1990 Vert has a slipping clutch. Been a home wrench for years on british cars, snowmobiles, recently rebuilt the engine on my Harley. I've read the basics on removing the tranny and replacing the clutch, just looking for any useful tips before I take it apart. I read about jacking the front of the engine up to make the access to the top bolts and reattaching the tranny easier. Any other helpful hints like that would be appreciated.
Thanks!

 

After you remove the drive shaft, put a plastic bag over the tail shaft of the transmission and secure it with a rubber band...so when you remove the transmission and accidentally tilt it, the gear oil stays inside.

I think replacing the pilot bearing is the hardest part.

If you replace the pilot bearing, use some 600 grit to smooth the bore after you remove the old one. Lube the bore with a light coat of grease. Put the new pilot bearing the the freezer before gently tapping it in place with a socket.

 

Thanks Knight, that is exactly the kinda tips I am looking for. I plan on replacing the pilot bushing, cause I hate to have to do things twice.

 

you'll need to rent a pilot bearing removing tool / slide hammer

You can get away without replacing the pilot bearing if you feel lucky/its in good shape.

Its always a good idea to replace the pilot bearing. Like wheels, you want to crisscross the bolts when tightening the pressure plate again. Hopefully the flywheel is in good condition so it doesn't have to be resurface.

Clutch is an 'easier' job. Just time consuming. Take your time and be careful and you'll be fine.

 

I just replaced a lot of bearings in my Harley motor, so that doesn't scare me. I am hoping the flywheel hasn't been damaged, I don't think it has. I haven't run it since the slipping started and it was good when I had a motor installed 10,000 miles ago.

 

And I am getting close to be able to view pics on this site, lol

 

Pilot bearing removal tool. Look on mazdatrix if you dont know what it is. You think you can do it but if you dont have the right tool it will/can derail you for hours if it needs replacing. Also, read up on this site about all the lovely ways to remove the flywheel just in case its something you need to do.

If your doin it ghetto on the ground make damm sure its stable as hell. If you need to remove the flywheel bolt youll know what I mean.

If its your first time read through the fsm a few times for that section.
Tranny jack with rollers makes life easy so does a 200lb gorilla for a friend.

One more thing, if you jack the shifter hard one way or the other you can get it stuck between gears to the point that you hafta pull off the tail housing to fix it. So be nice to it. I dont know why it happend to me twice but two replacement trannys over the years were in this state. Dont be a hero, pull the shifter before you try pulling the tranny out.

Other than that all you got to do is man-up and its easy.

 

Its pretty straight forward, just follow the FSM and take your time.

 

Car will be on jackstands, shifter will be removed, my motorcycle floor jack will become my tranny lift. All good advice, I just don't like surprises when I work on stuff anymore. I'll probably have the parts here by Friday so I'll start the disassembly today.
Does the exhaust need to come off? It looks like it does in the FSM.

 

Yes.

 

Jack, jackstands (leave jack under front of car). REMOVE + BATT terminal. remove 2 bolts for clutch cylinder, Remove exhaust, remove driveshaft, remove heat sheilds, plastic bag around tail of tranny w/ rubber band. Remove starter wires, unbolt starter from tranny, Unbolt tranny mount, unbolt tranny wiggle/pull. I think that sums up the process basically in order. SHould take roughly 45min-1hr to get out if you have a impact. Very easy process. You will be able to do it no problem. Report back so you can get your post counts up!

 

You can borrow a pilot bearing puller from Autozone for free.

 

Thanks guys, should be back on the road by this weekend. It's nice that I'm in CA and this car is a one owner prior, rust is not an issue. Sure makes it easier not snapping bolts, lol

 

Don't mistake the old clutch you took out for the new clutch you are putting in. You wouldn't want to do all that work and not actually change the clutch.

 

https://www.rx7club.com/showpost.php...05&postcount=5

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ghlight=clutch

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...bearing+puller

 

Might need to raise the front of the engine to get the trans to line up for easy installation.
Don't forget fluid for the shift rods if the area under the shifter is dry and check the shifter bushings, boots, esp. inner boot that bolts to trans while it's out.

 

You guys are great and I really appreciate the help. I recently replaced the shifter bushings so everything is good there. They were shot. Parts will be here tomorrow so I guess I'll get busy today and tear it down. I printed out just startn's overview to use as a guideline.
And I used to do this stuff without a manual for years, I prefer a plan these days, lol

 

you can actually do it by yourself

 

THIS above/\/\..is a VERY good piece of advice!
If you take the plastic tray off that protects the engine Down below..you can put a Scissor jack on the main Pulley and jack the engine UP at that Point(while the engine is still attached to the Engine mounts and car).
This will allow you to Slip the transmission onto its "dowel" (the part on the back of the engine)...Really Just doing the "TILT Thing" will Save you ALOT of Time and aggravation,as it gives you a clear shot to align the trans to the Engine,and the input shaft INTO the pilot bearing,without Killing the Bearing!

 

Just to update my progress, we got the new clutch installed today. Getting the car in the air and safe on the jackstands took us an hour, lol. Guess with age and a slower healing time, we made darn sure it wasn't going anywhere.
How many exhaust hangers can you have on one exhaust system? I'd have to rate this car as having the most per foot I've ever seen. Removing the exhaust was the biggest PIA, lol.
Everything came apart cleanly, thank goodness for a CA car. Flywheel is fine, and the tranny went back in with minimal effort. No need to jack the engine.
It's done except for putting the exhaust back on. After 5 hours we had had enough. Not looking forward to man handling the exhaust back in place, but we'll handle it.
The bottom transmission bolt is missing. I know it's a 14mm head, anyone know what size that is?
I really appreciate all the help I got on this forum!

 

I believe they are 10mm fine thread, very hard to find in my area, so good luck with your search

 

Good to know! If it works for the RX it turns a near impossible task into seconds. I had the specialty Mazda tool back when I was doing RX-7's regularly.