My car is on jack stands in my drive way and i have spend a bit of time surveying. This task look a bit daunting, should i punt and let a shop do it or should i press on? What is a reasonable price to have a shop do it?

 

Try Ice auto repair on Sanderson in Hemet

 

Flat rate for replacement of the clutch & pressure plate is 3.9 hours, plus .2 for pilot bearing R&R, plus .3 for flywheel R&R (for surfacing). At average shop rates of about $100/hour, you're looking at labor cost of about $440. Surfacing the flywheel will add about $50, and the clutch/pressure plate/TO bearing & pilot bearing "kit" will run about $350. That puts total cost in the ballpark range of about $850.


Lars

 

Maybe stupid suggestion..but when i got my 79 i was told i needed clutch til i educated myself from this great forum and added fluid to transmission and adjusted clutch free play..works great for 1500 miles..
btw dealer wanted 2100.. lol.. i got my inspection money back..
i think from what i gathered here is a doable job but crossmember is welded and not removeable like an automatic which makes it more difficult..

please post your choices? And progress!
would love to see details and learn when the time comes

 

Depends on your mechanical aptitude. I'm over 60. Did mine in my 77 in my home garage. No trans jack. Just my muscles. Seems in the past whenever I had someone else work on my car they stuffed something up. And I take my time, clean things up, repaint, etc. There on the clock. They really can't just take their time. Your call.

 

you guys and gals really rock! Here`s the deal, Clutch was abused by a shady tree mechanic who could not help himself The car recently passed smog. The exhaust system is stock and will no longer reside in this car so that is what I'm doing, unbolting my exhaust system! I would like to save the system for obvious reasons and might have to cut it somewhere. I think I'm in this thing. back to the driveway!

 

I replaced the clutch on my '78 a few years ago at my friend's house who had a lift. Made it so much easier. Like interpon said the crossmember is welded in which makes it a bit of a pain to get the trans in and out. Thought about cutting and making it bolt in but was time limited in getting it done to bring to a Corvette vintage weekend at Mosport so left the crossmember as is. The exhaust will have to come out as well. It isn't super difficult. Hardest part really was just getting at a couple of the bolts at the top of the bell housing.
Cheers

 

You can do it if you can get the car in the air. I last pulled my clutch about 1.5 years ago. I had the car up on Ramps, battery disconnected, and brake pedal held down with piece of pipe (since I had to release the parking brake)..... I've done this several times I only mention the last time because I'm old and I was able to do it.

The first time I removed my tranny was ages ago (25-28 years?) and my crossmember was not removable then. I got the Muncie M-21 out anyway. Takes some coordination to slide it out but it's not impossible. I made my crossmember removable so it's a bit easier now.

I fabbed up a contraption that bolts onto my small floor jack so I can lower the tranny as I get it out. You can go look a this thread for more info and pictures.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...post1601102293

 

I just did this. Granted, I have QuickJacks and can get the car pretty high so that was very helpful. Took a bit over an hour to get the trans out...VERY thankful that everything came apart easily. Maneuvering the trans out can be a little tricky. Bell housing, pressure plate and flywheel all came off pretty easily as well.

Resurfaced and balanced the flywheel, pressure plate and clutch disk. That cost about $120 at a local engine shop but they also slapped on a new ring gear on the flywheel for me.

Bought a standard replacement kit from one of our vendors, about $150. Threw the TO bearing that came with the kit in the trash and bought a McLeod. Also threw the pilot bearing in the trash as it was magnetic. Bought one that wasn't.

While the trans was out, changed out the tail housing bushing and seal. I do have the Snap On tool for the bushing removal, but made a bushing driver out of copper pipe that I had. Slapped on a new seal and resealed the side cover.

I have a pilot bearing removal tool and install tool (plenty of ways to remove and install without those tools), so that part was pretty easy. Put it all back together in a few hours. Used a HF transjack to keep the tranny where I needed it while putting in back in place.

Total cost including tools: About $330 and less than 20 curse words.

 

I made some progress today, gone too far to turn back! exhaust system is out, shifter linkages are disconnected from tranny. no frozen bolt encounter yet! I see lots of while I`m here things to do already, well....onward, thank you all for the support!

 

Good luck!

 

I wondered if this helps at all on a manual transmission
https://www.harborfreight.com/450-lb...ack-61232.html

good luck! Appreciate any learnings..pics i sense this job coming for me on my 79

 

yeah, it’s what I used. You could just bench press that puppy up there, but why? I used this to drop my rear diff too when I changed the rear carrier cross member bushings. Easy day.

 

Thanks for the encouragement, that HF jack might be in my future. Due to Corona I`m trying to do this on a budget. I have been using the AIM, Haynes repair manual and you all help. One thing I have encountered is cruddy worn parts like clips and springs, hopefully the hard parts are salvageable. I would like to put some heat shield under the tunnel and floor after a good cleaning. My goal today is to get this Trans. out, wish me luck!

 

i dont recall any heat shield on the underside (other than exhaust and cat)..only interior..79 not too bad with stock manifolds, no catalyst ..make sure hot water valve shut off works and take top off or air on or both!
just dont turn on rear window defogger

 

Why indeed? I`m 63 years old and starting to feel it.

 

Here is from service manual 79..sound easy

 

Pretty sure we don’t have a tach cable either...weird its in he service manual..i do remember some stating to remove distributor cap to lower engine more? To remove transmission

 

My clutch job certainly grew in scale as I pulled parts out. Rebuilt the Z bar, replaced the engine side ball stud, z bar linkage to the clutch fork (and the fork itself due to a broken TO bearing clip) since every hole was oval. Resealed the side cover after changing the combs, springs, etc.

 

Don't know if you decided on a specific brand of a replacement clutch yet, but you may want to review this particular thread regarding engagement and disengagement. May save you some future headaches, especially since you're doing this in your driveway. https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...vel-range.html