airborne

i'm contemplating it...i bought my fd with a 1 year old ACT street/strip clutch that was on its way out...could only hold 270rwhp on the dyno before slipping and now chatters/clunks. i am going to replace it with the same clutch and was going to do it myself with the help of a friend who replaced a 1st gen clutch.
major problems? tools? this is just the clutch, flywheel is staying. best points for the jack stands?
tia!

guru

Rule number one, if you are doing the clutch always do the flywheel. Or in 6 months you will be asking how to do the flywheel on jack stands. The tranny drop is easy, go buy a clutch alignment tool. It makes tranny replacement much easier because all the splines will line up. good luck

Guru

m_snoby

I just did this exact setup, With a rebuilt motor and tranny, the motor came in before the tranny did and I didn't want to wait so I put the engine in and then the tranny. I have to say... somewhat difficult and pretty dangerous with out a lift and a transmission jack. I ended up putting the car WAY up high on jack stands and scooting the tranny under the car then man handling the transmission on to a flat plate that was on top of my floor jack. It can be done (especially if you are a cheap *** like me), but it was alot of work. Especially aligning the transmission to the fly wheel.
I hope this helps

airborne

always? do the flywheel? it already has a lightweight one in there...why do the flywheel?

m_snoby

for a perfectly flat surface. On my second gen I tried not trueing the flywheel and I had to take it back apart again, because it chattered.

Jonesboro

You don't need a transmission jack to drop the transmission, but you'll be damn glad you have one when you try to line up the transmission input shaft and the clutch spline during installation.

You can rent a transmission jack at your local tool rental store. I rented one for $20/day (24 hour period). $20 well spent, it was a godsend!

airborne

you guys who've done it...can you recommend some jack stand points that'll be out of the way of where the work is goin on?

HAILERS

For the front I used drive on ramps. For the rear I used two jack stands placed under where the trailing arms attach to the body. Then under the rear wheels I put a couple of old tires, just in case. Sorry I never did it with jack stands in the front. That would really make me feel uneasy. That description of the rear jack stands is'nt too clear I guess. No car to look at where I am right now. Had to put a piece of wood b/t the nut and the stand so it wouldn't rock. Did not use a transmission jack. Used a floor jack and my wits. The transmission jack is most likely the way to go though. I also remember having to support the rear of the engine when taking the transmission out. Not sure if that was really required. I felt the car was dead solid when I had it jacked. Pushed and shoved the car, within reason, to gain confidence that it wasn't going to fall.

airborne

well after all this i'll be buying ramps and renting a tranny jack...and have a couple people to help. i'll also take a look at the flywheel...its only a year or so old so should be good. if not i'll get it resurfaced...
thanks everyone! labor for a clutch is at least $250...thats 1/6th the price of an M2 IC!

Jonesboro

Go to the following link:

http://www.iluvmyrx7.com/Technical_I...ice_manual.htm

Open the Chapter entitled General Info. Go to page number GI-8 of this chapter and it will show the locations to place the jack stands. These are the same locations for placing the jack that comes with the car.

Go take a look at this place on your car and you will notice that a piece of the body sheet metal extends down from the body at this point. What I did was cut a piece of wood sized to fit the top (saddle) of my jack stand so that only the wood touched the car and the jack stand itself would not. Then I cut a slot in the top piece of the wood so that the sheet metal extension fit cleanly in this slot and it would not be bent while on the jack stands.

With the jack stands in these locations, your remaining issue is really how high your jack stands will lift the car and whether or not the transmission will clear the underside of the car when you try to remove the transmission from under the car. If this is a concern, then get some 2x wood sized wide enough so that the base of your jack stands sit COMPLETELY and STABLE on the wood. For example 2" by 12" wood. Place one or two pieces of this wood under the base of each jack stand to elevate your car higher for more undercar clearance. You may have to raise your car in stages, one level at a time, before you achieve the height you are after.

Spend the extra time and attention to make sure the jack stands are STABLE and your car is resting SECURELY on the jack stands before you start working under the car.

peejay

I've never replaced or resurfaced the flywheel on a clutch replacement, on my personal cars or customers cars. The only time I had a clutch chatter problem was, ironically, when I re-used the clutch that came with an engine I installed, it chattered a little bit but that went away after a month.

HAILERS

JONESBORO..... That was a good description. On the earlier post I should have said, when referring to the rear, that I put the jackstand under where the subframe mounts to the body, not *where the trailing arm mounts to the body. Anyway, be safe.

airborne

What is the point of those pieces of metal? i know those are the standard jacking points (i've got the 94 service manual) but never like using them because it seems the only way to use them without bending that metal is something like Jonesboro did...Or if you're jacking with the stock jack. Is that what they're there for ? To align the stock jack? curious...

DamonB

I did my clutch with the front and rear end on stands. I remember the bellhousing only clearing the bottom of the car by about an inch when dragging the tranny out. Then I said, "man, that thing is BIG". Had 70K when I did the clutch. Didn't touch the flywheel. Now at 90K and no problems; it did 22 autox's last season.

SPOautos

One thing you need to look at if you not going to resurface the flywheel is you clutch warranty. I have a friend who's family owns Star Clutch, a clutch manufacturer. Thier warranty (and most other companies warranties) states if you dont resurface the flywheel it voids the warranty. He says they can tell if the flywheel was resurfaced or not by heat spots that a uneven flywheel will create.

Its up to you but I want ahead and had it done, its only one hour labor ($60)

There is a big *** nut holding on the flywheel, you probably wont have anything that will fit it so you might want to look up the size and go buy the socket before hand. In some cases its very hard to remove.

Good Luck,
STEPHEN

Felix Wankel

I wish I'd known that before I bought my clutch from them

Their place is like a mile from my house.

airborne

yeah i was just talkin about that with my friend (who's done a clutch in an FB) who's going to help me. he has the nut, if its still 2 5/8?
only problem is with the car on jackstands there's no way to fit the huge *** breaker bar in there to get that nut off. how bout an impact wrench? think that's strong enough? the flywheel has been on there about 1.5 years, less than 10k...but then the clutch is already going...can't wait to see what's in there!
thanks all

rx7passion

you mean cletus clutches?? hehe

Howard Coleman

iTrader: (6)

i may be late w this post but here are a couple of items that may be of help. if your clutch was not chattering you probably don't have to resurface your flywheel. it is a bitch to remove and generally doesn't need to be resurfaced. a key on trans removal and installation is to tip the motor down to the rear. put a jack under the front and crank the nose up. if you do that the trans will slot right back in to the engine. if you don't you will struggle for an hour and it won't be fun. two guys can substitute for the trans jack and it is possible to do it alone without a transjack but not recommended. rent the trans jack if you can. take care in not allowing the trans to hang unsupported while the input shaft is partially in the engine. you can ruin your input shaft bearing.
good luck

m_snoby

Yep,
He is 100% right. I am having to take the transmission back out of the car this weekend because I destroyed that input bearing (pilot bearing).
I let the input shaft rest unsupported, just like howard said not to.
FYI