Clutch Changing Party

[Mike C]

My wife came home last Monday and told me to get the POS stock clutch out of her EVO. I decided to replace it with one of these purple things:

[Mike C]

I'll be out in the garage from Saturday 8:00am until I finish if anyone is interested and tearing apart an EVO. (You may have to pass a qualifying test in order to pick up a wrench however:eek ).

Seriously though, anyone is invited (except Shearer).

[MrBlunt]

I'll make a special sound track just of the occasion. Best of the Crue and Van Halen.

[DQ Driver]

i've mapquested directions to your home and sent it to shearer.

he will be there

[EvolvedDSM]

ENJOY!

Hope you've got the slide hammer already rented ;)

[Mike C]

Originally posted by EvolvedDSM
ENJOY!

Hope you've got the slide hammer already rented ;)

:thumb I love stubbies.

[Shearer]

Originally posted by Mike C
Seriously though, anyone is invited (except Shearer).

You bastard. I'll be in town Saturday too. :mad:

[Mike C]

Originally posted by Shearer
You bastard. I'll be in town Saturday too. :mad:

I'm just joking chief. I knew you were in town. Actually, you've been voted to lay under the car and catch the tranny:D

[Mike C]

At this point, I'm kind of looking for some confirmation that someone is/can come over Saturday. I've talked to a few people individually but every convo has kind been that certain people will be there at certain points "maybe". The person that I thought were going to be there the whole time has cancelled on me so I'm debating on whether to do it at all without a commitment to some brawn. I can handle everything myself except for the physical removal and reinstall of the tranny (the fun part).

If anyone knows that they can definately be there Sat morning, please let me know and I'll probably decide to do it.

[Mike C]

I have commitments from MIKE and Rachel. Talk about some hefty brawn:D We will own that tranny yo!#@$#@!

[MrBlunt]

Thats funny, you 3 combined out weigh me by maybe 50lbs. I'm not sure if i should be proud of that or not.

I'm there until 3 pm. I'll show up at 8 armed with Red, White and Crue and some Molsen. After we have some beereal we get that thing ripped out.

[exlipsemike]

goodluck on the job guys its a extremely hard J.O.B. w/o a real lift its even a be-otch with a lift and 3-4 other guys helpin u out....im sure u won't believe me since im a "backyard mechanic and all" but ive done one already and was not fun but theres a first time for everything/
again goodluck! and down some for me DAMNIT!!!!:beer :beer

[Mike C]

Just to clarify, the person that canceled on me was The Bean (my dad) and not anyone from the board:D

[Iwishiwascool]

Im still not sure. :(

[Jamie@WORKS]

If you need help getting the tranny up/down without a lift, then pick up an ATV/motorcycle jack. WORKS like a charm when doing a clutch on the garage floor :)

[turbomark]

You can use a cherry picker if you can figure out how to chain the tranny to it.

[91E39A]

pm-ed you MikeC

[DQ Driver]

Originally posted by Mike C
8:00am

UGH!

[Iwishiwascool]

8am's got nothin on my 6:30 wake up this AM

[BlackEclipse]

I have to get up at 3AM Sunday morning for my ever loving job. I'm just glad I don't have to do it on a regular basis.

[turbomark]

Nobody came to my clutch changing party, I dont see how multiple people can work on changing a clutch at the same time though.

[Mike C]

Pay Tym Switzer or Dave Buschur to change your EVO clutch for you.

[talon guy]

Originally posted by turbomark
Nobody came to my clutch changing party, I dont see how multiple people can work on changing a clutch at the same time though.

Hey, i only had one person come to my party.That person was dweet and he was a huge help!

[Mike C]

Changing a clutch on an EVO is a fairly shitty process. I'm not one to complain much, but this is/was significantly harder than a 2g. The main issues are just that the tranny and T case are bigger and heavier. The T case sucks because it can not be removed from the car and just needs to be pushed off to the side. It kind of constantly got in the way. Wrestling in the tranny is also alot tougher than the DSMs. Overall, I have 17 hours in this initial job and thats with assistance from about 4 people for the grunt work portion of it. I suspect if I had to do it over again, I could do it in around 12 hours if there were enough strong people around to help.

I still need to reinstall the downpipe and passenger's side axle but I'm waiting until I can refill the T case oil with the proper fluid which I can't get on the weekend. I'll post my impressions of the clutch after the car is running.

