Clutch job for weekend mechanic

[So Cal Mark]

to each his own, but I prefer to resurface flywheels. Most have been overheated and are glazed, many are not flat anymore. I wouldn't use a torch on those bolts, too much heat will damage the rear seal. You need to secure the flywheel and use a long breaker bar. This is just one reason for suggesting you raise the car as high as possible

[wachuko]

Guys,

What is the downside of not resurfacing the flywheel when you change the clutch? I went a bought an electric impact wrench ( 300 Ft/lbs ) like Jaime uses and the bolts are not budging. I hit each bolt 3 times and sprayed with a nut loosner and hit them again. I resprayed and will let them sit a while and hit them again with the wrench. But the flywheel is not scarred. There is some blueing or browning on the flywheel but I think I can remove that with emory cloth. Give me the pros and cons of not removing the flywheel.

Thanks

Ed Clark
404-234-7366

Ed, so sorry you wasted the $ in the impact tool and it did not do the trick. That was what worked for me.

[clarkedj]

Hey Guys,

Appreciate all the advice. Finally got the flywheel resurfaced. It was a bugger. Cleaning up the transmission and changing the oil etc. Has been cold here in ATL did not feel like laying on a cold unheated garage floor but weather is cooperating these days. As I have mentioned in the past the car is my sons car and we work on it together. Since the tranny is out and laying on the floor we were thinking of solving another problem we have had. That is the losing of 2nd gear. I thought as long as we have ready access to the tranny I would pull the covers to inspect the forks. Any other thoughts or ideas on other things I should be looking for.

Thanks

Ed Clark

[clarkedj]

Trnamission and clutch finished ready for the install. Looking for some advice. I have the transmission wounted on a jack and in place. Have positioned the the tranny so the transmission shaft is lined up with the clutch plate. Used an alignment tool to position the clutch plate to the flywheel. My question is the transmission seems hard to get through the clutch plate into the flywheel. The grooves on the clutch plate and the shaft are aligned because when I turn the fly wheel the shaft of the transmission also turns. It seems I can get the driver side of the tranny in place easier then the passenger side. I tried to get the long bolts positioned on the bottom of the transmission so I could tighten the bolts and move the transmission into place. As stated earlier the driver side is cooperating more then the passenger side. The question is do I just need to wiggle the transmission in place and make slow progress ( i.e. is this uslually a tight fit) or should the transmission shaft just glide into place? Therefore if it's hard something might be out of alignment?

Any feedback would be helpful.

Thanks
Ed Clark
1978 Fiat 124
404-234-7366

[So Cal Mark]

sounds like the alignment isn't right

[ventura ace]

Did you use an allignment tool to center the clutch plate when reinstalling the pressure plate? If not, you may need to do so. It's always a challenge for me to wiggle the transmission in and out on the 1970 model. I understand that there was more room to work with on the later models. What helps is to rotate the transmission output shaft (in gear) or the flywheel, as you described, while trying to stab the 2 together, or else the splines get hung up on each other.

Alvon

[clarkedj]

Mark,

Thanks that was my gut feeling also. I will drop the tranny again and rework the clutch disk with the alignment tool. Pain in the butt dropping the transmission and getting it back up. In your earlier post you talked about removing the shifter from the bottom. I think I will do that this time rather then trying to get the tranny back in place with the shifter attached.

Had another question. This spring I am going to replace the carbs. Want to go with dual carbs. I was on your site and noticed you have the parts necessary to support this configuration. I did not see the linkage between the carbs do you also have that or is that a customer job I need to have someone do locally?

Thanks
Ed Clark
1978 Fiat 124
404-234-7366

[clarkedj]

Ace,

Thanks for the response. I did use the alignment tool but I think ( becuase it was a long day ) I pulled the alignment tool out before I actually fully torqued the pressure plate. So I am thinking that during the torquing process the clutch plate shifted just enough to make this a problem. I will pull the tranny tonight a rework it.

Thanks
Ed Clark
1978 Fiat 124
404-234-7366

[majicwrench]

Once Pressure plate bolts snuged down at all disc will not move. If you had the alignment tool in and it slid right out alignment likely OK, but certainly you can pull trans and check.
Once in a while a trans just slides right in. Always suprises me when it happens. Usually takes a little wiggling, a little jacking up-or down--more wiggling....
It will be tough going unless the trans and the engine are aligned at the same angle. In other words, should be the same distance tween engine and bellhousing all the way around as you are sucking it up. If you just have trans supported on a jack it would be hard to get it aligned right. Get creative.

[clarkedj]

Majic,

Thanks for the advice. Mark, it was the alignment. Dropped the tranny and realigned with the tool and left the tool in place until I finished torquing the bolts. Good thing I pulled the tranny I thought I had tightened all the bolts to 22 ft-lbs but when I went back to make the adjustment I found one of the pressure plate bolts very loose. Like I could unscrew with my hand. That could have been trouble if it had worked it's way out.

Question on the flex joint. I know the drive shaft and the tranny drive shaft each have 3 metal supports. I also know that they need to be shifted 45 degrees. The question I have is looking at the manual the head of the bolt seems to be on the metal supports is that correct?

Thanks

Ed Clark
1978 Fiat 124
404-234-7366

[So Cal Mark]

the bolts on the flange usually are opposed; those that hold the coupler to the trans come through from the front, and those that hold the driveshaft to the coupler come in from the back.

I can't imagine trying to r&r the tranny with the shifter in place

As for my dual carb setup, the kit includes the links to synchronize the carbs together

[clarkedj]

Mark,

Thanks

Ed Clark
404-234-7366

[clarkedj]

Guys,

I had a question on the clutch cable. I have the transmission in with the new clutch. When I hooked up the clutch cable and pressed on the clutch the pedal did not return to the orginal position. I have the springs on the tranny and the springs on the clutch pedal all connected. The throw of the clutch when compressed presses the bearings against the pressure plate but not with what seems like a lot of force. This caused me to look at the cable and it's position against the firewall. I noticed that the cable as it sits against the firewall moves not so much the internal cable but the cable cover. Upon further examination and the attached photos it seems that the firewall may be damaged. Do your firewalls look like mine? If I have to repair the fire wall any creative solutions? Also is it normal for there to be a alot of tension in the clutch cable? Once I deinstalled it the amout of pressure I had to apply to get the cable to shift in the sheath seemed a bit much.

I could not figure out how to post images so I created an album on Google.

https://picasaweb.google.com/edjclark/DropBox

Thanks

Ed Clark
404-234-7366

[TulsaSpider]

I didn't see any pics there. Does the firewall look torn? If so mine was too. The PO had placed a 1/4 inch thick plate of steel. Drilled the holes and mounted it back in place. no more problems.

[courtenay]

This issue has come up before. If you do a search on clutch and firewall, you should find some history here, including pictures of the fix.