I've followed Dope's instructions to this point. So far, it's really not all that difficult; just a bunch of steps.

Lefty loosey, righty tighty.

I haven't bought a replacement clutch yet. I'm not really in a hurry, and I'd like to catch one one sale. I'm split between the Spec 3+ and the Monster stage 3. I've read a lot, and both have people who love them and hate them.

The car has a 402 in it and puts down 530/490 HP/TQ to the wheels. I also have a nitrous kit that may go on eventually. (I've got a friend with a reasonably quick car and I don't plan to lose twice)

I'm going to clean everything really well in the mean time and install the new sways/shocks/endlinks. I'll probably paint the calipers and the plastic pieces in the wheel wells.

I had a pretty good day. I think I'd ALMOST rather work on them than drive them. That works out well, because I'm always breaking something.

 

I haven't bought a replacement clutch yet. I'm not really in a hurry, and I'd like to catch one one sale. I'm split between the Spec 3+ and the Monster stage 3. I've read a lot, and both have people who love them and hate them.

The car has a 402 in it and puts down 530/490 HP/TQ to the wheels. I also have a nitrous kit that may go on eventually. (I've got a friend with a reasonably quick car and I don't plan to lose twice)

I'm going to clean everything really well in the mean time and install the new sways/shocks/endlinks. I'll probably paint the calipers and the plastic pieces in the wheel wells.

I had a pretty good day. I think I'd ALMOST rather work on them than drive them. That works out well, because I'm always breaking something.[/QUOTE]

Nice numbers. What are your cam specs ?

 

I get to do this in the summer.. woooo.... lol

 

I can't remember. It's a pretty big cam, but with the added displacement it idles about like the G5X3 did in the 346.

A lot of time was spent tuning it.

 

How many hours did it take to get to that point? Gonna contemplate the same work in my C5Z.

 

It's one of those things where if you've done it before, it may take a few hours. If you haven't, it might take a couple days.

 

Your pictures look like my garage right now, the only difference being that I'm in reinstalling mode at this point. Starting to put it all back together. To others contemplating doing it at home, make sure you're not in a rush in case unforseen things pop up and not necessarily with just the car. It might end up taking longer than you thought if you haven't planned properly, like home things to attend to. If you don't mind getting up and down on the floor, go for it. You'll be able to say you did it yourself!

 

sent you a pm

 

looking forward to replace my clutch, do you have to drop the 3rd member or can you drop the torque tube at the bell housing and trans?

 

Everything from the clutch rearward must be removed, diff/trans unit and the entire suspension cradle, too. You remove it all in one big unit. If you have multiple jacks it's not too hard. The only running gear not removed will be the engine.

BTW, I used a Harley jack for the suspension, a Harbor Freight trans jack under the trans and a floor jack for the front of the torque tube.

 

Was asking the OP exactly how much time he has in the project so far, not asking for superficial spectator input...thanks

 

I read Dope's instructions 3 or 4 times during the previous week, and I've swapped f-body transmissions, clutches, and hydraulics several time. I've also successfully swapped engines on two Volvos. Believe it or not, the things I've learned working on other cars transfers over to the Corvette.

I did everything except drop the whole business Saturday morning.
Got the car in the air, pulled rear wheels, exhaust, emergency brake cables, shocks, and disconnected everything except the Trans lockout solenoid; which I later ripped out. (oops)

