Hey all -
New here on the site - just wanted to say I just did a clutch job on my new-to-me '89 IROC.
Had the flywheel off and resurfaced and installed a new Hurst Billet Plus shifter AND used a NOS factory **** for original appearance.

Just wanted to let anyone who is interested know in case someone had questions regarding this job - I might be able to help.

C-ya
Kevin

Thanks for your willingness to help.

Welcome to the boards.

-Schultzy

how much shorter thows does that shifter give you? is it like a quik shift deal?im gonna be putting a clutch in soon and ive never done it. hope i dont mess up.lol.how long did it take to have your flywheel resurfaced?do they send it away?

you shouldn't mess anything up, just make sure all surfaces are clean, don't get any grease or oil of any kind on the clutch surfaces, and make sure you use a clutch alignment tool ($2 from autozone) good luck!

Flywheel resurfacing took about an hour at the local CarQuest parts place - they have a machine shop there and basically did it while I waited. With a little searching, you should have no problem finding a machine shop that can do it quickly.

I like the new shifter alot, although I only got to drive it about 60 miles around town after I finished the job - the car is in storage in MI at my parents place (pop's got a real nice new garage....) and I live in VA; when I finished up, I pretty much had to leave the next day to come back to VA. It's a much more positive feel from one shift to the next and I think it will be hard to mis-shift with it. The stroke from first to second etc - forward and back - is noticeably shorter but I can't give you an actual measurement. Also, I think the pattern across the gears from frist to third or second to fourth is tighter - less sideways travel too. And I like the idea of set screws limiting shifter travel - you don't have to worry at all about damaging tranny internals with shift stops on the shifter like the Billet Plus has. It gets my recommendation albeit with out a ton of use.

To the clutch job itself, you definetly need two people to physically get it out. Also, if you don't have a lift, I seriously recommend getting it SAFELY as high off the ground as you can. I drove mine up on blocks for the front and jacked up the rear and had it on jack stands (you need to read my recent post in the body section for what not to do....) Anyway, I raised it up off the ground about 10 inches and it was barely enough room. You will seriously have a hard time of it if you can't raise the car up about this much.

Two final things - a good clutch kit should include an aligment tool so look for that. I just used a LUK RepSet for mine cause I'm not planning on upping power too much. Great kit by the way. Second, I removed the gear box from the bell housing first, then removed the bell housing from the engine second. I reassembled it this way too and it worked well for getting the gearbox back in.

Oh yeah, it's a great time to change the rear main seal if you have a one-piece unit too - don't over look that one if there's any doubt it might be seeping oil.

Let me know - anyone - if you have any other questions,
Kevin

well i took the whole engine out and tranny too. i needed to fix a oil leak thats been bugging me so i figure why not pull em both. i am doing a auto to manual swap this why i asked about the clutch. i dont know much about them because ive never messed with them. however i have aquired more info then i will need on this site so far.lol. my engine is fairly new 15-20k on it. so i doubt i will worry about the rear main. i found the leak however it apears to be a oil pan leak. anyway thanks for the help i hope pulling both made my swap easier for me.lol