Big thanks to Chad, Rachel, MIKE, Dan S, and Brian Azad who all helped at various points of the process:)

[BlackEclipse]

So, does the transfer case unbolt from the tranny like a 2g? But then it doesn't come off of the driveshaft????

Do you think it would have been easier to just yank the engine out with the tranny attached? It may have involved more steps and would have been more tedious but it may have been a lot less aggravating.

Did you take the front driveshafts completely off the car or did you leave them attached to the hubs?

There has got to be a way that a sole person can do it by themselves.

[Mike C]

Originally posted by BlackEclipse
So, does the transfer case unbolt from the tranny like a 2g? But then it doesn't come off of the driveshaft????

Do you think it would have been easier to just yank the engine out with the tranny attached? It may have involved more steps and would have been more tedious but it may have been a lot less aggravating.

Did you take the front driveshafts completely off the car or did you leave them attached to the hubs?

There has got to be a way that a sole person can do it by themselves.

I took the shafts completely out. I removed everything (within reason) out of the engine bay, aside from the motor, that would aid in getting the tranny in and out easier. We were even using a tranny jack but the problem with that is that you have to really rotate the tranny while lifting to get around certain frame areas. It really just comes down to having strong people. I think if my next door neighbor was available to do a few benchpresses from under the car, things would have went quicker:D
MIKE are I are currently considering steroids.

[EvolvedDSM]

Originally posted by BlackEclipse
So, does the transfer case unbolt from the tranny like a 2g? But then it doesn't come off of the driveshaft????

Do you think it would have been easier to just yank the engine out with the tranny attached? It may have involved more steps and would have been more tedious but it may have been a lot less aggravating.

Did you take the front driveshafts completely off the car or did you leave them attached to the hubs?

There has got to be a way that a sole person can do it by themselves.

I did it mostly solo in about 12 hours total on my back (with the help of two jacks). The transfer case on the EVO is much more involved. It actually houses the front differential and the viscous coupling. Both front drive shafts use a stubby shaft to run into it as well (hence the need for the slide hammer). I took the driveshafts completely out when I did it on my garage floor, but have left them in when doing it on a lift.

I don't see the whole engine/drivetrain coming out much easier as you'd have to drop the subframe. Besides, getting it out is pretty straightforward, it's the putting back in that's a bitch... the usual DSM clusterf*ck of inserting a square peg into a round hole.

BTW Valvoline GL-5 75W-90 will get keep your transfer case happy if you don't want to wait on the other stuff (DiaQueen?). Oh, and you don't have to take off the downpipe :NaNa

[MrBlunt]

Dear god if i can ever give someone advice about this it would be to pay someone to do it. I have bruises and aches in all kinds of places. We worked on it 9 hours before i had to leave and Jamie just admitted to 12. Thats a very involving job to change a clutch. I'm glad i got to be involved for the experience of the thing. If anyone ever needs to pull a vault door off in a bank they can use Mike C's slide hammer, that thing is fn huge.

[Mike C]

Originally posted by EvolvedDSM
I did it mostly solo in about 12 hours total on my back (with the help of two jacks). The transfer case on the EVO is much more involved. It actually houses the front differential and the viscous coupling. Both front drive shafts use a stubby shaft to run into it as well (hence the need for the slide hammer). I took the driveshafts completely out when I did it on my garage floor, but have left them in when doing it on a lift.

I don't see the whole engine/drivetrain coming out much easier as you'd have to drop the subframe. Besides, getting it out is pretty straightforward, it's the putting back in that's a bitch... the usual DSM clusterf*ck of inserting a square peg into a round hole.

BTW Valvoline GL-5 75W-90 will get keep your transfer case happy if you don't want to wait on the other stuff (DiaQueen?). Oh, and you don't have to take off the downpipe :NaNa

That is ridiculous that you did it by yourself:eek That is one hell of an accomplishment.

I chickened out on using an alternative T case oil after reading all of the horror stories. It seems that no matter who you talk to, you get a difefrent story on what is best to use (Tym actually told he runs 85w 140 in their's without issue). I figured better safe than sorry and am picking up the Diaqueen crap from Mitsu today.

[BlackEclipse]

Maybe someone needs to design a custom tranny jack that is designed to hold the EVO tranny like a glove and make it pivot/swivel/tilt easily in many directions to help install it easy. It could at least be designed as an adapter to fit one of the big floor jacks - the kind with the interchangeable mounts. This would be the perfect opportunity for those out there that are into custom metal fabricating and welding. There has got to be a way a sole person can do this in less than 12 hours without crying or extreme pain.

