Sorry - no pics and I have use the castors for something else now. It was just a board about a foot square with a caster at each corner and an old scisor jack screwed to the other side. I also have a clutch alignments tool and it was bugger all help! My problem wasn't getting the plates lined up it was getting enought leverage on the heavy gearbox to get it straight on to the plates. Most people seem to manage without too much trouble so it may well just be me thats feeble

I don't think you would have much hope of getting a second person underneath!

[sk7ine man]

Tanguero said:

sk7ine man said:

Tanguero said:

sk7ine man said:

Thanks esso. I've got a few long extensions for that, what size allen drive is needed for the box to bellhousing bolts?

Plan is to do it over 3 weeks, I've got a spare trolley jack which I'm going to use to support the box and pull it back and keep it propped in position. I'm sure you guys will be the first to know if I get stuck with anything

As I recall you need both 8mm and 10mm allen keys and a good long wobble extension or two.

I tried using a spare trolley jack but found it wasnt anything like manuverable enough when lining things up for reassembly, hence putting a jack on a platform with castors. That made it fairly straightforward to get it all back together after the best part of a day struggling without.

I've got a clutch alignment tool for the t5 box so should aid putting it back on, that's a good idea you had with the castors,any pics of it? Failing that I'm sure me and my bro would be able to lift it back in?!

Sorry - no pics and I have use the castors for something else now. It was just a board about a foot square with a caster at each corner and an old scisor jack screwed to the other side. I also have a clutch alignments tool and it was bugger all help! My problem wasn't getting the plates lined up it was getting enought leverage on the heavy gearbox to get it straight on to the plates. Most people seem to manage without too much trouble so it may well just be me thats feeble

I don't think you would have much hope of getting a second person underneath!

Ah I see. What trolley jack and axle stands did you use to prop the car up?

[Tanguero]

sk7ine man said:

Tanguero said:

sk7ine man said:

Tanguero said:

sk7ine man said:

Thanks esso. I've got a few long extensions for that, what size allen drive is needed for the box to bellhousing bolts?

Plan is to do it over 3 weeks, I've got a spare trolley jack which I'm going to use to support the box and pull it back and keep it propped in position. I'm sure you guys will be the first to know if I get stuck with anything

As I recall you need both 8mm and 10mm allen keys and a good long wobble extension or two.

I tried using a spare trolley jack but found it wasnt anything like manuverable enough when lining things up for reassembly, hence putting a jack on a platform with castors. That made it fairly straightforward to get it all back together after the best part of a day struggling without.

I've got a clutch alignment tool for the t5 box so should aid putting it back on, that's a good idea you had with the castors,any pics of it? Failing that I'm sure me and my bro would be able to lift it back in?!

Sorry - no pics and I have use the castors for something else now. It was just a board about a foot square with a caster at each corner and an old scisor jack screwed to the other side. I also have a clutch alignments tool and it was bugger all help! My problem wasn't getting the plates lined up it was getting enought leverage on the heavy gearbox to get it straight on to the plates. Most people seem to manage without too much trouble so it may well just be me thats feeble

I don't think you would have much hope of getting a second person underneath!

Ah I see. What trolley jack and axle stands did you use to prop the car up?

Just a low entry-high lift jack I have had for years and fairly standard 3 ton axle stands. Nothing special.

[sk7ine man]

Tanguero said:

sk7ine man said:

Tanguero said:

sk7ine man said:

Tanguero said:

sk7ine man said:

Thanks esso. I've got a few long extensions for that, what size allen drive is needed for the box to bellhousing bolts?

Plan is to do it over 3 weeks, I've got a spare trolley jack which I'm going to use to support the box and pull it back and keep it propped in position. I'm sure you guys will be the first to know if I get stuck with anything

As I recall you need both 8mm and 10mm allen keys and a good long wobble extension or two.

I tried using a spare trolley jack but found it wasnt anything like manuverable enough when lining things up for reassembly, hence putting a jack on a platform with castors. That made it fairly straightforward to get it all back together after the best part of a day struggling without.

I've got a clutch alignment tool for the t5 box so should aid putting it back on, that's a good idea you had with the castors,any pics of it? Failing that I'm sure me and my bro would be able to lift it back in?!

Sorry - no pics and I have use the castors for something else now. It was just a board about a foot square with a caster at each corner and an old scisor jack screwed to the other side. I also have a clutch alignments tool and it was bugger all help! My problem wasn't getting the plates lined up it was getting enought leverage on the heavy gearbox to get it straight on to the plates. Most people seem to manage without too much trouble so it may well just be me thats feeble

I don't think you would have much hope of getting a second person underneath!

Ah I see. What trolley jack and axle stands did you use to prop the car up?

Just a low entry-high lift jack I have had for years and fairly standard 3 ton axle stands. Nothing special.

Super. Looking through some old threads, how did you get the allen bolts off in the end? Im going to use one of these which have a longer reach:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

[Tanguero]

Following the advice of 350Mat and itsallyellow and others - thanks chaps!

Space is tight so I found I needed a 3/8 allen socket - I couldnt get a 1/2 inch one onto the bolt straight, then a short wobble extension to get round the bulge of the bellhousing and a long one to go right back past the gearbox to the prop shaft end where you will have room to get a decent breaker bar on to it.