Finished up a session under my car with lots of help from this forum, so thought I’d share. This has been done a million times but not too often with QuickJack and using this method. Not too many pics as this has been done before. These threads helped me out:

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...dies-pics.html
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...placement.html

Background: I recently bought a heavily modded 04Z. Tons of great parts, some good shops had done the work, but a modded car is always a crapshoot. The Spec clutch was way too grabby for street use. The diff had not been broken in correctly and whined like a mother in labor. There were some signs of crappy work: hacked wiring, missing fasteners etc.


Scope:

replace clutch

inspect TT

Rebuild diff

install dual WB02 gauge

fix the Bubba work

don’t screw up or die!



I did the work under a Quick Jack. Just barely enough room to work. Another few inches would have been very nice. No access through the sides was a pita with the driveline going up and down but I managed. I’m 6’3” so a smaller guy would have more room. I did it all myself with a floor jack, $100 Harbor Freight tranny jack, a couple jack stands, and hand tools. No special tools except a flywheel wrench to spin the engine, and a huge snap-ring plier for the TT. Used quite a few long 3/8” wobble extensions, very handy. Be sure to use proper torque, locktite on things that call for it. It would be a huge pain to get into it again for a loose fastener…



Some points, more or less in order. Big points only, this is not a detailed step-by-step by any means.

get the car as high as possible

Drain fluids first! easy to forget, easy to make a mess later….

Remove shifter. Zip tie shifter rod to TT

Remove spark plugs, wires, remove header bolts, bungee cord the headers as much out of the way as possible. No access to the inspection cover, bellhousing etc with the headers in the way.

remove exhaust, tunnel plate

Remove brake calipers and use coathanger wire to tie out of the way. Not necessary to crack into the brake system

remove brake rotors to get a lot of weight off the rear cradle

Prybar to pop the driveshafts out of the diff (mine popped right out no problem)

I did all these in pieces to minimize the weight/danger of each piece, and lessen the chance of screwing something up:

Support TT and remove lower cradle using tranny jack

Lower the TT a bit, support TT and remove trans+diff together. pretty easy access to all the bolts/connectors. careful with the shifter rod.

Lower the front cradle as much as possible. the bolts are long. This gives a much appreciate couple inches room.

Support engine so it doesn’t rest on firewall when TT removed. I used a floor jack for this, very handy to be able to adjust engine angle.

Unbolt and remove TT

Bellhousing had to come off to get the clutch in. This was a pita but doable with the front cradle lowered.

Clutch hydraulics: I used a baster to get the fluid out of the reservoir, bled the system dry as possible, disconnected the line at the MC. Stuck a rag in there to collect a few drips. Left the pita quick disconnect alone.

Pilot Bearing: I left it the heck alone cause it was quiet and I don’t want to screw anything up with the puller etc. Cleaned and lightly lubed the TT before putting it back in.

Clutch: FOLLOW DIRECTIONS for lapping the shaft, finger height measurement, alignment, correct slave, shimming if necessary, torque pattern, locktite, etc. Do this right or rue the day you were born as you destroy your new clutch

TT: I just inspected mine, everything looked new, put it back together.

Start bolting it back together in reverse order.

Super careful with clutch line. Make sure it’s well insulated, keep away from headers, don’t stress the connection coming out of the TT.

This is where I ran the 2 new sensors for the dual channel WB02. Ran the wires down the passenger side, insulated wrap, zip tied out of the way. Bungs were already on the X-pipe so that was easy.

TT input shaft slips into the pilot bearing real easy when you’re just managing the weight of the TT itself. Support the back end of the TT with a jack while you manhandle the front. Get the big electrical conduit in the right place.

Connect fill and bleed clutch hydraulics. Takes a while, system was dry. Push a lot of fluid through it to ensure fully bled.

Test the clutch. Will need a helper for this. Visually verify clutch is releasing & engaging, can spin the TT output shaft when disengaged. Now is the time to ensure it’s working, no leaks etc.

Super careful with all the hydraulics & electrical through the rest….

Install Diff & trans as a unit. Careful with the shifter rod, get it where it needs to be

Support TT

install lower cradle. go slow and pop in the driveshafts when you can

Slowly bolt it all up, raise front cradle as well.

Inspect everything, last chance before it gets impossible to access stuff

Tunnel plate, exhaust, headers, spark plugs, wires etc

Shifter, brake calipers, parking brake, electrical, rotors, etc all go back on. Fluids.

I very carefully went through everything I could reach to ensure I got all the bolts torqued etc. Final chance.

Wheels, lower the car, start’r up, hope for the best!



My process went very smoothly. There were a lot of small adjustments and ‘oops missed that’ requiring minor disassembly and re-assembly, but nothing major. No sketchy moments, nothing super difficult. I went very slowly and meticulously, probably 8hrs on removal, a good 4-6hrs on clutch setup, 12 hrs on re-assembly. With practice this could be cut 50% or more of course.



I installed a Mamo RPS BC2 clutch I got used for a good price. Gotta say, this thing is butter. Modest effort, easy to slip slightly from a stop, I like it a lot. It’s the single fanciest ‘thing’ I have ever bought in my life. My car has a healthy cam and it did not noticeably affect the idle etc.

A few pics
Old Spec clutch. super easy action but grabby



New to me Mamo clutch


TT couplers look new



Diff/trans ready to go in



Hope this helps anyone who may attempt this themselves. feel free to reach out with questions, comments.

 

not a job I would begin to attempt lying on my back. Too old for that. I had access to a 2 post lift and 3 helpers, nice right up you covered a lot of great points

 

Great write-up. Thank you.

 

I've dropped mine twice, soon to be a third time, without lowering the cradle to get the bellhousing off. I don't recall it being that bad of a job once you're that far in. It's not much worse than dealing with a fwd transmission in the grand scheme of things.

 

cool. Wish i had a lift, garage is too tight.

hope it helps someone, the write ups on the forum have helped me a lot

interesting. that last bolt or 2 up top had not much access. I was surprised how easy it was to lower the front cradle, 4 big nuts, and it came down quite a bit. gave quite a bit more room.

 

I bet it did. I didn't want to mess with my alignment after. I think I used a swivel socket, not a swivel and socket. Or maybe it did suck that bad and I forgot. The hardest screws are easiest to deal with first. Let the rest of the bolts hold everything together, crack the difficult ones loose, then spin them out by hand.

 

iirc the cradle is held pretty darn straight with pins. I know the rear one is. Not much movement if any. I'm planning to align it anyway so was not too worried about it.
Agree 100% on getting the tough ones first, great little tricks like that go a long way.