doing clutch need help! LT1

[raroZ28]

How does the driveshaft come off? I took off the trans mount, jack holding it steady where it belongs, torque arm is off, removed the 4 bolts that hold the driveshaft to the rear end. On my conquest, once I did this, it fell right down and slid outta the trans.

Do I have to pry at this to get it out, or is there something else that needs to be done? I don't want to break anything. I'll be for a reply before I go back out! Thanks.

[raroZ28]

what's a good tranny fluid to put in the car too? How much does it take? Any good mixes? Trans fluid w/redline or something? Just wondering... Thanks in advance

[Joe 1320]

How does the driveshaft come off?

Do I have to pry at this to get it out, or is there something else that needs to be done? I don't want to break anything. I'll be for a reply before I go back out! Thanks.

once the driveshaft is unbolted from the rear, it will slide out of the transmission tailshaft. Just be ready to catch any fluid that escapes. I actually have a tailshaft plug for just such a job.

[F-Body183]

The rear end may be holding it up if its not sliding right out. Did you get the driveshaft undone frome there?

[95TransAm]

When I took off my driveshaft, it was the same as joe described...should just slide right out.

what's a good tranny fluid to put in the car too? How much does it take? Any good mixes? Trans fluid w/redline or something? Just wondering... Thanks in advance

When I got my brand new tranny, I used a 2 cans of some stuff (cannot remember it for the life of me) that hook up right to your feed line. 1 can was good, but I used 2 for overkill. I picked them up at Napa for 10 bucks each. I know that it came from the trans shop with ATF in it (I'm having a horrible memory day...it comes in a clear bottle that's shaped different from any others...costs about 8 bucks a quart), so I just stuck with that. If I remember correctly, 4 quarts was the ticket (not including torque converter), but if I remember correctly, you don't have an auto so that obviously doesn't apply to you.

:EDIT:
AMSOIL...that's the name of the tranny fluid I have!

[Injuneer]

In theory, the DS slides right out of the tailshaft housing, but if it hasn't been out before, it is possible it will feel "stuck". You can try prying it out with something. Probably just caked up grease and crud, maybe even providing a bit of a vacuum like trying to pull a piston out of a sealed cylinder. The only other reason it would be hard to get out would be if you had managed to twist the splines, but that take a huge amount of torque or a poor fit on the slider.

You may even have to "pry" it forward enough to get the u-joint caps out of the pinion yoke. Then "pry" it back to get it out of the tailshaft housing.

[raroZ28]

It just needed a little prying. Came right out. The trans is all but off. I made pretty good time, only 3 hours for my first time! Conquest only takes about 1 hour to drop, but this is a whole new beast. Plus I took an hour break to eat chicken and come on here, so I don't feel so bad.

It really isn't all that bad. People say f bods are "hard" to work on. Not so hard, just time consuming and complex, and there are some tight spots. Other than that, they're not all that difficult to work on.

I have a few more bolts on the trans to remove and I'm done.

I need to have this clutch installed and broken in by saturday. Waiting on the flywheel is gonna be the biggest bia. Hopefully the place I take it does it in house and can have it ready within hours.

I cannot wait to put in this SPEC S3. It's gonna feel really good. The stock clutch has been gone for about 10K.

[MN6WS6]

I have a Spec II and it is awesome. I, too, had my flywheel resurfaced with no ill effects. Similar pedal feel to stock, but a lot more grabbing power, which is what I needed. BTW, my local shop had my flywheel out overnight.

[Injuneer]

Don't forget to pull the clutch fork off the T/O bearing before you try and pull the tranny out of the bell housing.... that seems to be the problem on most of the threads I see people post on T56 removal.

[raroZ28]

Fred, I can't remove the trans with the bellhousing and trans attatched? Do I have to remove the tranny from the bellhousing, then detach the bellhousing from the block?

[MN6WS6]

You can remove the bellhousing with the trans, but it is exponentially harder. I had to take my tranny off first, then the bellhousing, then the clutch. PITA, to say the least. Of course, my car is so tight I also had to unbolt the back part of the cradle to get to the top bolts, so maybe your car is built a little "looser" than mine was.

[raroZ28]

Ok now I know what fred was talking about. I seperated the tranny from the bellhousing and it is not coming off. I now see how it won't come off until that fork is taken off. Any secret to this? I put some pliars on it and tried pulling it out, but that wasn't going to fly. Getting the T/O bearing off the pp isn't happening either. Do I just rip the fork off? I don't see myself damaging anything, except maybe a T/O bearing that is shot as it is....

So I just rip that sucker off?

[raroZ28]

BTW, the haynes manual is garbage to say the least. This is the first time I have needed it, and it has not helped me at all. For the trans it basically lists what obviously has to be removed, then it says take the bolts holding the bellhousing to the block out, and slide the trans back, and lower it.

I would not recommend this manual! Not enough pics either. Shoulda known after seeing a v6 car on the cover

[MN6WS6]

I took a BFS and BFH (defined as Big Freaking Screwdrive and Big Freaking Hammer), got the screwdriver in a safe place with some leverage, and WHOP off she came. Some people just have to pull on it to get it off, but considering all the trouble mine caused me when I did it, go figure it would take brute force. It will come off and you cannot break it. Just make sure you don't hit the tranny or bellhousing and crack it.

[raroZ28]

Well, I went over there about 5 minutes after my last post. Just put some vice grips on there, and jammed on it, jerking it back and forth while pulling down. Popped off. I wish I'da known that's all I had to do. I did so much reading and floor pacing, and looking down there, that I wasted about 2 hours. Once I got that off it was cake. Everything came off nicely with impacts. Swivel sockets come in great handy when removing the bolts at the top of the bellhousing. And the upper left bolt.

I don't think a bearing was causing my grind... I will post pics of my clutch. Wow. That thing is toasted. Seriously. My flywheel took a little bit of a hit in some spots. Should be resurfaceable and good to go though.

I can't believe how bad that clutch was. I have never seen one so gone, with material starting to fray. This clutch has seen a lotta launches I would assume.

Thanks for all the help guys!

EDIT - The pilot bearing. How does it come out? Forgot to ask. Pull hammer? Special tool? I would like to replace it with the new one from SPEC.