Who has installed a new clutch themselves?
 

I have not done it before myself, but it looks like a DIY install. I am not going to pay $900 for just a clutch install. Just wondering what are the difficult areas of this project? Is it just a matter of getting to the upper bolts of the bell? Or is it a bitch to line things up? I am sure that once I am in there I will be able to get it right, I am hoping I have the correct tools. Fill me in if you will on anything that might be difficult about this.

Well, I have not done it, but I can tell you this...Ensmuns and Brian (Scoobybri) did the clutch on Brian's Miata themselves and said it was a pain in the azz. Granted that was a different car, but maybe they can elaborate if it was a pain in the azz because of the car or because of what it takes to change a clutch. I can also tell you that roneski and Yogi have pulled the trans from Ty's G35, but again it was an 5AT not a 6MT. So basically what I am saying is they are going to be able to offer the most usefull info on this. Oh, and I don't know if KennyZ has done this on his car or not, but he is very mechanically inclined when it comes to this stuff.

I am sure its not too hard, but more time consuming if anything. You just need something to get your car really high in the air and a transmission jack to lower the thing out from under the car. The rest should be hand tools unless there is a special clutch puller or similar tool.

I've heard horror stories from guys with lots of experience on my350z.com (tig488, joedirtpharmd) - not to mention you have to drop the tranny and there may be more specialized equipment needed.

Tools needed:

Applicable sockets/wrenches
Lift (if possible)
Tranny Jack (if possible)
Parts

and that's pretty much it.

If you don't have access to the lift or a tranny jack...well....you're looking at a real pain in the @$$. I've done two transmissions, one for a S15 pickup and my old Nissan pickup and without the lift and tranny jack it took us about 12 hours to do the whole thing.

I think i still have a tranny jack in the garage. Still getting things organized after moving in here like 6 years ago. LOL I'll check and see if I still got it lter on today

I have really looked hard at the area and the instructions in the service manual make it look pretty easy. I might be willing to pay to get it done if it's a lot cheaper, but Nissan quoted me almost $900 and I think thats a little steap:( Maybe I should have a cook-out/tech session:)

Don't ask me. I've never tried replacing a clutch yet. But I'll ask our company mechanic if he's willing. He works on the side and is fairly cheap.

And thats why I love old cars...It takes me 45 min to get the trans out from under the Chevelle, and thats with jack stands and using a floor jack as a trans jack lol.

What year is your Chevelle? My mechanic in Utah has a fully restored SS396, 1968 I believe.

1970. It was my first money pit, then I got the Z and the Chevelle was neglected. Now that things are slowing down with the Z, its time to focus on the Chevelle again. I have been doing a few little things to it lately and hopefully by December or early 2007 I will be in a position to do a full build. It will get a new paint job, a T-56 6-Speed trans, and an LS2 engine (The same engine in the new non-ZO6 Vettes and GTOs). Oh and I will probably supercharge it or build it up N/A. My goal is a safe, reliable, 450-500whp on pump gas.

ive seen it done in 2 hours. its not too hard if you've ever done a clutch before.

YOUR NUTS!! 2 hours?!

He's seen it done by techs in a shop.

I could get my clucth done on my Z32 in about 4-5 hours (start to finish taking my time), with no lift and no transmission jack. It is really not hard, the biggest pain the first time was getting to the upper bolts, but once I figured it out I could do it with long extentsions, it was easy the second time through.

I can't imagine the 350 being much harder then the z32. Just get tall jack stands (I used 6 tons ones from harbor freight) and use a regular jack to lower the tranny, and then roll it out the side of the car.

Now doing the Lotus when it needs a new clutch may be a bit more challenging. I have seen labor quotes in the range of 2300-3000....

-Aaron

:119: what!?! ive done it in my spyder in less than 4 hours with hand tools, and in 2 1/2 (my first time) with a lift! its the same thing only you have more space to work with... let me know when its time and i'll do it for you... im getting to be extremely good at r&r'ing my tranny.
...if only i had been lazier about installing the lsd...

I forgot to mention something.....if anyone has someone else help them with a tranny Removal/Install make sure they don't smoke. That's probably why it took me 8 hours my first time; smoke breaks every 30 minutes. Sorry I failed to mention that earlier....:unibrow:

The tranny take-off on Brian's Miata wasn't the hard part. It was re-aligning the tranny back to the motor that was more difficult to complete. Granted, we had a crappy tranny jack, but it was still a two man job.

Assuming the 350Z tranny is way heavier than the Miata's, you may want to get two other people to help you out. Changing out the plates were easy, since we had good tech data. Brian had a small problem afterwards, but it that was fixed quickly.

Sweet thanks Jimbo. I will probably order an LSD when I do the clutch also.

Yeah that is one of the hardest parts. Sometimes, it slides right in without any problems, other times it seems to take forever.

+1. At some point, Brian had to go in front of the motor and push it back so that it sits upright instead of tilting forward. It was funny though cuz at first we felt the motor was going to slip forward and fall off. :042:

Sounds like the easiest/least expensive thing for me to do would be rent a lift for a few hours and do it myself. I would rather spend a few hundred on other parts, then on installation when I know I can do it. Going to be doing this in the latter part of June while my front end is getting repainted, if anyone wants to help, LMK:armata_PDT_34: