I was actually serious, once the bellhousing is off it goes pretty smooth. A few possible problems can be the pressure plate and flywheel bolts. The PP bolts are internal hex and can round out easy if you are not careful. They aren't torqued down very hard at least. The flywheel cheeseheads seem to be a nemesis with many people. Give them a good rap with the cheese head socket first to wake them up and you should be fine, remove them with the socket perfectly square. If you round some off they drill out very easy. I assume you are doing the rear main seal and pilot bearing. I had more trouble with removing the seal than I'd like to admit. After that the only tough part working alone is getting the fork held in place while you put the pivot rod through; an extra set of hands would have been nice. Since you quit for the night I hope tomorrows' fun doesn't keep you awake.

Good Luck

 

Wow, that was nice to hear!

Yes, one of the 8mm cheaseheads on the driveshafts was stripped out, so I can certainly see how that would happen.

I had assumed you were joking because I'd heard bad stories about removing bearings. That and the fact that I always feel like I'm working on the hardest part. Probably comes from being inexperienced.

 

Depending what your PO put back in, the PP bolts should be cheeseheads as well. Some cars have internal hex, others don't.

Sam

 

Car still has a rubber disc clutch, so I'm assuming that a clutch job has never been performed on the car.

 

Did you undo the lock-screw on the side of that clutch-fork pivot-shaft?

 

Take a look at the picture in my original post. Do you mean the screw that used to be in the hole I labeled as a setscrew?

 

if you get really stuck on this area (as me and skoot did a bit back), could you not just take off the pressure plate bolts through the starter hole? just rotate the engine and take out each bolt individually and then you could worry about that rod after everything's apart

 

Hey, Dual, that's a pretty good idea!

I did my clutch job with the engine out, so comparatively, it was cake!

good luck buddy! I know you'll get it!

 

It is a little late for this, But I started with the 100+ mm long bolt, vice grips and smacking with a hammer. Didn't work for crap - you need about a foot ot two long bolt to get enough stroke. But Tony W. and I wanted to get the clutch out to see what had gone bad so we came up with a solution that worked but it takes two guys.

Screw the bolt in with a nut on the end. Lock the nut against the pivot shaft. If you turn the bolt clockwise the shaft will turn. Clamp the bolt with a vise grips. While one guy turns the bolt with vise grips the other pries out with a crow bar against the vise grips.

It worked and only took us about a half hour to figure that out.

 

Wow. Today I:

--cut a slot in the bolt with a Dremel, tried to unscrew the bolt.
--cut 2 slots, so it'd be like a phillips head, and tried to unscrew
--drilled a 5/32" hole, which went through 2 cobalt steel bits
--jammed a screw extractor in there, which was too small and really didn't bite
--bought a bigger screw extractor, jammed it in, and began to turn.

The results: Well, a stripped socket, and a broken screw extractor. Funny thing is, the screw extractor appears to have failed in torsion, not shear .

I took a picture, but it didn't come out well.

So, I've had a particularly un-productive day. This pivot arm has become the bane of my existence. Any idea what a new one costs? (I'm trying to decide if I can destroy it as a means of getting it out.)

And no one has ever really sat down with me and walked through a "standard bolt removal procedure." It's always just been generally try stuff until something works. Perhaps I'm doing something wrong--feel free to point this out.

 

Less than $20

 

I may have to do that, then.

 

MAN !!! Sorry to hear things are going this way! I take it the extractor is broke off inside the clutch rod? I'm assuming so. At this point, I'd say go the route dualblade suggests, take the pressure plate bolts out one by one ( don't strip out the insides of those bolts), remove the bellhousing/clutch/PP all together, so at least you can get it on the bench to where you can get a better shot at it. Once out, you might try taking it down to a weld shop, have them weld a long bolt or a rod (with threaded end out) on the end of the pivot rod, and put a slide hammer weight or equivilent, and beat it out. Do it while your at the welders place, because you may have to weld it back on a time or two. I've never had to do this, and I don't know if it WILL work, but I think it is an option?
Just suggest when taking out the pressure plate to flywheel bolts, you break them loose one by one first........then go back and start taking them out one by one. Thats all I can suggest at this point. You might even try heating the aluminum housing around the end of the pivot rod while your trying to slide hammer it out. Block all the weight of everything off of the front of the pressure plate while doing this, so your not also fighting the weight of everything on the rod. You will need a new pivot rod.

EDIT: This is another case of why I hate to ever suggest someone use an easy out! Its ALWAYS my last resort.
Sometimes when it rains........it pours! Good luck

 

what a mess. if you get the clutch/pp/bellhousing off, you could always just buy a used bellhousing and new pivot rod/bearings.

 

I just went out to my garage, and looked at an extra bellhousing from a parts car. There IS an access hole directly in line with that pivot shaft on the opposite end. Sooooooo, one can probably just punch the pin out from the opposite end of the threaded end thats now hosed up. I don't think you have the room to turn the bellhousing around far enough while its still in the car, but it should work ok once you've removed the PP to flywheel bolts, and remove assy. from the car. Be very carefull not to destroy the spring pin (stop for shaft) when punching it out. Even if you do, I don't think it would be a big deal to just put in another stop pin. You'll see what I mean once its all on the bench. GOOD LUCK!