I'd replace the flywheel bolts, pressure plate bolts, fork, and fork ball stud.

 

You need a couple feet of space (I'm a big fan of to the highest point of your large jackstands. The hardest part is the exhaust. The rest - taking the handle off the shifter, removing the driveshaft, dropping the transmission and then pulling the bellhousing goes pretty easily (don't try dropping both the bellhousing and transmission simultaneously).


nice thing about a Corvette, you can jack from roughly the middle on each side (frame rail) to lift the car then put the stands under the frame basically at either end of the door.

edit -
a word of caution. No matter the end you lift under - once you have your car on one set of jack stands, pay close attention when you jack up the other end to be certain your jack is moving and not the stands!!

 

Okay thanks.

Yeah... I hate doing more than two jack stands at a time... the garage isn't perfectly level and it takes a lot of care to keep things safe.

 

I Agree, this works too good to be true, I ground a taper on the 5/8"bolt threads too to get it started and did not tap it first, the bolt will screw right thru that softer pilot bushing. I have not tried the grease routine, but I am betting this is a lot better.

Also, I just inspected the flywheel and mine was pretty clean, sanded it lightly and just used it.

I did have a couple of problems.

*The bronze (guessing that is the material) pilot bushing is easy to mushroom the end tapping it in. After trying to get the 4 speed to go in several times without any luck I finally miked both and discovered mushrooming interference. They make a tool to install pilot bushings, but I just found the right sized round rod and cleaned out the mushrooming.

*I did mine with the 76 on jackstands and it was difficult to get the transmission properly lined up to mate up. I finally took 4 long bolts, cut off the hex head and screwed all 4 in the 4 tapped holes for bolting on the 4 speed. These 4 rods served as alignment rods which greatly helped me get the 4 sp going in straight. Getting someone to work the clutch for the last 1inch seemed to help final mateup too.

Hope this might help you out and I got all of these ideas from this forum, thanks to everyone here!

 

there is a cheap bronze and a good bronze.... for the life of me I can't remember what the chem composition of the cheap bronze is; but you will be sorry if you use it. Ever considered a roller bearing instead?

and the grease trick. I use a brass bushing that I've threaded a zerk fitting in the top (and a reducer).... then screw it into the bushing (no need to tap, but if you do Harbor freight sells a cheap one that works well for this purpose) then use your grease gun to pop it out.... works slick.

 

I pays to remove Hei Distributor cap also it can hit firewall and break if you happen to tilt engine back too far

 

and as others have said , buy a new clutch fork and pivot ball , i did not see this added to your parts list. resurface or buy a new flywheel , don't sand on it it needs to be perfectly flat.

 

The flywheel is resurfaced by using a special grinder. A brake rotor cutting machine will not do it.
I have R&R'd a clutch by myself in one long Saturday. But you need all the parts first. If you are reasonably strong you could bench press a Muncie 4 speed with an aluminum case by yourself. It weighs probably 75 lbs. Drain the oil first.

 

Here's a little deal I did for some truck guys. Some crappy language, but it might help with some basic stuff...

FWIW, I've done it many times without help using a basic floor jack. It's easier with help, but not that bad.

 

Okay, so exactly one year later I dove into this. I kept trying to line up a mechanic I know to install a crate engine & clutch along with it, but after half the summer had gone by with no movement I decided to just replace the clutch myself and drive the engine into the ground before I put a new one in.

I took pictures the whole way so I would not forget how to put it back together. Maybe they will be of use to others in my situation.

One nice thing was that I didn't have to remove or even disconnect my exhaust. There was plenty of space with it still attached. I am running the corvette central patriot dual system.

I only had 16.5in of space from garage floor to frame rails to get everything out. Probably could have done it even with a little less, but it wasn't comfortable. I wasn't using a creeper just a rug.

# Disassembly

First, going back and forth with a bottle jack I raised the car up to the highest point on my four jack stands. I put cinder blocks all around under the frame in case it managed to somehow fall off the jack stands. It never budged one bit, but I felt safer.

Disconnected battery


Removed shifter ****, shroud, trim plate, etc.






I spent a lot of time getting this pin all the way out only to find out that it probably wasn't necessary, I think it only needs to come out this much so it is no longer holding the shift lever in place. Thanks Dave Witman


Marked the drive shaft so it goes back in the same place



Disconnected parking brake cable. I think it was in the way.


Removed u-bolts holding u-joints in place. The u-joints were somewhat rust-welded to the transmission and differential flanges, I had to pry them apart with a screwdriver




When they finally came out the caps popped off also and threw needle bearings all over the place. I never found them all, but I was planning on replacing the u-joints anyway.





Loosened the distributor cap so it doesn't hit the firewall when the engine moves, as recommended by you guys




Put a jack under the oil pan to support everything and let me move things up & down as needed to get at bolts


Removed all bolts holding the shifter bracket to the frame






Removed bolts holding rear transmission bracket.


I don't know why these two were different lengths. The last guy to do a clutch swap may have mixed up the bolts, not sure.


Removed the rest of the bracket including the "wings" over the exhaust pipes











Started removing all the cables and the three shift rods from the transmission













Pulled the transmission flange, covered the hole with baggie & rubber band as somebody recommended here. Transmission fluid was dripping out but not that badly.



