Team MF Member #350 Posts: 3513
Joined: 6/3/2005 Status: offline
This step by step tech article was provided by Sparks232. Thank you Mark.
Replacing your stock clutch
Here is my best description of how to change out your clutch, in a complete tear down/rebuild of the whole process!!
First off you gotta take off your shifter knob and shifter boot. The shifter knob simply unscrews, and the plastic surrounding the boot pops off. Disconnect the cigarette lighter by un-clipping it (no i didnt do this, but i would reccommend doing it) . Underneath all this you will find 2 bolts connecting the shifter handle and the base of the shifter assembly. Unbolt the shifter handle and set to the side. anther pic of the shifter handle below
Disconnect the positive and negative battery cables from the terminals. (this was taken before i took the positive off)
Lift your car in the air then take unbolt the the factory Y pipe from the exhaust manifolds. Passanger side below Drivers side below
Then unbolt it from the Y connection, or from the dual split( like I did) a couple shots below of the factory exhaust manifolds after the pipes are taken out.(passanger side first, Drivers side lower of the 2)
Don't forget to unclip the O2 sensors on both sides and the Speedo sensor. drivers side below
passanger side below (good shot of the drain/fill plugs)
Then take out the 4 bolts that connect the driveshaft to the rear differential. Make sure and make a mark on the driveshaft and the rear axle so you can line it up again when you are done. The driveshaft at the transmission side below
Then slide out the driveshaft from the transmission, make sure to angle UP the side that goes into the transmission, or a little fluid will leak out. Below is a shot of where the driveshaft connects to the rear end.
Use a transmission plug so no tranny fluid leaks out where the driveshaft came from.(the black piece of plastic sticking out of the rear of the transmission)
Next unscrew the starter from the passanger side of the tranny. It has 2 bolts.
Take the clutch cable dust shield(inspection shield) off, and remove the safety clip, and then the cable from the clutch fork, and pull all of it through the bellhousing hole. Unbolt the transmission from the bell housing. After this take off the transmission support brace that holds the driveshaft end of the transmission up to the bottom of the car. Passanger side view below. Drivers side view below
Get a transmission jack and place it under the transmission. Then slowly slide the transmission out and down and either leave it on the jack or place on a table.
Pic as the transmission starts to slide out.
Making sure the shifter clears the bottom of the car
Transmission out and on the shop table(pictured below).
After this unbolt the bellhousing from the engine. (pictured above on the left hand side. It only weighs like 8 or 9 lbs) Next unbolt the pressure plate, and set it, and the clutch disc to the side. (bottom of pic above)
The bellhousing and clutch fork with the old throw out bearing removed.
Unbolt the flywheel from the engine and set aside, dont forget to either get the flywheel resurfaced or buy a new one.(old one pictured below)
Get a hooked slide hammer and take out the old Pilot bearing (biggest PITA with the whole job)
and replace with a new Pilot bearing , hammer in with a block of wood between the bearing and the hammer to prevent damage to the bearing.
Install the resurfaced(or new) flywheel being carefull not to touch any shiney surface. (haynes manual has specs for torquing bolts)
New SPEC Stage 1 Clutch kit!!!!
Bolt on the new pressure plate and clutch disc. Use the allignment tool to make sure the clutch disk stays in the center. (torque down to specs)
Before putting the bellhousing and clutch fork back on run them both through a parts washer.and grease the pivot ball(VERY IMPORTANT)
Bolt on the bell housing, with the clutch fork (after you grease the pivot ball), and new throw-out bearing put on.
With the transmission on the table take out the 4 bolts that go to the Bearing retainer sleeve. You have to pry it off with a flathead screwdriver.
Picture with the Retainer sleeve off.
Put a small bead of Ultra Black UTV Silicone on the inner ring of the new retainer sleeve(on the side that gets bolted to the transmission) and bolt the new sleeve to the transmission(do NOT overtighen, it is alluminum!!!). Also apply a thin amount of grease or lubricant to the retainer sleeve before putting back up into car.(look closely i did!!)
OOOOHHHHHHHH Shiney new TO bearing :-)
Slide the transmission back into the bellhousing and through the center of the new clutch disc and pressure plate(after you take out the plastic allignment tool. Bolt the transmission support brace back to the bottom of the car. Tranny support brace pictured below.
Re-connect the clutch cable to the clutch fork.
Bolt the starter back to the tranny
Bolt the driveshaft back up making sure to line up the previous marks, and bolt the exhaust back up to the manifolds and the Y. Making sure to re-connect the O2 sensors.
Re-connect the speedometer cable to the drivers side of the transmission. Before tightening up the exhaust be sure that everything is properly lined up from the exhaust manifolds back to the tailpipes. Tighen them a little at a time, not just one connection at once(could get exhaust leaks this way)
last thing is reconnect the pos and neg on the battery, and bolt the shifter handle back on, and reconnect the cigarette lighter clip, and put the shifter boot back on. screw the shifter knob back on.... congrats you just changed a clutch by YOUR SELF!!! and saved hundreds of dollars, and i created this after i have taken my transmission out 3 times now, the first time it took 11 hours, the second 6.5 hours, and this last time, 3.5 hours and i did the new TO bearing and Bearing retainer sleeve this last time. good luck everybody! its easier than it looks..
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Replacing your stock clutch (Write-up) - 
