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View Full Version : Doing clutch job on the ground.


viet^ladin
12-16-2003, 08:47 PM
I just recently pulled out my sr20det trans out of my s13 to change the clutch. I had a really hard time dropping out the trans but finally it came out, kind of messed up my shifter though. Now during the process of putting it back, I took off my shifter, so that I could get more room to work with. Anyone have any suggestions, or websites with some hints? Also, we are doing this on the ground using a car jack to lift the tranny. Really hard.

the head
12-16-2003, 10:00 PM
unbolt your down pipe from your exaust then loosen the engine mounts so the engine will tilt back more you might want to put the car up on jackstands to give you extra room

thelinja
12-16-2003, 11:04 PM
ert, well me and a friend changed my KA clutch over the summer and the tranny was actually a lot easier to put back on then it was to drop out. You just gotta make sure the input shaft from the tranny is lined up with the engine output. Just give it hell and it will go in eventually. My friend was on the DS end of the tranny, a jack was under supporting it, and I was at the bell housing and we got it to merge, it just takes some muscle and time. You'll get it. How exactly did you fuck up the shifter?

viet^ladin
12-17-2003, 12:45 AM
Well i took off my shift knob, to drop the trans, but while dropping the trans the threaded part was scraping the metal. It was scraping the surrounding metal where the shifter itself goes.

andrave
12-17-2003, 01:34 AM
you have to remove the shifter to drop the tranny, especially if you are doing it on jackstands!

Anyway I guess you learned that lesson, its really easy to pull out, just a snap ring holds it in place.

To get the tranny back on the splines, go to a hardware store and get some longer bolts and nuts, and line the tranny up. Hold it in place and put the longer bolts and nuts in a couple holds. thread them on and then tighten down the bolts to pull the tranny onto the splines. Then thread the regular bolts into the remaining holes and tighten them down. Then take out the longer ones and replace them with the stock ones. Makes it a whole lot faster and easier than trying to jimmy the heavy tranny around under the car.
A transmission jack also helps quite a bit, but if you have a friend to help you, you can do without it.
good luck... don't forget to refill the tranny once you are done.

holisticbeatz
12-17-2003, 01:50 AM
When I did a clutch job on my S14, I had my friend support the tranny with a jack while my other friend and I benchpressed it in. Got lucky and it went it with the first try. It's really scary being underneath the tranny, so be sure to have a jack "spotting" as a precaution.

thx247
12-17-2003, 12:57 PM
Thats a good idea using bolts to line up the tranny with the spline. I think next time I do that I'll go find 3-4 solid metal pipes to do just that with.

Evil S14
12-17-2003, 08:22 PM
on my KA we just unbolted the engine mounts and put a wood block somwhere towards the front of the engine, took a jack and tilted the front of the engine up and slid the tranny right in, worked on the first try, took like 10 minutes :D

Evil S14
12-17-2003, 08:30 PM
Originally posted by the head
unbolt your down pipe from your exaust then loosen the engine mounts so the engine will tilt back more you might want to put the car up on jackstands to give you extra room

i totally overlooked that :o

runyun
12-18-2003, 09:01 AM
The bell housing is high on the sr tranny.. im surprised you pulled it off as-is.

We had to literally rotate the tranny until it would drop out completely.

Stabbing it back in was a major PITA also. Again, we lifted it w/the tranny rotated to the side, to get clearance.

Good luck.

steve shadows
12-18-2003, 02:01 PM
heres a trick try attatching a engine hoist to the front of the sr motor, and loosen the motor mount nuts about 3/4 of the way off. jack it up so the motor angles down and out under the car, should be a lot easier to get the bell housing to clear the firewall, done it several times.

-steve

viet^ladin
12-19-2003, 01:41 AM
Well thanks a lot guys for your help, I just finished not too long ago. I dropped my exhaust which gave me a little more angle to get the trans in. My friend benchpressed the front bell housing and I held the back. Took some pushing to get it all the way in, but finally we did it. Now I just got to drive 300 miles, to see what my motor can really do. :D :D :D

Pacman
12-19-2003, 04:37 PM
HAHAHA....... I don't envy you, its a GREAT PAIN IN THE @$$!!! I did a flywheel/clutch job for a friend, finally had to push it in the shop to finish, couldn't get it all aligned. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: