racergreg

I finally ran out of patience with my C2 clutch. It had many of the problems you have read and written about here: very heavy action, hanging on the way up, incomplete disengagement, etc. With the expert help of Rennlist addict Chris W. (actually it was more like me helping him) the job was done this weekend in good time and very successfully.

I'll share some photos and notes on the job, perhaps it will help someone else out there:

1) We made good use of Adrian's book (highly recommended) as well as the factory manual and various online sources like Rennlist and P-Car. Adrian's doesn't have torque settings, so make sure you can get them elsewhere.

2) We had to juggle around too much with jacks and jack stands. Next time, we'll have 3 good floor jacks, one for each side of the car plus one supporting the tranny. (The ATV/Motorcycle jack works great for the motor, but doesn't get under the engine/trans enough to balance the whole thing.) The jack stands are necessary for safety, of course.

3) The ATV jack works best if you remove the rear muffler, so it can tuck in further under the motor. Remove the tailpipe/cat assembly first, then unhook the muffler and you can slide it out the right side of the car using the tailpipe cutout.

4) For goodness sakes, replace the plugs and the power steering belt while the motor is out! I know some of you have done the PS belt with the motor in, but I don't know how.

5) Check, double check, and triple check all of the connections to the motor as you lower it. Lower two inches at a time and then check again. We almost missed a sneaky electrical hookup behind the airflap housing.

6) Adrian's book has you disconnecting the throttle cable at the pedal box and pulling it out through the tube. That sounded like too much work for us, so we lowered the engine, then unscrewed the cable support bracket on the block, then cut a small slot in the sheet metal to remove the cable. Worked great, lots easier.

7) Chris made a custom puller to remove the fork shaft. He used a bit of 6mm thread and welded it onto a small t-bar. Then we just screwed it on and pulled. Brilliant!

8) The TO bearing did not come assembled to the pressure plate. It is held on to the springs with a large snap ring, difficult to assemble. Chris had the idea of using four c-clamps on the top of a stool to compress the springs while we put it all together. Worked great.

9) Installation is the reverse of removal... Putting it all back together went very smoothly. We raised the ATV jack to its max height and then lowered the car to it, connecting things as they reached. Worked flawlessly the first time.

Total time for the job was about 22 hours, including a stuck oil line connection (the one up to the filter mount) that cost a couple of hours, and the motor mount bolts (torque > 500 lbs!) that took another hour or so. We fooled around with the jacks a lot, and didn't rush. Having now done it once, I think it could easily be done in 14-16 hours.

As others here have noted, the result is like a different car! The pedal force is about one-fourth what is was and engagement is smooth and predictable. If your clutch is going or gone, don't wait! You'll be amazed at the results.

Thanks again to Chris for his invaluable help, and my son Tommy for doing the PS belt and taking the photos which follow. Cheers!

racergreg

Here is the motor coming out of the car. Note that we have removed the muffler so the ATV jack can get further underneath.

racergreg

Tranny is separated from the motor. Notice the rust on the pressure plate springs! The TO bearing was very worn as well, contributing to the hard pedal. The fork (visible at lower right) fingers were worn down about 1/8 inch, also contributing. You can see the easy access to the PS belt from here.

racergreg

New clutch installed! By the way, Adrian's trick of using duct tape to hold the fork in position while putting on the tranny works great.

Parts came from Sunset Porsche in Oregon, good prices, great service.

racergreg

The motor's back in position! Now we just have to reattach everything that we took off, about four hours of careful work.

Thanks for letting me share!

Wachuko

You are kidding, right?!!! THANK YOU for taking the time to post the photos!

This is one task I have never done in my car (last time it was in service for the broken head stud I had them put in a new pressure plate, clutch, TO bearing...)

But I will need to someday, so knowing there are threads with photos and process really helps!!

bhensarl

Great pics! Thanks a million, racergreg!
Brian

Chris M.

How many miles are on your car?

Andy Roe

Good job!! How come you decided to drop the engine too when the clutch could have been done by dropping just the gearbox on a C2?

Arjan B.

I met Chris personally, and I can tell you he is a reliable technician. Good he helped you out, I know he did a good job!!

964porschedude

GREAT JOB GUYS!

I did the same the summer of 2003. I was living with a chattering clutch for several years and it really took some of the joy out of driving.

I was thinking of a motorcycle jack, but I didn't think the one's I was looking at would work. I made a U shaped dolly out of A36 Steel Channel (C8 or 8") and put wheels under and plywood on top. The center opening of the "U" is just wide enough to get my floor jack between the "U" uprights. I used a 8"x8"x1-1/2" piece or heavy foam rubber to prevent damage to the engine case.

I really needed it because I was a one man show for the whole process.

I wish I had the factory engine jack adapter.

Anyone have a factory engine jack adapter I could borrow to reverse engineer?

Keith

racergreg

97,650 and it looks and runs great. Love the car!

racergreg

Keith, Adrian's book has a few detailed pictures of the jack adapter, I think you could make one from these.

Bill Gregory

You don't need to drop the engine to replace the clutch on a C2. Does allow you to do other maintenance on the engine, though.

That must have been what it took to undo a stuck nut! Stock spec calls for around 62 ft lbs torque.

axl911

Where do you place the jack to jack the car up that high? The factory jacking point in frot of the wheel well? Or on the rear control arm? I am afraid that if I jack the car up at the factory jacking point up to 37 inches, the extreme angle would cause the car to slip right off.