so what is your fastest clutch removal, and install?

i just bought a new clutch and pressure plate and bearing. im just woundering if you can replace it in a day.
im moving fairly soon (2 weeks) and i need to get the car up and going so i dont have to pay the towing cost. its expensive here!

ill post up my clutch replacement time when i do it.

so what is yours?

by the way. hopfully this hasnt been posted up yet... if it is. my bad.

LOL "my" fastes time was 4 months but it had a V8 attached to it. I seem to recall Capt Fiero put one in his car over the weekend.

https://www.fiero.nl/forum/A...060206-2-065777.html

if i'm left alone, and really busting my butt, i can do it in about 10 hours.

about 2 hours on a 4cyl and about 4 on a v6.

I have a jig I made up that allows me to drop the cradle and tilt the engine/tranny down on the one end to allow the tranny to slide right out the side. I don't even have to remove any cooling lines to do the job.
Last time I used it I had the clutch changed and the car back together in about 3 hours.
It took me about ten hours to make the jig for the first time I used it but it was time well spent in my opinion. Dan

quote Originally posted by FIEROFLYER: I have a jig I made up that allows me to drop the cradle and tilt the engine/tranny down on the one end to allow the tranny to slide right out the side. I don't even have to remove any cooling lines to do the job. Last time I used it I had the clutch changed and the car back together in about 3 hours. It took me about ten hours to make the jig for the first time I used it but it was time well spent in my opinion. Dan

You should offer the service whereas most places want a lot $$ to d a Fiero clutch.

It's been awhile, but I've done it in 4 hours. Have an auto now...

seems like the times are between 4 - 10 hours. wake up early. and maybe get it done in the evening.
i was thnking maybe a full day just trying to drop the engine cradle. half day replacing the clutch, and another full day putting it back togeather.
ill wake up early and start on it nextweek. this week im far to busy to wok on the car.
how do you jack up the car to drop the transmission? i dont have a hoist. grrr.

We don't fool with trying to change the clutch with the cradle in the car. We can get the cradle down in about 2 1/2 hours and the clutch installed and the cradle put back in about another 3 1/2 hours. I like working with ROOM and find it makes the job less stressful than trying to work like a contortionist! Some guys ike the cradle tip technique but I can't imaging trying to re-align the trans on the engine without room to work. It's been done both ways but my method works best here.

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87GT - 3800SC Series III engine, 3.4" Pulley, N* TB, LS1 MAF, Flotech Exhaust Autolite 104's Custom CAI 4T65eHD w. custom axles
87GT - 3.4L Turbocharged engine, modified TH125H
" I'M ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "

i got plenty of room. a full double wide driveway
and i do like lots of room and not having to reach your arm somewhere and your upside down with your other arm holding onto something and your other arm bent around and threw something and using like 2 exentions on your rachet and only being able to move it an 8th of a turn every time. i hate thos moments.

Edit to add, before you even think about doing this on a rush basis, make sure you have a spare flywheel resurfaced and ready to go in. If you don't you could end up waisting a day taking the flywheel down to get it machined. All Fiero's from 85-87 V6 are the same, 88 used a different one, but the 88 one is also used on a lot of newer GM cars, so it can be found cheap. (LOL, probably the only 88 Fiero specific part that is cheaper than an 85-87)

2nd Edit I think we are all assuming myself included, that this is a 2.8 V6 car. If its a 4 popper. Give yourself extra time, lots of extra time. As far as I know, you can't swing the cradle on a 4 cyl car as the intake will hit the trunk wall before you get the back of the cradle low enough to get the trans out.

On my 85GT, I can do it in 4-6hrs. However it gets a new trans every 6-12 months, and every time I take it apart, everything gets a fresh coat of copper coat anti-seize. All I have to do is crack the bolts loose and remove them with my fingers if I so choose. The control arm bolts when the nuts are removed can be pushed out with your bare fingers.

I do have a good air impact gun, air ratchet, and I can tell you every nut bolt, and socket and wrench needed to do the job start to finish. I have a tool cart that I load up, and haul 3 jacks out to the driveway. Its not really hard.

When I have done in it as short as 4hrs I always had at least one helper. If I am doing it completely alone, without any assistance, and not rushing I usually budget a Friday night for a couple hours to drop it down and get the tranny out, a Saturday starting around noon to swap out the parts and start putting it back together, and a Sunday afternoon to finish it all up. Probably spend about 8-10hrs total including smoke breaks, cooler breaks, email breaks, reading PFF, taking photos, eating burgers and yakking on the phone.

If you have NEVER done it before and you don't know the last time the trans was out of the car, give yourself a FULL weekend if not a week to do the job. There are a lot of bolts that could be seized, busted, rounded, broken, snapped off welds on nuts.

