jwillman

I am replacing the bushing which appears to have disintegrated. I have done a search and found some posts that talk to replacing from the top but no process spelled out other than it is a PITA.

I have the slave out and the upper arm moves back just to the end of the ball. The opening does not allow for enough side movement to clear the ball so it appears that the only way to make this happen is a pry bar and forcing it back away from the ball.

Will the clutch assembly compress to allow for this without screwing something up?

Any tips?

Thanks

Jadz928

You'll something/someone to hold back the clutch and PP.
Just thinking out loud here, but how about a ratchet strap tied up. Ratchet back, overcome PP, relieve release arm.
Will this buy you enough room? Not sure.

Mrmerlin

to get enough room you need to remove the lower bell cover,
then make 3 U shaped metal rods about 2 mm thick. (Think something a bit thicker than a regular coat hanger)
put one behind each of the pins that come out of the rear of the pressure plate ,
then loosen the 6 bolts that hold the pressure plate to the flywheel,
turn the bolts out about 4 turns,
pry the PP back then you should have enough room to work on the bushing.
Clean out the bushing cup,
make sure the ball is tight into the upper bell cover. install the new bushing onto the ball,
then fit the cup over the bushing , tighten the PP bolts ,
remove the U shaped wire spacers,
refit the lower bell and slave

Rob Edwards

This is another WAG since I've not done it on an earlier car, and the suggestion is a PITA, but I THINK if you shim the pressure plate, it'll loosen the release arm enough that you can get it off the ball. (This works on an S4 single disk clutch..)

Drop the lower bellhousing cover after pulling the starter. Then rotate the engine (clockwise) so one of the big pins in the PP is pointing down. Then you use a long prybar under the release arm to pry it back, moving the clutch pack rearwards, allowing you to stick a bent nail under the head of the PP pin.((Make sure the nail doesn't stick out too far or you might catch it on something in the bellhousing and lock up the engine...) Rotate the engine 120o to the next pin and repeat 2 more times.

This takes the spring pressure off the release arm, so it should be able to be rotated off the ball. Install the new bushing over the ball first (put some silicone grease in the bushing first, then rotate the loose release arm over the ball, get it lined up, and then prybar the release arm rearwards to remove the first shim. Make sure the release arm is on the bushing, then rotate and remove the other 2 shims.

Assembly is the reverse of disassembly.

There is probably a simpler way to do this, but I don't know what it is.


Here's a DD clutch pack, shimmed:

Landseer

Can you rotate the arm and/or raise and lower it relative to its contact position with with the release bearing sleeve?

Pivot it to the side, essentially.

I get good enough movement of the 84 unit (all new parts) to perform that service.

jwillman

Well I have reached a new high or low depending on point of view for simple things that turn into royal pain in the ***.

So sadly I have figured out no way of avoiding dropping the bell housing. As I am trying to do that I discover that the exhuast pipes interfer just enough that no combination of tool that I have can get to the four rear bell housing bolts and even if I figure out a configuration I am concerned that I would not be able to get the clutch out with the damn exhuast installed. Sure this is not the original as it does not follow the images per the WSM!

The promise of a quick swap out from above gone terribly bad has crushed my spirit for the day at any rate

Mrmerlin

well you dont have to drop the clutch ,just loosen the 6 bolts that hold the PP on. You may have/will have to drop the 6 manifold bolts out though,
to get to the rear bell housing bolts,
its normal and a great time to put in fresh bolts for the manifolds

Jim M.

When I did mine, I put some heavy grease on the ball and slipped the plastic bushing on the ball. Then pry the arm back (not easy) but you only need the added thickness of the bushing to get the arm centered on the ball. I did use a brace IIRC to get enough leverage to pry the clutch arm back far enough. As others have said it's PITA but it can be done. No pictures because the view even with you eye is almost worthless.

dprantl

On my old '86 I replaced the bushing without removing anything except the airbox. You need to disconnect the slave rod, then from the top move the arm off the ball, then slide it sideways. At least it worked for me...

Dan
'91 928GT S/C 475hp/460lb.ft

jwillman

Thanks all.

I will give it another try this week when I am a bit less distracted.

I will eventually need to get the clutch out I am sure as I have no history on it so if it comes to that it is not all bad!

Erik N

When I did my engine swap, I found that the ball had actually sheared off. Later cars have a larger-diameter shaft, with an identical-sized ball. You would need to drill/tap the case to retrofit the stronger one.

jwillman

There is simply not enough room to squeze the cup over the ball and between the release arm.

I did get the bell housing nuts broke loose tonight.

Question is about the starter. WSM and others have said to drop the bell housing with starter attached. I am working on jack stands and don't have allot of extra room. Seems I would have less stuff to work around if I disconnected the starter and removed it from the bell housing or at least disconnected the wiring so it is not hanging around.

is there some compelling reason or common failure brought about by disconnecting and removing that prompts folks to leave it in place? I don't want to create a problem if this will help me avoid one!

Rob Edwards

The only issue I can think of is that the early bellhousing cover takes more mechanical strain as the starter is directly bolted to it, as opposed to the steel starter mounting bracket on the 83+ engines. You probably want to minimize the # of times you bolt and unbolt the starter from the soft aluminum threads of that bellhousing cover. I had to have the bolt holes timeserted on the cover I got for the stroker.

Mrmerlin

disconnect the wires to the starter,
take a picture of how the wires connect first.
leave the starter connected to the bell housing
Follow the instructions in threads 3 and 4 you will be successful

jwillman

Thanks Rob and Merlin. I was leaning that direction but wanted to make sure there was not some known trap door around the wiring.

I really appreciate the continual advise and sharing of experience and knowledge!!