iloveporsches

Tonight I finally got to taking off the clutch bellhousing. Cracking it open kinda reminded me of Indiana Jones and the Lost Arc, minus the ***** and the melting...

Anyway, I have *gasp* more problems. It seems that the torque tube isn't far back enough, and there's a hose up top that's kinda in the way. The problem with the torque tube is that it won't go back any further. The big bellhousing on the end of it is already hitting whatever it is that it would hit (frame? gas tank?). Also, it's pulling the whole shifting mechanism back with it, to the point where the shift linkage (brass piece) is wedged up against the interior plastic trim.

Man, and I was hoping to have at least ONE night without some stupid hold up.

Oh, and of course, thanks for the help! Without you guys I couldn't have done it!

keith

Remove the 2 13mm bolts and the E-clip holding the shift lever in (from inside car) then go below and rotate the torque tube over until it clears the trans. crossmember.

When you reinstall the bellhousing, make sure there are no ground wires between the block and bellhousing up top!

Brian Wilson

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by keith:
<strong>Remove the 2 13mm bolts and the E-clip holding the shift lever in (from inside car) then go below and rotate the torque tube over until it clears the trans. crossmember.

When you reinstall the bellhousing, make sure there are no ground wires between the block and bellhousing up top!</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Keiths all over that one. Unhook everything and flip it over. That'll give you plenty of room.

iloveporsches

All right, thanks, I'll try that after school today.

Just out of curiosity, what the hell is the torque tube anyway? Why can't these cars just have a regular drive shaft?

IceShark

Because that would make it too easy to change the clutch?

It does make shoving the motor back in a crash a little more difficult. And since the gear box is at the back the drive shaft is spinning faster than it would in a normal configuration. Maybe they wanted to enclose the shaft to keep it cleaner and improve the lubrication as well as keep crud off the shaft which might put it out of balance.

Hans

The shaft is rotating with engine RPM, so up to say 6000.
It is extremely difficult to support these kind of shafts while avoiding critical RPM within the range of operation.
There is a limit to the size / weight of this shaft since the mass is to be synchronised during gear changes
Thus Porsche solution: rigid tube on the outside, housing 3 bearings for the support to prevent the shaft from pretending it is a guitar string, straight bolt-on on both engine and tranny, providing a stable environment for an fast rotating drive shaft.
All of this is not required with an normal drive shaft, but this one is rotating at less than 1/3 of the RPM.
TakeCare

Jfrahm

The torque tube also makes the chassis very stiff. Even the cabrios are very solid, flex-free cars. You can really tell when you jack them up, how little they flex.

-Joel.

Doug944s2

A conventional driveshaft does have to rotate at engine speed, or even slightly above it with an overdrive ratio, usually in 4th and 5th gears. But the Porsche's driveshaft goes engine speed all the time.

I feel your pain on the clutch job. I helped a friend do his '86 Turbo, and we had a /&gt;*&% of a time getting that torque tube back far enough!

Martin

The torque tube lockes the engine and transmission together as one, this would probably be undraivable any other way, there are also four bearings in the tubes (not three) I had to rebuild mine.

iloveporsches

Tried it, no luck. I got the shift mechanism unbolted, but the damn tube still won't clear the transmission cross-member, no matter how I turn it. And the bellhousing it still pinching that very inconviently placed hose on top.

I hate cars.

David Floyd

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva"> won't clear the transmission cross-member, no matter how I turn it </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">That brace has to come off (2 bolts) and you have all the room you need to slide back.

iloveporsches

The brace the the transmission bolted into?

How could I have missed that in Haynes, the factory manuals, and Clark's Garage?!?!?

Well, that should simplfy things! At least I'm *almost* half way done...

iloveporsches

All right, I obviously don't know what I'm looking for.

The bellhousing attached to the torque tube is hitting the bar that both the fuel filter and transmission (and I think the fuel tank straps) bolt into.

What brace are you talking about? The little "bridges" underneath the torque tube, but before the torison bar housing? Or something else? It seams that if I take those out, that should do the job...but I don't know for sure, and don't want to risk ruining anything else.

Stupid Hayne's manual not having pictures of this part.

keith

As mentioned previously, the cross member you described come off with two bolts. While it IS possible to do the job WITHOUT removing it, it is a simple matter to unbolt it and give yourself the extra clearance.

David Floyd

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva"> What brace are you talking about? The little "bridges" underneath the torque tube, but before the torison bar housing? Or something else? It seams that if I take those out, that should do the job...but I don't know for sure, and don't want to risk ruining anything else.
</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">The brace runs across the width of the car, ( above where the tranny sits ) it is what the tranny mount is attached to, one bolt on each side of the brace.