22/08/2015 - From clutch woes to clutch wows!
You may or may not have noticed my incessant moaning about my clutch slipping? No? Oh, I carry on then... Finally got the green light for Rosie to receive some of Lees tenderness in the garage so dashed over first thing. Twas an interesting day as you will find out from below, and for various reasons a simple clutch change took a wee bit longer than it should!
So in to the garage she goes on the axle stands, while we wait for Lees dad Trevor to turn up so we can go for breakfast
Not been involved with a clutch change before, but had been on hand when the gearbox was taken out and refitted to Trev's Z3. It's pretty much the usual process that I've seen countless times in Dr Lees Surgery (garage). Exhaust off, prop shaft off, laughter, banter and back home for tea 5pm sharp!
However to start off with the bolts fitted when I had the exhaust removed by a high street garage had corroded to the point where we had to cut them off. That's fine, but you can't actually get an angle grinder on the top nuts due to lack of space. We waited for a dremmel to turn up, but annoyingly that wouldn't reach them either. After a few more attempts it was brute force of driving a spanner on to either end of the corroded nuts and apply enough force to snap the bolts. Probably lost a good 2 hours messing with the sodding exhaust AGAIN... *sigh*
Pretty much every thing up to the gear box played along with removing easily enough. There was an issue with the guibo coupling we replaced 6 months ago, but I will cover that in a separate post because there is an important message to it.
If anyone has had a go at removing a Z3 gearbox access to the bolts holding it on to the engine aren't what you would call easily accessible and use 3 different sizes of bolts. But from what we've learnt previously on Trevors car, most came out well except for the final one which clung on for dear life and fought every single turn of the ratchet. There was a relay between Lee and Trevor taking turns to remove the bolt, but eventually it came out. Access wasn't particularly good and could really only get two or three clicks on the ratchet each time.
Finally the gearbox was free and shaken off the engine and dropped on to Lees chest so it could be maneuvered out through the transmission tunnel and out from under the rear bumper.
Everyone say hello to Rosie's Getrag gearbox
This is the back of the pressure plate, and the cause of my recent grumblings about my clutch.
Pressure plate removed, hello clutch plate...
...and finally the flywheel!
I've tried to take some images of the old clutch plate and the new clutch plate, but I'm not sure you will be able to exactly make them out! Partly because the are blurred
. New on top, old on bottom. Not much meat on those bones, and unevenly worn.
Close up of old plate showing wear. There was odd wear on the edge here but again it doesn't show up well in the picture.
GSF Car Parts supplied the replacement parts as usual...
In true fashion reassembly is the reverse of dis-assembly, and on the whole it went back together like a dream. The only hold up was the starter motor not lining up correctly, and trying to find some replacement nuts and bolts to secure the exhaust on.
So, how is she now? Splendid! Drives like a dream again... No slipping clutch = happy Gaz
