Well the heads and cam install went well.

See here ----> http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1655495

During the process I changed out my clutch master cylinder hoping that was the culprit of my fluid leak, however no such luck. The slave is leaking like a sieve.

So I decided to go ahead and change out the clutch while I am there.

Big time props to Gene at GMpartshouse.com for two day shipping and a great deal on the LS7 clutch package. Thank you Gene.

The back end of the car is up 17 inches and ready to get started tomorrow morning. My Corvette mechanic education continues.

Here are some pics of the clutch package.







The slave.



Harbor Freight Trans jack for 59.00 on sale.



I'm using Dope's write up as directions. I'll keep you posted.

Brad

 

Can't wait to hear/see how it goes. Good Luck!!!
Someday I will have to do the same job, hope you tell me it is not to bad with out a lift

 

I just replaced mine with dopes directions and it went great! I would suggest the remote bleeder I put one on and it made bleeding a lot easier. Good luck and keep us posted

 

I wanted to do the bleeder but time constraints and cost were limiting factors. I hadn't planned on doing this so soon but I had no choice.

I hope I will be able to bleed it the normal way.

 

i don't suggest using the clamps, GM warns against this practice in the shop manual, if you have the motor/TT on the same plane, things should go together fairly easily

also, the LS7 clutch does not require bellhousing removal as some may suggest, it's a tight fit, you may want to see how far the dowels are seated in the FW

 

Steve thanks for the input. I will hold off on the clamps.

Big thanks to Dope first for the write up and second for answering my question. Thanks Brother!

Pics of a few tools you will need.

Clutch alingment tool. $2.99 at Advance auto.



Pilot bearing removal tool. Get this tool from Pep Boys. You can rent it and return it when you are done. The part number is:

W89742
Made by Performance Tech
Sku: 0 39564 89742 9

I removed the bearing in 15 mins. It took exactly 15 hits on the slide hammer to pop it out. I used a 1/2 inch deep well socket attached to a 3 inch extension to drive the new one flush on the flywheel. Total of 20 mins to R&R the bearing.

Note: If the idiots behind the counter don't know what you are asking for go see a mechanic in the service area. We lucked into this tool. I originally went to ask the mechanics if they knew where to get the exact tool I was looking for, NAPA had something but I didnt think it would do the job plus I had to buy it for 90 dollars. The mechanic took us back to the counter and found the tool for us. Just FYI.





A few more pictures.











Using the tool.



The old bearing removed.



Bearing installed and area cleaned up.



And my helper, #4. Raising him right.



Done for today. Looks like I may have to at the least loosen up the bell housing to make some room to slide the pressure plate up in, nothing I tried tonight would get it in.

I also cheated a little since I was replacing the slave cylinder anyways I just cut the braided line instead of fooling with disconnecting it.

I also found a write up on LS1tech on making your own remote bleeder so the parts should be here tomorrow from summit. I'll do a seperate write up on it with pics when I am done. Total cost will be around 52 dollars plus shipping.

And as usual, a great big thank you to my good freind Dave; aka full moon for his continued assistance. Two sets of hands make things much easier.

Thanks for looking.

Brad

 

Finally.
Mother Nature won many battles these past two weeks.
All work was done in my driveway as the garage was converted long before the vette was acquired.

The results were worth the wait. Clutch feels great. I am so glad I did my own work. (of course the help from my friend fullmoon was invaluable as usual. ) Many supporting tuners chimed in with help and advice including Steve @ CTCorvette and Chris at East Coast Supercharging, thanks guys.

I built my own clutch bleeder and wow the bleed process was very easy. Total cost was about 54 dollars. I changed my mind about doing this after I saw where I had to go to reach the stock bleeder.




















Bleeding the brakes was a total PIA!!! The ABS module was in the back. However the fluid was really nasty so it was a good thing to get it completely flushed out.

I also installed LAPD stainless brake lines, new NAPA rear rotors and Hawks pads from Cajundude as well.
My rocking seat syndrome just got a lot worse.

It has been quite a Corvette education the past month between the heads and cam, clutch and slave/mc installation. It re-affirms to me the valuable resources we have here with the CF and all the great members.

