I'm looking at my clutch replacement job and trying to decide whether to tackle it from the front or the back:

From the front means I take the engine out and do the clutch change with the engine on a stand. I have a pretty stripped down engine bay and I have an engine hoist so getting the engine out should probably take just a couple hours. From the back means I take the prop shaft and trans off and do it from under the car.

Anybody done it engine-out? Thoughts? I'm not excited to lay on the ground under the car any time soon (yeah it's an RX-7 I know, I know), which is why I'm thinking about getting the engine out.

 

i'd do it by whatever way is easier to group the most stuff with the least work. so if you needed to seal the oil pan, and do the clutch, pull the engine.

can't say i'm much of a fan of getting under the car either, but maybe if you needed a trans mount, and or driveshaft its easier to pull the trans.

or just pull engine and trans together, its 4 bolts plus all the connections

 

This question comes up every once in a while and the results are about 50/50. I can see both side of the argument.

It's more work, but I like doing it by pulling the engine/trans together. It's best to pull the rad when doing it this way. Removing the fan also helps. It also gives more room if you need to do other maintenance like oil pan gasket, motor mounts, etc.

I pulled my trans to tig in some manual trans mounts on the body and had to get my son and wife to help me get it aligned correctly. That's the last time I put a trans in without pulling the engine. We had to get the right angle and wiggle it to get the splines to line up.

 

Bottom.. 100% I am kind of a burly grease ball, so maybe that just me. 4 bolts on the drive shaft, 3 on the shifter, 2 on the mount, 1 on the speedo, and 4 on the engine. Reverse switch, and starter switch. Done...

Engine has fuel going to it 2 more mounts, exhaust, electricity (both high voltage and low), water coming and going, and oil coming and going.

I spent some time under my car swapping clutches a few years ago (trying to find a stout clutch) and I can pull and replace a clutch in a few hours from the bottom. Lots more fluid and effort to come from the top.

 

Yeah. Part of it is I also have a new radiator to put in. So I'm draining the fluids no matter what.

 

I prefer to pull the engine to do a clutch job. It beats wallowing around under the car if I have a choice. These engines are so small and easy to handle.

 

 

There are less things to deal with from the bottom and less likely to break things that aren't broke yet. Also takes a lot less room as well.

If you have a lift and are already draining the fluids might as well do it from the front.

 

Just tally up the things you need to do, and the things you might want to do "while you're in there". Whether you're paying a mechanic or doing it yourself, it can be less time in the shop to use something like a clutch job to replace the next wave of things to fail, especially on a 30 yr old car.

Just the clutch? From the bottom no doubt. Too many parts to touch on the engine to pull it just for a clutch job.

However, you're doing the radiator...which means you should consider the condition of all the coolant hoses, including the hard to reach ones going to the heater core (and beehive if its a later 12a). Thermostat and water pump maybe? New vacuum hoses, fuel lines, oil pan seal, general cleanup of the engine bay, etc etc. All this stuff can be quick jobs with the motor on the floor. You don't have to pull apart the brittle interior either.

 

That I've gotten pretty good at the Bear-Hug method of muscling the Trans into place from below with the car up on ramps and Jack stands, but if you have a Pilot Bearing that's seized or damaged, it makes for a long day on your back, not to mention trying to align the input shaft to the clutch splines...

As I get older I try to find easier ways, even if they take a bit longer, so the last one was a Clutch, Pressure Plate, Light Aluminum Flywheel, and Pilot Bearing with the engine on a stand, and there is no easier way. It also makes for a good time to do Radiator flush, new Coolant Hoses all around, and Engine Mounts while youre there. While the costs add up for small parts, it also nearly guarantees that you wont be doing a bunch of smaller unrelated things over time and youll be good for about 10yrs if youre not hard on clutches.

Also, every time I've done a Clutch from below and under the car, I end up covered with grease and grime from head to toe...

 

Considering this stuff. My coolant hoses and heater-to-block hose are like 300 miles old so I'm good there. I think my heater core is toast, which sucks. They look like unobtanium now so I might just hook up the cooling system in race mode (just replacing the heater hoses with caps where they connect to the block and radiator) and not running a heater. I get plenty of heat from the presilencer and trans anyway whether or not I want it. No vacuum hoses in play right now.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/6-Ports-Car...kAAOSw7C5cNY3g


Problem solved... Universal heater core.