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I was able to get the clutch assembly on the input shaft... but not in the usual way. And since I pulled my engine from the top (yes, it would have been easier from the bottom) I was pretty determined to get it back in the same way.
The input shaft was hanging up on the clutch disk. After some contemplation, I removed the bell housing, performed the bell housing modification for the speed reference sensors, and pulled the pressure plate and clutch disk off. I then proceeded to test fit the clutch disk onto the input shaft. The Sachs clutch disk was a very tight fight (explaining the challenge of getting the short block to slide onto the shaft. The factory original clutch disk (rubber damper) slid on without any issue, but after 170K miles, I'd imagine its splines were a bit loose.
I bolted the bell housing to the input shaft, then fitted the clutch fork and pressure plate, then fitted the clutch disk. After all that, it was just a matter of mating the input shaft tip to the pilot bearing (using the bell housing mounting holes and pin for guidance) and tightenting the bolts in steps to draw the block and pilot bearing on to the input shaft. Easy peasy. (I re-attached the pressure plate to the flywheel through the starter opening with my son rotating the engine as I tightened all 9 bolts in steps and torqued them down.)
Probably not the easiest approach to this, but I was hesitant to drop the exhaust, transaxle and rotate the torque tube since the front of the car was a mess and my wife was pretty certain it wasn't going to go back together if I continued to remove things from the car.
I appreciate everyone's help - hopefully last time I'll ever have to do this job. (I'll leave it to my son to do it, or better yet, I'll give him the money to pay someone else to do it next time!
You guys are doing it all wrong. Bolt the bell housing on the torque tube WITHOUT THE ENGINE. Then install the clutch assembly completely in the bell housing without the engine
Then you put the engine in the engine bay. Bolt the engine to the bell housing, rotate the clutch pressure plate to line up the holes to the flywheel and bolt in until slight pressure (don't tighten it down until all bolts are in). The bolts are accessed through the starter hole.
WOW! What an idea! that is a totally unique way of doing it! It's understandable and a neat way of doing it! Inspirational !! Easier to align all the parts that way and could be less frustrating! AND it gets the job done!
WOW! What an idea! that is a totally unique way of doing it! It's understandable and a neat way of doing it! Inspirational !! Easier to align all the parts that way and could be less frustrating! AND it gets the job done!
It is very easy to take out an engine and reinstall it this way. Any other way is way harder and causes damage to hood latch, clutch parts, etc from space and alignment problems.
If you think this is neat, you should see how I change both front strut inserts for the early cars while it is still on the car in 15 minutes (to do both sides) without a spring compressor while leaving the front wheels on the car/front hub.
You guys are doing it all wrong. Bolt the bell housing on the torque tube WITHOUT THE ENGINE. Then install the clutch assembly completely in the bell housing without the engine
Then you put the engine in the engine bay. Bolt the engine to the bell housing, rotate the clutch pressure plate to line up the holes to the flywheel and bolt in until slight pressure (don't tighten it down until all bolts are in). The bolts are accessed through the starter hole.
This sounds like an outstanding suggestion... I am getting pretty close to the point in my project when the motor will be going back in, and I already have the transaxle and TT re-installed, so I have been mentally girding myself for the ordeal of aligning the engine to the input shaft, but I think I am going to do this instead. THANK YOU!
This sounds like an outstanding suggestion... I am getting pretty close to the point in my project when the motor will be going back in, and I already have the transaxle and TT re-installed, so I have been mentally girding myself for the ordeal of aligning the engine to the input shaft, but I think I am going to do this instead. THANK YOU!
The engine will go in a lot better this way. If you put it in with the bell housing assembly on the engine, it makes it much longer. When putting it in from the top, the crankshaft pulley will hit the hood latch scratching the heck out of it or mangling it and you will probably need to pry bar it if you leave the bell housing on it. Without the bell housing, it drops straight down and all you have to do is move the engine forward the width of the flywheel to get past the top of the bell housing.
Using this method, I would never take the engine out from the bottom. I leave the entire suspension intact so there is no need to mess with the suspension, tie rods, steering rack/shaft, cross members, or jacking the car to dangerous heights in order to slide the engine under it let alone buying jack stands or jack with the ability to lift that high.
Added bonus, you don't need a clutch alignment tool.
Before you attach the bell housing to the torque tube, cut out the holes for the speed sensors, making it a slot. Now you can attach the speed sensors to the back of the engine while it's out of the car, and they slide into the bell housing when you drop the engine into place.
That's also a good suggestion, creating slots for the reference sensors... Thank you chartersb...
For Legoland951 and any others that have used his technique: was getting the tip of the torque tube's drive shaft to mate to the pilot bearing straightforward, or are there any tricks to note?
That's also a good suggestion, creating slots for the reference sensors... Thank you chartersb...
For Legoland951 and any others that have used his technique: was getting the tip of the torque tube's drive shaft to mate to the pilot bearing straightforward, or are there any tricks to note?
The suggestions here have been fantastic...
The torque tube shaft slides right in. Use a little anti seize because I have seen seized bearings wear out the end of the torque tube causing a rattle that requires a replacement torque tube/shaft to fix (change your bearing while you are doing a clutch every time). The engine, once lowered in place, can wiggle quite a bit for proper orientation as long as it is lowered fairly leveled. The torque tube/bell housing assembly can also lift, lower, and move sideways for the shaft to align to the bearing.
Great! Thanks for the follow up. Yup, good idea on the anti-seize... Although it will be a new pilot bearing, it still sounds like a good precaution...
05-30-2020, 07:37 PM
