Landseer

Sorry, no fun here, just technical reading. ((( PLEASE add any LINKS commentary, ideas, or pictures onto the bottom of this thread if you care to)))

Am trying to give-back something. Thanks to those of you that posted in the past. Will try to leave a little more for the next guy that has to do this.

Installed clutch kit, new intermediate plate, ball cup insert, clutch master.
Did not remove bell housing or t tube / plenty of room.

Pictures to follow this evening.

A few highlights / thoughts to reinforce within our knowledge base / some of this gathered from searched posts prior to job---

Removal
a. I needed to manipulate all three locator pins before dropping clutch pack. BFH. Can go forward all the way out with stepped pin, backward with other two and leave those two in. I went forward with all 3 and took em out.

b. Starter can be loosened and shifted out of way w/out removing. A short piece cut from an 8mm allen wrench, chucked in closed end gearwrench made this easier. Slave cyl can be loosened at the hydraulic connection, rotated with nipple up, (sounds appealing), and left.

c. Deglaze flywheel. I used WD 40 and a wetstone, followed by 400 paper wrapped in a block of wood, wet with WD 40. Then a half a can of flushing to get rid of the abrasives.

d. I worried about this, but removing the pilot bearing is easy with a puller anybody can make. Pic later, but its similar to others shown before.

e. Polish the ball stud and shifter arm slightly with 1000 paper.

f. Put your new pilot bearing in the freezer.


Installation

a. Put plastic ball cup insert on ball stud. (Arm will go-on later after clutch pack has been lifted and pinned.) Can be done reaching from back of car, cross the top of the torque tube, with a BF screwdriver. Reach up and put something in between the tip and the plastic piece to keep from cutting it. Easy. Little tap from a BFH. Arm can be pushed on that way later, just to seat it partway.

b. New pressureplate has wire shims loops installed. The loops extend so far that they interfere with the bell housing somewhat. Consider shortening them before installation.

c. Consider arranging installation like this: Stepped pin hole in flywheel near the 6 oclock position, low point or close to it, towards floor that is. If you do this, set your other two locator pins so that they don't engage the flywheel holes. You can tap them in later from back to front of car. (WSM also mentions this). Use a couple of the bolts down at the low point of the flywhell to locate the clutchpack to the flywheel, not the locator pins. Sounds stupid, but it works fine. I also pushed my stepped pin from the front of the flywheel and just loosely caught the clutchpack to help me hold the biatch up.

FlyingDog

I hope you mean a half can of brake cleaner to flush, not WD-40.

Landseer

Umm, I wish I did. Not best practice.

At least I completely, thoroughly wiped it all down afterward with clean rags.

Mrmerlin

thanks for taking the time to report what you have done

RyanPerrella

WD-40 on a friction surface?

eeehhhhhh

looking forward to pics, thanks for documenting this.

FlyingDog

If it's all assembled and you don't want to disassemble... get somebody to push the clutch, open the inspection hole in the bottom and take the airbox off the top, then hose everything down from above, wait for the solvent to evaporate, then release the clutch. That should get most of it. Your clutch probably won't last long with oil on it.

Landseer

It will be fine. The plates come come coated in grease anyway, and were wiped down with mineral spirits. Its not like the friction surfaces were soaked in WD 40. Everything was clean and dry on reassembly. Non issue.

RyanPerrella

steel and iron are porous, any lubricant, grease on a friction surface is a big no-no. Simply wiping off WD-40 with just a dry paper towel dosent do the trick, you need a solvent in there.

I like the above stated method of spraying brake cleaner when the clutch disc is away from the flywheel. That at least gives you a shot, I would suggest trying it.

RyanPerrella

Plates come coated in grease? huh? I know things like brake discs have a coating on them to prevent corrosion, is this what your talking about? Its more of a wax or something that can be washed off with water and soap but its far from grease.

The first thing i learned when doing my first brake job when i was 16 was, DONT TOUCH THE DISC OR PADS WITH YOUR OILY HANDS! Even the natural oil from your skin. Sure it probably wont lead to immediate failure, but its less than ideal.

Landseer

If this freaks you two out, wait til I tell you how I clean-up brake cylinders. (Kitchen sink, Gain, 600 paper, acetone to dry, else oven bake)

Anyway, your points are well-taken. No grease on surfaces contacting the friction surfaces.

No glaze, either. All looked good, buttoned up and ready to test. Mounting cats now with new Taurus bosch O2 sensor.

RyanPerrella

hey its your car, what do i care

SeanR

Gotta bump this one.

Great write up, but what the hell do the Shims look like?

Landseer

Like little loops of coathanger.
I'll find a picture.

Landseer

New PP has rather large loops, which interfered with bell housing. Had to cut them down.

Old PP has a couple pieces of coat hanger installed as shims. Use thicker-wired coat hanger rather than thinner.

SeanR

Ahh, that makes sense. Thank you very much. I could not picture it in my head at all. I was thinking about a washer type shim and it had me confused.

Thanks a bunch. Now if I can get the pilot bearing out I think I will be set.