[EvolvedDSM]

Originally posted by BlackEclipse
Maybe someone needs to design a custom tranny jack that is designed to hold the EVO tranny like a glove and make it pivot/swivel/tilt easily in many directions to help install it easy. It could at least be designed as an adapter to fit one of the big floor jacks - the kind with the interchangeable mounts. This would be the perfect opportunity for those out there that are into custom metal fabricating and welding. There has got to be a way a sole person can do this in less than 12 hours without crying or extreme pain.

I can do it in less than 12 now... I still cry and am in pain for the following two days :cuss

[Mike C]

Got it together tonight and drove around Alkire a few times. So far everything seems perfect and it shifts perfect. The chattering noise of the discs scared me at first because I thought something was popcorning around in the tranny:D

I'm taking it work tomorrow and will beat on it a little more.

[DQ Driver]

congrats... sorry i couldn't be of more assistance

[turbomark]

What kind of clutch is it? I'm assuming a multi-disc setup. I got my car running today finally after getting the clutch back in saturday, drove it up and down the street a couple times. THe clutch needs to be bled better as its engaging right at the bottom of my pedal throw but so far it's not too bad. The slippability is real good considering what it is, even if it isn't completely broken in yet.

[Mike C]

Exedy twin metallic

[Gunner]

Sounds like a good time, just like repairing a stupid clutch pedal assembly.

[Rally Red Evo]

I've had my Exedy in for almost a year now and its so much better than stock. Does shift really nice:D

[DQ Driver]

i'm calling out the EVO to start off, just like last year.

I should be ready in 6 months

[Mike C]

Originally posted by luong88888
i'm calling out the EVO to start off, just like last year.

I should be ready in 6 months

Bring it jerky.

[fvee21]

Well damn, I had thought about doing the clutch install myself but after reading this maybe not. So is there anyplace in Columbus that would be able to do the install or should I just take the car up to Buschur?

Shad

[Silverevo8owner]

man i am dredding this

I am still good at 45k :beer

I dont know how much longer it will hold at this power level though

[Mike C]

Originally posted by fvee21
Well damn, I had thought about doing the clutch install myself but after reading this maybe not. So is there anyplace in Columbus that would be able to do the install or should I just take the car up to Buschur?

Shad

Paying Buschur or Tym Switzer $400-$500 is fairly reasonable considering the PITA that the job is. Unless you're dirt poor(which most EVO people aren't), paying the labor fee probably outweighs the hassle factor on this one.

[fvee21]

It is more a convenance thing, they are both 2 hours away. Hopefully I can schedule it so that they can do the install in a single day. That way I won't have to leave the car there for a week. I guess it will all work out though since I was planning a making some purchases at Buschur, this way I won't have to pay shipping. :) I wonder if I will be able to fit the exhaust tubing inside the car? I know all of the other stuff isn't really that big and will fit in the car somewhere. Then all I will have to do is get everything installed and tuned by May 16th!

Shad

[Mike C]

Either place would be able to do a clutch job for you in one business day as long as you could get up there around 8:00am.

[emagdnim]

Bump for DQ's experience with changing clutches to a twin.. ;)

Honestly 17 hours isnt bad!

[EvolvedDSM]

Honestly 17 hours isnt bad!

It's almost as bad as removing the subframe for the job ;)

[272ownzu]

we can officialy do a evo trans in about 8 hours. out and back in 8 hours.

[EvolvedDSM]

I can almost do it in that time on my back. Let me know when you want it done in 6.5--including factory torque specs :)

[272ownzu]

we do factory tourqe specs... plus fluid top off and also will load and change a flash or aem map to better support your needs.... also we will use a NEW tob retaining clip:NaNa

[emagdnim]

including factory torque specs :)

Like I wouldn't know. ;)

[EvolvedDSM]

"We" means more than 1 person times those 8 hours, which probably puts man-hours in the 12+ range. I fly solo unless there's an ACD line to bleed at the end. In that case I'll grab a driver while I'm under the car. No more free tips for you, Toops!

:booty

[M 4 L k i 3 R]

Kind of ironic, seeing as I did mine this past weekend.
Highlights:
2 days, 7hrs a piece
3 people
vehicle lift
2 engine lifts
Got it all back together but wouldn't start (would run with a push start). Loose bolt on the starter and we're rolling!