hey guys im starting to do a clutch job on my 86 iroc next week (tuesday) wonderin if anyones who has done one got any tips/advise on doing it. never done one before kindda nervous about doing it because alot of people on here seem to have had trouble putting them back together.

TIA

5.7L 350 (almost no mods. bought car recently.
t5 tranny
zoom clutch kit - mf1675-1a (not 100% yet havent bought yet tell me your feed back on it)

 

Replace the pilot bushing; and make sure you get the throwout back onto the fork correctly. Do a search for my userID and "famous pic", you'll find it. Get the flywheel resurfaced if it needs it. DO NOT push the clutch pedal unless the whole hydraulic system is all bolted up, in place, and all of the parts it works (the fork) are properly installed and tightened down. Make sure you can get the trans all the way into the BH by hand, which is to say, DO NOT use the bolts to "draw" the trans into it, you WILL destroy the clutch that way; make sure the clutch disc is aligned properly, using the little alignment tool, FIRST. Make sure the fork is correctly installed (clipped) onto the pivot ball in the BH, put a dab of good-quality grease like Mobil1 or moly grease on that point, and MAKE SURE it doesn't slip off somehow during the rest of the assenbly.

Beyond that, it's pretty straightforward; it's no different from any other clutch. Not that any of that stuff is any different from any other clutch. It's not hard or unusual in any way. The ONLY reason to have trouble, assuming you use a good quality clutch, is improper assembly. No "bleeding", "adjusting", or anything else, is required. Just assemble it right, and it will work right. All of the struggles you see on here are from incorrect assembly, whether the assemblers are willing to admit it or not, or whether they ever found what they did wrong. If you put it together right, it WILL work right; if it doesn't work right, it's not put together right. It's that simple.

 

How so?

 

"How so" what? what's not to understand?

Are you asking about how to put it in by hand? You lift the trans, hold it straight, and push. Maybe wiggle and push a little at the same time. Maybe even, wiggle, push, and run a bolt in by hand, at the same time. But NOT, use the bolts to try to pull the trans in, if it won't go in easily.

Are you asking about how doing this will destroy the clutch? It will punch the center of it out and bend it from a flat thing into a Belleville washer. Which makes the clutch incapable of releasing, because the pressure plate can't move far enough to disengage itself from the disc if it's not flat. (a common "I don't know why my gears grind, and I just did a clutch job" type of situation... a likely cause of some of the posts about wanting to bleed the hydraulics or hack on the push rods or whatever after a clutch change.... FAULTY INSTALLATION)

You can also destroy the transmission by trying to "draw" it up to the BH with the bolts, by breaking the ears off.

Also, DO NOT allow the weight of the trans to hang while stuck into the clutch; this will also warp the disc, and cause it not to release. Same as above.

 

That was the answer I was looking for. My clutch however releases fine. Maybe I got lucky. Of course I only had to draw it up no more than a 1/4 inch and I did it very slowly.