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Changing the Clutch

red_triangle.gif (202 bytes) Bill Pollack

The installation of the new JWT pressure plate and stock disk took me about 6 hrs with minimal breaks - thats about 2 hrs longer than I'd hoped for...

Impressions - The pedal pressure is very light - lighter than the pressure the old OEM components were giving.  I'm going easy on it until it gets broken in but it seems to hold just fine.  I also have to re-adjust the clutch cable slack as it has changed w/ less than 200 miles wear...

The hardest part of the install were (in order of obnoxiousness):

  • Getting all of the rear motor mount bolts back in.  It helps if you DON'T tighten the upper mount-to-engine bolt first... Doh!
  • Getting the starter back in w/o a helper.  Possible but difficult. People with two elbows per arm should have no problems here.  :)
  • Getting the speedo cable back in.  I tried resting the cable on the trans connector and turning the drive axle - but no dice.  I had to find the "tab" on the end of the cable and manually line it up with the slot on the trans output union (harder to do than it sounds since all those vacuum lines are in the way).   BTW - the top of the speedo cable retaining nut has 22 mm flats (handy if it is corroded on, like mine was!)
  • Getting the trans back on with both the drive axle and friction disk splines needing to be aligned.  Actually getting the trans to engage the pass side drive axle was easy - but it still took significant rocking of the trans (about 20 minutes) to get it to engage the friction disk and slap together...  I supported the trans from above -more info pending...
  • I forgot to put the brake line to strut retaining clip back on.   Doh!
  • I had to do a dry-run trans install (w/o PP/friction disk) to "seat" the new pilot bushing back into the crank.  I'd suggest that other SE-R clutch mechanics not fool w/ the pilot bushing...
  • I meticulously torqued all trans and PP bolts.  I even lock-tighted the flywheel and PP bolts (for better or worse...).
  • Don't set your tube of anti-seize on the valve cover.  You might accidentally set your hand down on it while replacing other components (making a heck of a mess!).  Doh!

But best of all - I had no spare parts!  That's always a good sign!

All in all - I can recommend the following "tricks" to anyone else in the same bind:

  • Leave the pass side drive axle in place.  It won't be a problem to get it re-engaged later.
  • If you have a means of lifting the trans from above (shop crane etc) then definitely leave the driver's side axle attached to the trans - remove ONLY the strut to knuckle bolts (and the 32mm hub nut of course). Pull the outboard CV out of the knuckle.  This will save time and risk! I suspect this trick would probably work well for folk using a floor jack to re-install the trans+axle but I haven't tried it!

This was definitely a 4 beer job (that probably didn't help the time- but oh well!)  The trans + driver's axle weighs ~110 lbs according to my scale.

red_triangle.gif (202 bytes) Andy Radin: some notes about installing the clutch on a G20

  • G20 hub nuts are 36 mm, NOT 32 mm.
  • You can remove the drive axles WITHOUT seperating the steering linkage or hub ball joints.  Remove the bolt holding the upper control arm to the upper link of the hub.  Have one person pull down, the other jockey the axle around until it comes out.  Works on both sides.  BTW both oil seals looked fine (replaced 'em anyway).  You can also do this to change the (outer) CV boot.