Time to refresh clutch -- what else should I do while I have trans off?

[Bill837]

Maybe this is a question for another thread, but when I look at my car up in the air, with perhaps 12-18 inches of clearance, I'm trying to understand how the world am I going to get my trans out from under the car to work on the clutch. I mean, between the high of a transmission jack and the trans itself, I'm not sure how it will get out from under there. Do you guys like lower it to the ground and roll it, or what?

Maybe not with the jack under it, but once its down, you should be able to lift it by hand and slide the jack out from under. weighs around 80lbs, so muscling it around by hand is doable. I would put something like cardboard down first so once the jack is pulled out you can just slide the trans out with the cardboard

[rajicase]

How strong are you? I used to just bench press the trans out. Since I got a trans jack and it's definitely helpful but you need the car REALLY high up on some 6 ton stands in order to get the trans out on a trans jack.

[tiMASTER]

Maybe this is a question for another thread, but when I look at my car up in the air, with perhaps 12-18 inches of clearance, I'm trying to understand how the world am I going to get my trans out from under the car to work on the clutch. I mean, between the high of a transmission jack and the trans itself, I'm not sure how it will get out from under there. Do you guys like lower it to the ground and roll it, or what?

If you are doing this job without a lift then you need to get the car up on jackstands as high as possible (SAFELY) and use a floor jack to raise and lower the tranny. M3 tranny isnt really that heavy. When I used to work this way I had some old very wide steel rims that I used to place under each tire. It is more stable than jackstands. Safety first, as you will need to wrestle the tranny in and out.

I got a set of four 10-ton (I think) jack stands. These have a large base and go up 24" which is enough to wrestle a tranny out. Plus they are not flimsy or twisty with a little car in them at full extension. Harbor Freight.

[wintershade]

How strong are you? I used to just bench press the trans out. Since I got a trans jack and it's definitely helpful but you need the car REALLY high up on some 6 ton stands in order to get the trans out on a trans jack.

Great, cause the last thing I need to do right now is buy a transmission jack. I like the bench press method. I'm no Rockie Balboa but I think I can handle 80 lbs... Now in terms of getting the car up with 24" of clearance, though -- that I'm a big more skeptical about. And my 3 ton Amazon stands are pretty junky. Ever since the tow hook I bought from them broke when my car was getting loaded onto a trailer, I basically assume anything I but there is likely to kill me.

[rajicase]

If you are doing the bench press method I suggest buying two extra of the large bellhousing mounting bolts and cutting the heads off and grinding slots in them. Install them before you install the trans(as dowels) and then install the transmission on top of those. Then once the trans is bolted in, remove the dowels(bolts) with a Phillips head (because you cut slots in it, remember?) and install the correct bolts in place. It makes life soo much easier than having to align the transmission by hand. Does what I'm saying make sense? If not I have my engine and trans out so I can easily snap a pic for you tomorrow.

[wintershade]

If you are doing the bench press method I suggest buying two extra of the large bellhousing mounting bolts and cutting the heads off and grinding slots in them. Install them before you install the trans(as dowels) and then install the transmission on top of those. Then once the trans is bolted in, remove the dowels(bolts) with a Phillips head (because you cut slots in it, remember?) and install the correct bolts in place. It makes life soo much easier than having to align the transmission by hand. Does what I'm saying make sense? If not I have my engine and trans out so I can easily snap a pic for you tomorrow.

What you're saying doesn't quite make sense to me. That said, I also am exhausted because I was up all night trying to figure out hot to do this. It sounds like you're kind of fabricating a tool. I have enough difficulty using actual store-bought tools.

The HF trans jack is $150 and has a min-height of 8". So if I buy that, I'm thinking I could us that to help get it lose, then lower the trans down to the jacks's minimum height and either drag everything out from under there, or lower the trans to the floor and off the jack onto the cardboard floor as someone suggested. That sounds potentially easiest to me. But I'm open to better ideas.

Also, if there a good link to DIY subframe removal (dropping as little of the suspension as possible), could someone please post the link? I need to redo my subframe mounts, which are shot -- a learning from installing proper diff mounts. I have to root out this driveline slop. It's making me nuts.

