Before I started this clutch job, the last car I really worked on was my 924. That was 15 years ago, so I really felt unsure and uneasy about taking on such a big job. But after calling around for quotes that all hovered around the 4500 euro mark, I figured I should at least try and if I really get stuck or screw things up, I'll call a flatbed and have the car taken to a mechanic. At least I would not be charged labour for taken the car apart [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif[/img]
I think if you have the tools and all the info, you can get this job done over a weekend. The only thing I found hard lying on my back was to get the DMF and the pressure plate back into the car. The rest was quite straight forward.
Where I think it helps when lying on your back is putting the exhaust back. You can rest your elbow on the ground and then align the exhaust quite easily this way; if you had a lift this might not be so easy.
<b>Here’s what I have learned and if I ever have to do this again it will save me a lot of time and frustration:</b>
•Remove the spark Plugs, this will allow you to turn the engine from the back (flywheel side) quite easily. If you don't do this, you have to keep going to the front of the car to crank it and hope you have everything in the right position. If you spin the engine from the back you can turn it until you get to the correct bolt and torque it and then go on to the next bolt. I started by torquing every 3rd bolt and after that every 2n'd bolt
•Mark every torqued bolt with a dab of touch up paint. This way you know what you have torqued. If you have to torque a bolt twice like the flywheel bolts use two colours
•Buy the Arbor Oil seal tool (P234) from SIR Tools. This makes installing the Rear main seal so easy.
•Remove the reference sensor and reinstall it after the flywheel is in. I did not do this, but in future I will.
•Use the Driveshaft to align the flywheel with the crank. If you let the flywheel hang on the pilot bearing you can slide the shaft forward and spin the flywheel until everything lines up. Then you can easily push it into position and put all the bolts in. If you do it this way it will take no longer than 30 minutes to get the flywheel mounted. Do the same when mounting the pressure plate. This should also stop you from damaging the reference mark sensor...ask me how I learned this one [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif[/img]
•Move the driveshaft as far back as you can before installing the guide sleeve.
•Get the guide sleeve into position and torqued before tightening the pressure plate bolts.
•Once you have started tightening the pressure plate bolts it becomes very hard to get the driveshaft all the way to the front. So after the Guide sleeve is mounted and torqued move the driveshaft all the way forward and then start tightening and torquing the bolts.
•Remove the exhaust tip and hang the rear silencer first, then use a jack to lift the exhaust to the correct height. Then screw the cat to the header. Now putting back all the other bolts are quite easy.
After doing this job I really feel like I know my car so much better, and reading things on this forum are more easliy understood. The down side is that now I know of so many other things that needs cleaning or replacing that my DIY list has grown considerably [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.gif[/img]
