mtnman82

I'm starting a clutch job. I've done lots of searching over the past week+ but can't really find what I'm looking for. I know I've seen some really good pitures over the past year or so, but I can't seem to find those threads now that I need them. I have the (composite by Rich Sandor) picture, but I'm wondering if that's really it .... I used ramps+2X12's under the front wheels to do the front seals/belts/etc, but that was kind of cramped at times - I was toying with ramps/2X12's & jack stands in the rear. These were the beefiest stands I could find. I guess they don't make stands with pins anymore - I think I might feel safer with some like that. On to the questions

- Can anyone post some good pics of their car up on stands (i.e. pics of where stand meets car)?

- Are there any safe points to jack up either just the front or rear wheels on these cars?

- Where are the best places (front & rear) for jack stands if I'm doing a clutch job? As per the Rich Sandor pic (I'm posting that again too)?

- Best way to use these stand tops (see pics)? Should I use a hockey puck (not sure I can find one in this town) or a piece of wood between the top & car with these, or ???

- Do I want to consider using ramps & stands?

I'm hoping to finish the job quickly, but we all know how things go sometimes, so it might be up in the air for a while and I'd like to make sure I have a sturdy setup. Any other tips, tricks, opinions, etc. are welcome. Please don't flame me too badly for such a newb question, this might be a good thread for the archive. Thanks!

theedge

Those jackstands work perfectly under the torsion tube ends. I have a chunk of PCV pipe over the torsion tube so that the jackstand doesnt rip the rubber off as the front gets lifted up.

Ramps usually dont give enough height to do any serious work.

My car has been sitting on jackstands on those two crossed out points for a very long time now and no issues. I prefer those points because the car is far more balanced side to side, and you get WAY more working room. But thats just me. Yes, use a hockey puck or similar, otherwise those style jackstands are next to useless and quite dangerous on our cars, since they dont mate up well with anything besides the torsion tubes.

PorscheDoc

Use the front frame rails and the suspension mounts shown in your picture. Those stands are fine. Jack it up one side at a time using the center jacking point under the door. Do one side, go to the other and raise it a bit higher than the first, then go back to the first side and raise it a little more, etc until you get to the height you want.

Big E

When I did the clutch, we bought a couple of 2x10's, cut 'em into 12" long pieces, and just kept adding height till we felt like we had enough room. Cheap, very effective, no possibility of car damage.

(Jacking it up that high is always exciting, though, as the tires squirm a little on the wood)

Charlie944

I found this height to do wonders without a lift. I have done a clutch job now 3 times and I have never run into height problems. I used a 3.5ton floor jack with at least a 21" travel and had to put it up on some 3" cinder bricks to get the height needed to put the ramps under the tires in the pic.
I flipped the passanger side ramp around in front 180deg so the front tires were chocked as well. Jack stands make me leary at the height!! So I opted for this route, and it was reasonably priced too. Just needed some 6" cinder blocks, 3" cinder blocks, and another set of ramps. My car is in this current position now so if you need anymore pics just hollar.
Good luck!

Mike1982

Wow, you can have a midget work on your car without bend at all! I saw you car there at 944 fest this year at the track, very nice, driving and on stands.

mtnman82

Hmmmm, me likey Charlie! Both the setup AND your car (nice paint)!!! So I DON"T need to take off the rear wheels to do the clutch (I was assuming I had to - I guess I need to read the Clarke's procedures better)? Did you raise the car up in steps - maybe on the cinderblocks first for each side, then up on the ramps? How tall are the bricks under the ramps? Thanks!!

PS - I've read about your clutch woes over the past months. You're probably an expert now, so any more tips/tricks on doing the job would be appreciated. I think I read a post from Doc during my searching that said I might not have to take the transaxle all the way out?

Charlie944

Thanks guys! I appreciate it Mike, good hearing from you again! Unfortunately as of late the car has seen more air time than road time, but it will be all worth it in the end.

I did raise the car in steps.

1st: raise front side by side and put on jackstands so I could get the jack to clear front spoiler and place under front crossmember

2nd: raise rear up using some blocks of wood under transaxle high enough to put 6" cinder blocks (in pic) under the rear tires.

3rd: place some blocks of wood along with one long one (almost as long as front crossmember itself) to raise front up and place 6" cinder blocks under tires.

