odonnell

Most annoying part of a clutch job on a 951 is probably getting the exhaust off, turbo-back. Nothing about the job is particularly hard, it's just a lot of steps to stay on top of. Doing a few of these on my back with jack stands makes me damn sure my next investment after buying a house is a nice lift in the garage.

I've had the clutch assembly apart 3x on my NA and the most next-most annoying part (when you have no turbo exhaust) is getting the bellhousing back on with the fork in the right spot. Small hands would make it easier.

Bmuldoon

Not to hijack the thread but my '86 951 is in need of a new clutch and I don't feel confident tackling myself on jack stands. I asked my local indy Porsche shop to provide an estimate...

$6500!!! No way.

Waiting to hear back from the local dealer as well as I've read others on RL have received quotes around $2200 from their dealer.

gruhsy

6500.00$ Are they on crack? for a clutch job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

spanky

My clutch replacement is complete. I road tested my 951 late eve today. Great results! I am very happy with the end results of this work. I have learned a lot this summer by working alongside guys that know what they are doing teaching me the ropes on both the 968 engine rebuild and this 951 clutch replacement!!

Humboldtgrin

The last time I paid for just the throw out bearing to be replaced (or put back together) it cost me $1500 in labor and took the money a week. I even told him how to do the job because I knew he was unfamiliar with any Porsche or 944 series car let alone the 951 with its exhaust system, (I didn't have a place to work on it) and he didn't believe me that the transaxle needed to be removed. He learned I wasn't lying by the second day. I heard all about it and how he'll never do it again. That was the last time I paid for someone else to work on my cars since. I didn't find it at all difficult. However the most difficult automotive job was an engine I had rebiult. A 1995 RX7 twin turbo rotary engine with an automatic so it even more rare and it only has three moving parts. Lots of measuring, lots of seals, and don't let the sealants touch when they are applied 2mm from each other and still need to be torqued down between the rotor housing and rotor plates.

spanky

Conducted a 2nd and final road test in heavy Hwy 17 commuter traffic, lots of clutch action last nite, its as smooth as butter every single time. I used a Sachs 951 sports clutch kit, lots of material on the plate and 4 very heavy duty looking springs. Sachs clutches works every time and last
I will bring the car home on Sat morning. So happy to have this and my 968 engine repair over with!!.

Bmuldoon

Jealous of your hard work and like-new driving experience. My transmission is very noisy in first and second. Wish I could recruit one of you guys that have done this job before and give you a $1K for your help.

Independent shop: $6500
Porsche Dealer: $4400

gruhsy

That is still ridiculous pricing.

550.00$ for a stock clutch setup from Zims and a few hours labor.

For that price you could get the Zims kit a drive to Calgary and I would do it for free!

It's a 40 hour drive

zogster

If getting the exhaust off is the worst part, I'm over the hump... (getting back on the slow-rolling job this weekend after non-availability of wrenching buddy, and a quick break in Vegas)

The stuff around the waste gate (see other thread) has been the worst. Chiselling old sealing rings out of flanges... broken studs stuck in the waste gate... the crossover pipe came off the waste gate leaving its flange stuck firmly to the waste gate... fixing the flange back on the crossover turns out to be a non-trivial problem because the cast iron of the flange is apparently very tricky to weld to the steel of the pipe.

BTW, for any UK Rennlisters reading this, I couldn't be happier with the help I got from B&E Randall with balancing and prepping new clutch bits. Quick summary: I decided to pick up a used flywheel to speed up the job, so I could have it resurfaced and swap it in rather than wait to get the current one done. I gathered that getting the new clutch and flywheel balanced together was the right way to go, so they did that and also slightly lightened the flywheel, for a very reasonable price. Brian was very helpful on the phone.

Bmuldoon

Quick question.. does anyone know if my car has a single or double exhaust crossover pipe?

odonnell

Single-piece. You have the wastegate tie-in integral to the main piping, there's a donut flange there if it's 2-piece.

Bmuldoon

Thank you for the quick response. That's a bummer, per the dealer...

There are 2 possibilities depending on what type of exhaust is on the vehicle.
Single pipe - $5700
Updated double pipe - $4400

There may be additional hardware that needs to be replaced due to age of the parts. This estimate does not include a flywheel or tax.

odonnell

You're high if you pay even half of that. I'm sure there are reputable shops that will do it for much less and are worth the added driving/towing.

Bmuldoon

Yeah it's pretty outrageous. I'm in the Philly area and my go-to specialist shop was asking $6500!

If anyone has any recommendations in PA or NJ I'm all ears. It's a big job and I worry about just dropping it off at any mechanic that offers to do it for $2K.

zogster

Just dropping back in... this job is taking waaaay longer than I'd planned. But I'm on the downhill slope now, putting everything back together.

This is what I found when I got the pressure plate and flywheel off... I replaced the rear main seal, and I've decided to change the oil pan gasket also.