After all three rods were disconnected I was able to pull the whole shifter through the bottom and remove the frame bracket that was holding it in place



I couldn't figure out what this wire was. It is the reverse light switch, thanks roadblock69. The whole bracket comes off when you remove the two small hex bolts






I had to remove a few bolts on the transmission side plate to get the remaining cable and linkage off.









I took this bracket off also. Not sure if it was necessary but I wasn't sure how tight it would be getting the transmission out




At this point nothing was left connected to the transmission. I loosened the four bolts attaching it to the bellhousing. I wasn't sure if it was going to fall on my head or what, but it does not, it was basically hanging on the transmission input shaft


I had my brother help me pull the transmission out. It wasn't all that heavy, and came straight back, dipped the front down, and out. No clearance issues even with the exhaust in place and I didn't have to rotate it noticeably.




Pulled cotter pin, clutch fork pin, and one end of this spring so bellhousing could be removed





After trying to get at the bolts from underneath the car with a socket wrench extension & u-joint I realized that I could access the four bellhousing bolts from the engine compartment. I had to jack the engine up slightly. The bolts were all hard to reach but not impossible.




I did not remove the clutch fork, left it attached to the bellhousing.

Bellhousing off.



Started removing clutch assembly. I found out afterwards that you are supposed to loosen all the bolts a little bit at a time, but I had no issues removing them individually. I had to turn the flywheel manually to get at them all.



Clutch off. I bought a generic NAPA clutch because I don't plan on keeping it for very long. I will replace it again when I put a crate engine in. It came with two different solid pilot bearings (I guess one is for a different engine type) and a throwout bearing.


It was worn all the way down to the metal plate.





Marked flywheel position and started removing flywheel. I jammed a large flathead screwdriver between the flywheel teeth and starter to keep it from rotating



Flywheel off. That seems to be pilot bearing


I rented this Pilot Bearing Removal Tool from Autozone but it did not fit inside the pilot bushing. It also didn't come with a slide hammer so it would have been useless as I don't own one.


I tried screwing a large metric bolt (M16 I think) into the bushing. It worked extremely well except I had no means to pull it out. I tried a crowbar but it didn't grip the bolt head enough.


Finally I tried the clay method you guys suggested and it worked perfectly with minimal effort. I packed the bushing hole with clay and hammered a large bolt that was slightly smaller than the hole into it. It took one and a half sticks.





Throwout/Release bearing replacement. I put some grease on the new one.





I replaced the two drive shaft u-joints with solid spicer 1330 ones according to this guide: http://www.corvettemagazine.com/53_6...t-replacement/

The whole u-joint replacement process was a pain. Mine were really stuck in there good. I had bought a cheapo 20ton press from harbor freight for this and other projects, but it barely worked. The press is total crap, welds are crooked, parts missing. Luckily the drive shaft flanges didn't bend.


There were still some bits of clay in the pilot bearing hole so I cleaned it out and put some grease in



I put the new bearing in the freezer so it installs easier. Not sure if it matters. It passed the magnet test so it should be solid brass.


Project halted until I can get the flywheel resurfaced

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Great pics and narrative. Keep them coming. This will be a good reference tool for others. Thanks.

 

Good on you for just getting at it. Your pics will help you with those little things you forget about....but for god sakes don't leave it for another year!!

 

I'm doing this now. Thanks

 

I had no idea this was so involved. Nice work. Subbed

 

I had mine about 18" off the ground. Transmission weights about 75 lbs. Drain the oil first. Leave trans output shaft in so oil does not drip all over.

Use an original type Pilot bearing. The ones from Autogear are perfect and are 100% non-magnetic and made with 100% correct material. A little trick I learned when removing the pilot bearing on my 70 was to use play-doh. Stuff the play-doh on the hole and come up with something close to the ID of the pilot bushing. Then use a hammer to tap/hit the piece that fits in the ID of the pilot bushing. An old cut off input shaft is perfect if you can get one. Absolutely DO NOT use the needle bearing type pilot bearing. They are not made for use with older manual transmissions. Too much play in the input shaft.

Use ARP bolts and hardware to reattach the flywheel and clutch pressure plate. Use blue locktite and torque to specs.

Get the entire assembly balanced at a machine shop. They will balance and put alignment marks on the assembly for you to use when assembling in the car.

Rebuild the shifter while it is apart. I did not have to remove the center console or any interior parts. Have someone in the car to guide the shift handle through the opening in the car.

Lastly, Opening the side cover and inspect the transmission. I ended up having mine rebuilt. Synchros were pretty worn as were the shifter forks.

Sounds like a fun project. Allow two weekends. I did mine on my back and I am a lot older than you.

Bill

 

Wow, you have many nice pictures in this thread.

I copy this one because it illustrates that the pilot bearing, when installed correctly, is NOT flush with the inner recess of the crankshaft. On another CF post, a forum member had problems with the clutch not disengaging cleanly and one of his pictures showed the pilot bearing bashed in so far that it was probably squeezed to a smaller diameter than the input shaft pilot.

Keep up your good work.

 

And finally I think most of your questions have been answered. Try to borrow an extra floor or transmission jack - I know you think you're young and strong but that trans is REALLY heavy. In a '75, welded cross-member for 4-speed and bolt in for auto. You're right on numbers 26 spline for input shaft and 168 tooth flywheel, 11 inch clutch, unless Bubba's been in there.