[wintershade]

Does what I'm saying make sense? If not I have my engine and trans out so I can easily snap a pic for you tomorrow.

If you could snap a picture that would be great.

[rajicase]

Cut the heads off the largest bellhousing mounting bolts.

ForumRunner_20170419_162622.png

Grind slots in them for a Phillips head

ForumRunner_20170419_162627.png

Loosely thread them into these two holes on the block. Allows you to easily slide the trans mission on and align it perfectly.

Install the other bellhousing bolts and then take a Phillips head and loosen the two locating bolts and replace with actual bolts.

ForumRunner_20170419_162633.png

[Bill837]

Lets see if I can help explain it. Old school checklist style.

1. When you put the trans back on, supporting the trans while aligning properly to seat the bolts is a sisyphean task, with a high risk of not supporting it fully at some point and exerting excessive force on the pilot bearing.
2. So, the best way to get around that is to have a way to both help you align the trans and support the weight while you get the bolts in.
3. The best way to do that is to get two bolts of the right size from Lowes or Home depot and cut the heads off.....



4. I might recommend the red ones center left and top right. Then thread them by hand into the holes in the block before lifting the trans into place.
5. This will serve to both help you align the trans and support the weight of it while you get some of the other bolts seated and snug, but not torqued.
6. Make sure you leave enough of the "alignment stud" bolts sticking out so you can unscrew them after getting the rest of the bolt in. Might be a good idea to grind a slot in the ends facing you so you can use a screwdriver to do so.

[rajicase]

Lets see if I can help explain it. Old school checklist style

I just posted pics of mine above lol.

[Bill837]

I just posted pics of mine above lol.

Yeah, I was busy typing.......... Oddly enough the Valeo singe mass flywheel kit does not tell me the torque for the pressure plate bolts.....

[wintershade]

Lets see if I can help explain it. Old school checklist style.

1. When you put the trans back on, supporting the trans while aligning properly to seat the bolts is a sisyphean task, with a high risk of not supporting it fully at some point and exerting excessive force on the pilot bearing.

Wow, this is genius. Probably saved me hours. Thanks Bill and Raj. I'm still not convinced I can do this on floor jacks though, so think I'm going to try to find a lift and might put project on hold for a while. I could barely get my diff on the ground to do the M14 front bolt conversion. Getting the trans down (let alone back it) just seems near impossible.

[Bill837]

Wow, this is genius. Probably saved me hours. Thanks Bill and Raj. I'm still not convinced I can do this on floor jacks though, so think I'm going to try to find a lift and might put project on hold for a while. I could barely get my diff on the ground to do the M14 front bolt conversion. Getting the trans down (let alone back it) just seems near impossible.

Here's how high mine is. [IMG][/IMG]

I think the trans can slide out from under there. But I cant say for sure, since this is how mine came out.....

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

Trans isnt very tall. I'll measure when I get home from my trip to Fallingwater tomorrow.........

[TXBDan]

^Those are small jack stands. You need big 6 ton truck jack stands. Don't even try it without them.

If i were you, the only way i'd attempt this job is if i did it in my own garage, with no set time line, and had other transportation. I'm glad you opted out of renting lift time for the job, it would have left you broke. Learning is fun, but not when you're paying by the hour!

Honestly, just pay to have it done. A shop will turn this around in a day, easy peasy.

[rajicase]

I agree 6 ton stands are a must. You want the car high enough to the point where you can damn near sit under it.

[Bill837]

I just measured my trans, it's about 15 inchesat the tallest point

[golgo13]

Those alignment bolts are fucking sweet.

I'll be doing those next time for sure.

[JitteryJoe]

You can use this wheel stud alignment tool as well if you don't have access to a cutting tool (or in my case too lazy).

https://www.bavauto.com/12MM-11

[Bill837]

You can use this wheel stud alignment tool as well if you don't have access to a cutting tool (or in my case too lazy).

https://www.bavauto.com/12MM-11

[BeerSultan]

https://www.google.com/search?q=bava...hrome&ie=UTF-8