4th: place 3" cinder block slabs making a pad area for jack to sit on for the final raise in front and in back. Put blocks of wood (these are 2"x4" pieces) Once up high enough slide ramps ontop of the 6" cinder blocks and space the blocks out to support the ramps better. Chock tires either by flipping around one of the front ramps 180deg, or by a wedge.

TIPS: You do not have to remove rear tires or even lift rear back up for any reason depsite what Clarks says. Leave you slave cylinder bolted down until after you remove the 2 drive shaft coupler bolts towards the back. Wedge the clutch pedal down and it will allow you to move the driveshaft freely to position bolts in the holes. Let clutch out so the driveshaft does not move when you go to remove the bolts. These bolts are 180deg of each other so you will need to rotate the driveshaft a couple times while doing the clutch pedal procedure above.

Buy a transmassion jack adapter for your floor jack!! I bought mine from Harbor Freight for ~$50, this will save you a great deal of headaches and it will be MUCH safer!
When you put your transaxle back in get some longer skinnier bolts in a couple different lengths so if you do not line your transaxle up perfectly upon install (hard to do) put these bolts + nuts through the holes where the most gap resides between torque tube housing and trans and tighten down the bolt and nut to pinch the two together. Much easier than trying to wiggle the jack around to line things up. You might want to swap your single trans mount for the dual trans mounts off a early 944. These will bolt right up and are much much easier to R&R IMHO.

Get some looong extensions and some swivels. You will need a triplesquare set as well for CV's and flywheel bolts and PP bolts. If you can get the bits with their own socket, not the ones that are just the bit itself. They work, but can sometimes aggrevating due to lack of space.
Let me know if you were wondering about anything else I will be glad to help!
This last time I had the car jacked up and totally apart inside of 4 hours!

Part of my woes was partly due to myself...the car came equipped with the early 225mm style clutch. And through talking to Markus Blaszak and others they said I could harness the power using that size clutch still. I admit I do not think I had the Kevlar dsic broken in enough before my 1st DE of the year and it inturn fried the clutch. After that I convinced that the Fidanza was warping due to excessive heat from the Iron disc I had replaced the Kevlar with and stop & go traffic.

But this time around I am going to the larger 240mm turbo clucth with a KEP stage 1, Feramic disc, and lightened stock flywheel. Should be good for around 700-750ft/lbs of torque!

Mike1982

I am at least glad that you won something at the fest this year Charlie. Have you ever gotten your car put on the dyno? What is your car's weight at as well? It does look sharp though, did you race much at the fest? Glad to see someone post this up because I plan on doing some work to my car this winter and lifting higher then 20" will be nice, now I just might have to do more work on it or I should say under it...

chrly924s

Got the trans in Sunday and finally putting the exhaust back on this weekend

951Boost

Charlie944, could you post the distance from the ground to the top of the front & rear ramps?

Thanks for the great info. I'm taking notes for the inevitable.

hockeydude

I could help you out with that if needed.

Charlie944

From ground to ramps is 16.5"
Large cinder blocks are 7.5"
Small cinder slabs are 3.5"

Hey Mike, I am glad my friend and I were awarded the spirit trophy as well. Definitely no shortage of that over that weekend. I did get to race a fair amount although not every race. A couple times I pulled in early due to a problematic boost hose, and I took off the session right before lunch to sleep for an hour since my friend and I were up ALL night getting the car back together. Plus the fact I had been running on a few hours of sleep from the night before.
We had an awesome time though and will be back next year!

I have not had the car on the dyno yet with all the clutch problems but hopefully soon.
The car is an 83' chassis w/ manual steering. I am not sure of the weight but I can look it up.

mtnman82

Charlie, I'm just getting started on this. I was going to cut a ~20" piece of 4X4 for using under the front crossmember when I get there. Does that sound about right (the cross member is curved on the ends)? Also, what size piece of wood did you use under the transaxle, and where under the transaxle did you place the wood/jack? I just want to make sure I don't mess anything up jacking from the front/rear. Thanks!

billthe3

Yeah, those are the points I use as well (the crossed out ones). Anybody know why they're crossed out on that picture?

Also, anybody have experience with these porsche floorjack adapters?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsc...temZ4581057120