So this is the first time ive ever changed a clutch. A day and a half and im sitting here looking at the largest nut ive ever seen with the pilot bearing inside of the e-shaft. We have tried to get the pilot bearing out with the grease method, which just made a big mess. Now ive already searched and im going to rent a tool from napa or some place but here is my first question: Do I need to take this nut off to take out the pilot bearing? I would really rather not take this thing off, but I am being told it must come off in order to remove the pilot bearing. I found information on this while searching but it was not clear to me weather or not the nut itself had to be removed to take out the pilot bearing.

Next has to do with the driveshaft: We just sorta took it out, tossed it aside and began looking at the LSD checking out how it worked. Of course we turned the tires and watched how it spun. Only after we did this did I remember that you had to mark the position of the shaft or deal with vibrations. My question: is there a way to find out which position the driveshaft is supposed to be in without just sticking it in there, driving it, and changing the position if need be?

Yes im going to buy a manual tomorrow so I can stop tearing up my car unnecessarily.

 

i took the nut off, 54mm on a impact, and omg was my bearing hard to get off, all that was left of it was the outer ring, so yeah i had to cut it to take it out

 

You don't need to remove the flywheel to change out the pilot bearing. You do need to take a good look at the flywheel, to see if it needs turned. Not turning the flywheel will void some clutch warranties