Sorry needed to resize one of the pics.

Clutch Job 101

Jack car up put jack stands under car.

UN Hook everything (or at least I thought) start to lower jack, have jack slip and cradle drops to the ground, with passenger side brake hose still attached and misc wires that I thought were going to clear did not clear........ CRAP CRAP CRAP. I was going to lower it slowly and see just what needed to be UN hooked as I went, this is the first time lowering the cradle with the V8 in it. Ugh.

But With it down I now had clean access to the Trans

Unbolt stuff get trans out

Find out clutch pressure plate was the problem. Flywheel is still perfect smooth, no rough area's no grooves just smeared minor heat spots that practically rub away with my finger. May have been wrong pressure plate to begin with.

Well here are the rest of the pics.

Clutch will be here on Wednesday or Friday. It should take an afternoon to get it all put back together and then half a day checked all the things that got stretched or pulled.

Wish Me Luck.

P.S. for notice.

This was a Dynopack clutch. Previous Dynopack clutches have had my 245/50/16's up in smoke, never had a problem with them before, now this one just bought the farm in less than 30 days of use.

Oh well. New clutch here I come.

[This message has been edited by Capt Fiero (edited 08-07-2005).]

When you begin to install... make sure you have patience.... Lots of it or this part will fustrait you the most

------------------

4.9 under construction... To lay the smack down on any mid 80s truck that stands in my way. :)

So what clutch did you end up getting??

I will need to do this (again) in the near future, I tried doing this way and ended up getting fustrated just trying to get the tansmission out (to the point where I just dropped the whole thing). Any tips/suggestions so maybe I will try it this way again - or maybe I can bribe you to stop by my place and give me a hand

Tim

quote Originally posted by Mickey_Moose: So what clutch did you end up getting?? I will need to do this (again) in the near future, I tried doing this way and ended up getting fustrated just trying to get the tansmission out (to the point where I just dropped the whole thing). Any tips/suggestions so maybe I will try it this way again - or maybe I can bribe you to stop by my place and give me a hand Tim

Getting the transmission out was easy.... Putting it back in was the major pain in the @ss

------------------

4.9 under construction... To lay the smack down on any mid 80s truck that stands in my way. :)

Who made your flywheel?

Text copied from a message from Ed Parks.

LSC performance 1-951-245-6367, ask for Tom Johnson, they sale a billet steel flywheel for the 4.9 caddy swap, not a cast iron redrill, with the correct hole inside diameter (spacer not required like when a cast iron v6 fw is used) for $200 and they have an aluminum fw with a steel clutch face insert for $400,

------------------
85GT 5spd MSD Everything,4.9 With Nitrous. www.captfiero.com

After looking at your flywheel it is badly glazed and if you reinstall a new clutch on that the way it is will ruinn your new clutch in a matter of weeks .Take it to the machine shop and have them resurface it to clear up the glazing or your clutch disc will be toast once you give it power ,even though it is not scored up when ever you replace a clutch always do a resurface .

quote Originally posted by Master Tuner Akimoto: After looking at your flywheel it is badly glazed and if you reinstall a new clutch on that the way it is will ruinn your new clutch in a matter of weeks .Take it to the machine shop and have them resurface it to clear up the glazing or your clutch disc will be toast once you give it power ,even though it is not scored up when ever you replace a clutch always do a resurface .

I am a huge advocate of getting a flywheel turned or replaced with every single clutch job. However this was a brand new flywheel 30 days ago. You would have to see the surface of it, it is smooth as the day it went in. Seeing as this is a clutch job that is due to a bad pressure plate and not a worn out disk. (disk has almost no wear on it) There must have been a problem with the pressure plate. Being as the fact that this is a custome made flywheel and not an off the shelf part I want to keep the turning of it down to a minimum. I will probably hit it with a palm sander and some 80 grit paper to clean it off, but that is about it.

Althought I do totally agree with you. If you do a clutch job in 99% of all cases the flyhwheel should be sent out and turned or replaced.

The easiest way is to support the engine from above and remove the cradle entirely.

You just need some pipe (or square tube), some 3/8" eyelets, a couple 18" lengths of chain and some spare bolts.

This is what I used to pull the Getrag in my 88 SBC Fiero in the garage of our rented vacation home in FL (I am from IL) (By meself in 95 degree wether). This I made from parts aquired at home depot on the way to FL. I also used my floor jack and 2 jackstands I had brought with me.
The eyelets allow you to lower the tranny side so the tranny can easily clear the frame.

Now the pipe in the picture did the job, but the pipe was a bit on the weak side. It bent a bit, but held my SBC in the air for a day. I now use a piece of 2x2 square tube with the same eyelets and chain (added to my collection of tools!).