A really big thanks to CF member Dope for the excellent write up on the clutch installation. I would not have been able to do this myself without that foundation.

Now its time to drive it like I stole it, after the break in period of course and at the track.

 

for other viewers, when dropping the rear cradle, the brake lines will typically remain in the car, this is done by either sliding the axles out or removing the axle/spindle/upper control arm completely

I like to remove the axle/spindle/upper control arm to lighten up the TT/trans/diff assembly on the install, this also prevents the possiblitly of the lower mounts of the shocks tearing up the axle boots(I've seen a few posts about leaky axle boots after a clutch install)

Brad, nice install, that is a major task on the ground

 

thanks for the tips i bet u saved big bucks doing it yourself thanks again

 

I don't have any clutch issues at the moment, but thanks for showing me what I'm in for if I ever do and if I decide to fix it myself. That certainly is quite a job, from the looks of it! Nice work!

 

Agh, computer crashed a while back and I just saw this. Great work and nice pics Brad Damn you for being so lucky with that damn pilot! I still get angry thinking about ever having to do mine again!

Thanks for the kind words.

Dope

 

Brad I have a few questions sent you a pm

 

Awesome thread and pics! This will be invaluable to all corvette owners in the future.

Three questions:

1) Jack placement. I only see 4 jacks but they're all positioned in the center of the vehicle. That's kind of scary isn't it? What if the car teeters forward or back? Plus the 2 inside jacks - are those positioned right? It doesn't seem like that area has any chassis support. I get really paranoid about jack placement so let me know if I missed something.

2) Flushing/bleeding brakes - you mentioned the ABS module is in the back. Pardon my ignorance but do you have to do something to the ABS module while bleeding? can you post a procedure for bleeding?

3) You mentioned the rear is jacked up 17 inches only? I only need the rear ~1.5 ft off the ground? If not, how high should I get the entire car (front and rear) off the ground?

Thanks!

 

I think the pics are a bit misleading. The jackstands look like they're more towards the end of the car, right in front of the rear wheels (which is proper jackstand placement). I'm assuming the 2 inner jackstands aren't really supporting any weight, probably just there for safety/redundancy. Can never be too safe. The front of the car is up on ramps. If you look at the lower-right of the very last pic, you can just barely see how the front tires are on ramps.

Brad can answer that one a little better, but I can tell you that higher is better (as long as you can safely do it with the right stands and such). I think I got the rear of my car up 2+ft, with the front on ramps just like Brad (so probably 16-18" up front). The more room you have the easier it will be. I'd say 18" in the back is probably the minimum before it starts getting really difficult.

Dope

 

 

Brad and I only had the rear about 17-18 inches high.
I believe the size of the person would determine how high would be workable. Neither Brad nor myself are big guys..

 

If I could post pictures I could show you what we do but take a look here and you can see pictures of the car in the air

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2569578/1

 

Dope is correct on both points, the car was very stable on the jack stand set up, trust me the way fullmoon and I rocked that assembly back and forth, we knew for sure it was stable. The second set of jacks was for redundancy/safety. 17 inches left plenty of room to work.

I actually spent one evening setting the car up on stands taking my time to make sure it was steady. The small problem I had was that the car was trying to roll backwards off the ramps, but solved that with 2x4's.

For as much at times it was a PITA, at the same time it was fun to have such a steep learning curve. The satisfaction of doing the work on our own was very high. I'm glad we did it.

Thanks to all for the positive comments. If anyone has any questions do not hesitate to contact me or post them here.



Brad

 

Awesome, that's what I like to hear as it gives me some level of confidence to do it also.

As far as this pic goes, YES it does look very safe and I may have to go the same route. I need to go buy me a lot of 2x4s!

 

Post back to this thread if you have any questions. I will try to answer them or maybe Dope will keep an eye here too. Make sure you downlaod his directions and print them out, they are an excellent reference point and I would not have been able to get it done without it.

Oh and one more thing, get a good friend to help you like I did, fullmoon was invaluable to me.



Brad