I removed the catback and X pipe completely because I want to spend some time polishing the tips. Instead of unscrewing the O2 sensors, I left them in the x pipe and simply unplugged them from the harness. I'm 80% certain that they are tuned out anyway, since the car has no cats.
Saturday I worked from 8 until about 9:30, had breakfast with the kids and watched Dinosaur Train, then worked until lunchtime.
My motorcycle jack is not tall enough to lift the rear cradle. I had to borrow a transmission jack. That's why I didn't finish pulling it Saturday.
Yesterday when I got home I pulled out the shifter (30 min), supported the cradle with the Trans jack, undid the four 21 mm bolts, and eased down the rear some.
Then I took out the bolts holding the torque tube to the bell housing.
After that I stuck a jack stand under the back of the oil pan so it wouldn't tip back further, and bench pressed the torque tube up and down a few times until it came back.
I unbolted two 10 mm bolts holding the slave in, slipped it all back and rested it on the furniture dolley. Lowered the Trans jack the rest of the way and pulled it back.
I've probably put in 5 hours total to this point.
3 Saturday, 2 yesterday.
I've learned a lot in the process and could probably shave an hour off if/when I do this again.

 

Excellent info, thank you. You did good!

 

One thing I forgot to mention:
On the drivers side, one of the top bolts holding the shock absorber to the car won't come out. The weld holding the nut to the top must have broken, allowing it to turn with the bolt.
I simply disconnected this shock from the bottom.
The bolt eventually will have to come out though, I'm replacing the shocks with C6Z06.
My plan is to cut the bolt, then take a new bolt and install it from the top down. Then tack weld it from the bottom to the bracket.
That will hold the bolt while I tighten the nut on from the bottom.

 

His answer holds a great deal of truth though. My first time I probably spent 14 hours total for the job. After I had done it a few times and collected better tools I could knock it out in under 7 hours. Mind you this is on jackstands, a lift would make this job far easier

 

Thanks for stating the obvious. I'm not new to wrenching, just new to wrenching on C5 Corvettes. Repetition should improve the process, however never having pulled the trans/diff/tube from a C5 I'm in the same boat as the OP.

Asking the OP what his time was for the removal is is a good baseline data point for ANYONE contemplating a "first time" clutch job. His through answer was exactly the info I asked for.

 

I'm sorry you are having a bad day today and feel like giving helpful forum members grief. Hopefully the rest of your day is better and you end up in a better mood......

-Edit- nevermind, I just read some of your other forum posts. I'm so embarrassed I attempted to help a forum Troll........

 

What clutch did you decide to get. Which hydraulics? What are your goals for the car?
Also, are you really a stripper?
Hahahaha

 

Wow that looks familiar! I just dropped everything out of mine last weekend for new clutch/hydraulics... and probably some other driveline upgrades while i'm in there . Don't want to get it back together, and then pop the stock diff the next track visit and so on. Not in a rush either, the vette is the toy and hobby.

Current setup is only 435/390 right now, but I went with the level 3 monster to have some room for future money pit investments . Just doing my part to boost the economy. Bought the package from Tick that includes the new slave, adj. master, monster, etc..

Good luck with the teardown and rebuild!


Also, since it has come up a couple times in this thread. This was the first time I have dropped a C5 driveline out. Doing it on my own, it took about 4.5-5 hours as well to get it to this point. That included removing coil packs/longtubes.

 

I drove myself crazy trying to decide from all the clutch choices out there which one to go with. After being honest about my immediate expectations I decided to stick with a new stock replacement Z06 clutch. I also replaced the hydraulics with new stock. I also added the Total Performance Engineering remote bleeder which I believe is an improvement over the other brand design. Considering my intended and past usage which is mostly highway driving, yet has been down the strip several times and still managed to do 100,000 miles before any problems, I felt another stock clutch will serve me well. If the slave hadn't leaked my stock clutch would still be working fine. The only reason I changed it is because at the mileage I have it would be nuts to just change the slave and have the clutch possibly go south a few months later after doing all the work to replace the slave. Not having driven my car for a while now is like withdrawal for me. I just want to get it back on the road, I miss being able to drive it, even if just to go to work.

BTW, it's not "stripper", it's striper as in custom hand painted pinstriping and other automotive and motorcycle artwork. I've been doing artwork on vehicles for over 30 years in addition to fine art on canvas my entire life. Whether it's tools or paint brushes, I always enjoy working with my hands. Plus I great satisfaction in telling people "I did it myself!"