To get the tranny back in, it is best to not have the cradle in your way. Then you can rock the tranny onto the jack and use the jack to lift it back up to the engine. Then some minor rocking and pushing it will go in.

If you are going to use muscles only (or leave the cradle in your way), take a bellhousing bolt with you to a hardware store and get 2 that are are atleast 2" longer. Cut the heads off them and round the shaft on the non-threaded end. Now place these on each side and use them as dowel pins and tranny support. Lift the tranny up and get it resting on the dowels. Then rock it till it lines up perfectly and is fully seated and install some regular bellhousing bolts. Remove the dowels, throw them in the tool box and tighten everything back up.

Wow sounds like you guys have had some nightmares with getting the trans in. Come on now we are all guys, (well 99% of us) We have been tought all our lives how to get the shaft in the hole. Just make sure it is well lubbed and all is good. =)

I just make sure to line it up really well with a clutch allignment tool. Then when it is time to put the tranny in, I grab it, sit indian style beside the car and just lift it up and slid into position and rock it into place.

Sometimes it can be a pain, but if you remove all the trans mounts so you have a bit of wiggle room it usually just goes in and goes click.

I got good at it as I killed 3 trannys in one summer. 2 of them in the same month. All with a V6.

quote Originally posted by Master Tuner Akimoto: After looking at your flywheel it is badly glazed and if you reinstall a new clutch on that the way it is will ruinn your new clutch in a matter of weeks .Take it to the machine shop and have them resurface it to clear up the glazing or your clutch disc will be toast once you give it power ,even though it is not scored up when ever you replace a clutch always do a resurface .

Well I am big enough to admit when I am wrong.

Looks like the flywheel is going to have to be sent out. I got in there tonight with some 40grit and an electric palm sander. It cleaned up real well, but there is a slight wave/uneven area around an area of the flywheel that bothers me. It is not a ridge but an un-even area that I am just not easy about. So off to the machine shop it goes.

Now all I need to do is find a good reasonably priced shop to do it.

------------------
85GT 5spd MSD Everything,4.9 With Nitrous. www.captfiero.com

Hows the isuzu feel when its driven hard?? I got one behind my 3800sc/spec that I haven't driven yet. I'm still working on suspension stuff, but I'm wondering while its still off the road. I have a line up of isuzus just in case, but I was lookin for some actual input when there is a moderate amount of tq behind this trans.

I love it. The gearing feels almost perfect for a Fiero. 1st gear gives neck snapping tire spinning fun. 2nd 3rd 4th seem perfectly spaced for hard accelerating and when you hit 5th gear and the revs drop to around 2000 on the highway it makes it all worth while. I do honestly believe the Isuzu is the smoothest shifting tranny around. It is really easy to find the perfect gear. Not like the 3.65 4spd I HAD in the car. I am running 245/50/16's on the back so it is rather tall tire but I love it.

I've always wondered how the 5 speed would feel bolted to a 4.9. I thought 1st gear would be too short to be useful. Glad to hear some positives on it.

------------------

Well I took it to DJ's auto in Surrey/NorthDelta 119th and 95A $28 for the surfacing, couple bucks for new bolts total $36 out the door. They did it in 30min so I am pretty happy.

They did note that due to the abuse I put it through with the slipping clutch they were surprised with the little amount of wear. He warned me to be carefull with the new Centerforce and give it time to really seat in before any abuse.

Here are the pics of the clean flywheel all torqued down and red lock tight applied to it. This baby should not move for a long time.

Soaked in brake clean for obvious reasons

The Dried flywheel all ready for a new clutch.

quote Originally posted by fieroguru: If you are going to use muscles only (or leave the cradle in your way), take a bellhousing bolt with you to a hardware store and get 2 that are are atleast 2" longer. Cut the heads off them and round the shaft on the non-threaded end. Now place these on each side and use them as dowel pins and tranny support. Lift the tranny up and get it resting on the dowels. Then rock it till it lines up perfectly and is fully seated and install some regular bellhousing bolts. Remove the dowels, throw them in the tool box and tighten everything back up.

Now that's a good idea. Thanks, guru

More to come later with an explanation of the pics. But it is in, the car is on the ground and fires up. I will have to chase all the stuff that got broken when the jack slipped. At least one plug wire is torn. But I am relieved that there is no "unseen" wire damage that I would have had to spend hours chasing.

This clutch sure does look odd, but with any luck and a good break in period it should last me for at least a year of racing.

Its a mess of stuff that needs to be put back in place and tied down. I just wanted to make sure it would fire.

Well here are the pics of the motor in the car, on the ground and my tent that I use when I am working on a big job on the car. More room outside than in the garage. I am so happy that it is done and back on the ground. I will spend the day on Wednesday wrapping up wires and cleaning things up so I can drive around and start the clutch break in.