auburn2

I am going out to remove the 4-speed manual trans (along with flywheel and clutch) from a friends 88 corvette. It is not at my house and he has virtually no tools, so I need to bring whatever tools I need. I don't want to get over there and then drive all the way back because I missed something, but I don't want to take 150lbs of tools.

I figure I need to remove the exhaust, c beam, the driveshaft, the shift linkage from the side, trans mounting bolts, bellhousing blots, clutch cover bolts and the flywheel bolts. Anything else need to removed to get that stuff out?

Is this stuff SAE or Metric or a mix?

Will screwdrivers, wrenches, sockets, a breaker bar, hammers and dikes get it all done or do I need anything like torx or allen wrenches or other special tools?

Anything else i need to know?

Thanks in advance for any help.

jazfe

It's a mix from what I've seen under my 86. I have the 4+3 as well and I'm pulling my drive train after the holidays for rebuild of the trans/OD and new clutch.
If you bring a full set of metric wrenches and sockets you should be ok. What is sometimes SAE is 1/2 and 9/16 which as you know are 13 & 14 mm.
When I replaced the seals around my shifter forks all of those nuts on the shift linkage are SAE. Being that the transmission is just a normal T10 that's been around since the 60's it is all SAE. The pan bolts on the OD are 10mm so there is a mix.
While Chevy tried to go metric with these cars I have found that the metric bolts and nuts used are common SAE sized nuts and bolts. IE 18mm = 3/4in
It's a mixed bag for sure but the car is supposed to be metric. What previous owners have done is always a surprise.
When I was replacing all of my rubber for poly I stripped the bolt for the rear camber rod and had to replace it with SAE because the hardware store didn't have what I needed in metric at the time.

s carter

A above is pretty much on course with what he listed, but I will add 18 mms wrench & socket 21mms wrench and socket (impact preferably) 3/8 drive deep swivel metric ( impact) set.3/8 Impact guns. I would bring a 1/2 drive gun & sockets for exhaust system can be a bear, and of course a good rusty nut buster spray.
If you don't have air access breaker bars work to,
Flare wrenches both types

exhaust= 15mm (studs sometimes have 17mms if nuts was replaced on studs)
center hanger heat shield if you're car uses early hanger 10mm
side cover/shifter arms =9/16
Trans cooler lines 9/16 but bring both kinds of flare wrenches
Drive shaft= 8mms or 5/16
front C beam 18mm
rear beam 21mm (note do not totally remove most rear bolt 21mms leave it loose to work as a hinge, just slide the front of the beam around the transmission) if you remove beam completely you may have trouble putting back in.
T10 to bellhousing=18mm
clutch inspection cover 7/16 or 11mm wrench or socket
can't remember if bell housing is 9/16 or 15mms but lean towards 9/16
clutch slave 15
clutch cover/pressure plate= 9/16

auburn2

Thanks!

I would have totally left the flare wrenches at home because it is manual transmission, no cooller lines right ! ..... I almost jumped on to point this out to you .... but before I put my foot in my mouth I remembered - oh yeah overdrive.

FWIW mine is an 89 with a ZF so I have never actually worked on the Doug Nash before this.

:-)

s carter

Just thought of a couple of more. Under the hood.
15 Torx for Plenum extension and what ever you will need to loosen the Distributor depending weather you have push and twist clip or the 1/4" screws.

If car has a Detent cable by 88 I believe detent was long gone no longer used, but if it does you will want to disconnect top and bottom.
10mm socket on short handle 1/4" ratchet to remove from transmission.

If you're wondering about the extention & Cap with transmission out or to come out the rear of engine has to dip a bit onto the motor mounts and cap gets pushed against fire Wall and I have seen broken caps on the screwed down, dislodge on the clamped ones, which when car is started the dislodge cap bangs against the Rotor, not pretty and doesn't make a good running car.

Benny42

I concur all the above suggestions and will add one. Bring a bunch of extensions for your ratchet. Seriously, about 6 feet of 6"-12" extensions for the bell housing bolts. Several extensions together will have enough flex to reach the ones you can't get from above.

coupeguy2001

I have an original auto shifter for 84-89 auto trans cars.
$75 with boot and cable