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85GT,93 Eldorado 4.9, 5spd Dual O2 Custom Chip, Custom Exhaust. MSD Everything Capt Fiero --- My Over View Cadero Pics Yellow 88GT 5spd Full Poly Suspension, Lowered 1/2" in front, Corner Carver.

[This message has been edited by Capt Fiero (edited 07-12-2008).]

quote Originally posted by mmeyer86gt/gtp: about 2 hours on a 4cyl and about 4 on a v6.

how the hell?

I've never done mine on a "rush" basis, but I'd imagine that I could do it in a day if I had to.

I've got a big steel A-frame in my garage. (I call it the "swingset from hell".) I roll it into position over the rear of the car.
I jack up the back of the car and support it with jackstands under the rear of the passenger compartment
I use a chain hoist with one of those engine leveling attachments to support the engine and tranny.
I take the struts/knuckles/hubs out as an assembly, yank the axles, and then unbolt the exhaust system and mounts, and drop the bare cradle out.
Then I unbolt the tranny, tilt and lower the engine with the leveling attachment and chain hoist, and use a come-a-long to lower the tranny down out of the engine bay. Chains are strategically fastened to place the tranny at the right angle to detach from, and reattach to, the engine.

Assembly, as they say, is the reverse of disassembly.

I'm doing a 4 banger right now because the pressure plate broke. All I did was drop the drivers side of the cradle and the tranny came right out.

quote I'm doing a 4 banger right now because the pressure plate broke. All I did was drop the drivers side of the cradle and the tranny came right out.

I would assume that at the least the engine needed support and that the entire strut assembly needed to be removed

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87GT - 3800SC Series III engine, 3.4" Pulley, N* TB, LS1 MAF, Flotech Exhaust Autolite 104's Custom CAI 4T65eHD w. custom axles
87GT - 3.4L Turbocharged engine, modified TH125H
" I'M ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "

a full weekend is probably a good idea.ill start friday afternoon. and its a 4cly engine. and i dont have a spare flywheel.
but i do got lots of air tools which is a plus. and also a welder if anything breaks and i can just easyly get tem out. i also have a torch for the super stubbern bolts and also i got some easy outs as well. (i hate broken bolts)

iv never done a clutch before so ill be taking my time.

quote Originally posted by FIEROFLYER: I have a jig I made up that allows me to drop the cradle and tilt the engine/tranny down on the one end to allow the tranny to slide right out the side. I don't even have to remove any cooling lines to do the job. Last time I used it I had the clutch changed and the car back together in about 3 hours. It took me about ten hours to make the jig for the first time I used it but it was time well spent in my opinion. Dan

Take a picture of the tools

a lot of it will depend on if the cradle has ever been dropped before, and what kind of rust issues you run into with rusted bolts. the first time i dropped my cradle in my white gt it took about 4 hours and went smoothly (remember, i had never done it before either). when i dropped the cradle in my red GT it was tougher as i ran into some more stubborn bolts.

good luck, and take lots of pics. it may help witht he reassembly

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My record for removal is 1 hr 47 minutes from running car to tranny on the floor (and no impact wrenches). For clutches, unless there is a good reason for pulling the engine, I use a engine sling to hold the engine in place, drop the cradle and pull the tranny from the side. I do not rush putting it back together, but 2 1/2 hrs for reinstall is about normal for me.

I mastered this method when I needed to pull the tranny and I was 1000 miles from home - pulled it in a rental house (rented for the week) with a floor jack, jack stands, and tools from my travel tool box. I stopped by home depot (or some other hardware chain) and made this engine sling.

[This message has been edited by fieroguru (edited 07-13-2008).]

When I first made it I used and exhaust clamp to lower the tranny end but ended up welding on a few nuts to be able to use a 1/2" threaded rod instead.
The main point stated above is that rusted or siezed bolts can seriously slow things down. Dan

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quote Originally posted by mmeyer86gt/gtp: about 2 hours on a 4cyl

quote Originally posted by buddycraigg: how the hell?

I have done it in 2 hours as well, but it was under special circumstances.

I put in a motor and in a moment of brain fade I put in the used clutch. I drove the car around the block and the clutch slipped. Since I chased all the holes with taps and had just put everything there the previous day, I was able to get it apart in about an hour and 15 minutes by pulling the engine out the top (removed the water pump housing) and drop the motor back in before it got dark with the new clutch.

ok i changed afew plans around for doing my clutch.
insted of trying to do it in one shot on the weekend. ill be doing it threwout the week. but ill only be able to spend an hour or 2 but ill add up the hours from start to finsh and see how long it took.

About 1.5hrs on my 350 powered one, but that was in my shop with full power and hoist. Just wanted to see how fast I could do it. Vince