Change of clutch -

progress update.

Day 1 in the workshop:
Taking the exhaust system off proved unexpectedly complex and tiresome. The intermediary pipe decided it wasn't going to come off.


Nicey nicey



1hr lost persuading it to split resulted in much swearing and WD40 brute force and some praying. After that Calum got really hacked off and got out the angle grinder. The pipe was mere moments from hitting the ground, or so we thought...

Prepare to be ground!


Calum getting his favourite garage toy out, the angle grinder. The exhaust bolts did not fair well out of this at all.



The exhaust however still held on with only paste. Good stuff that.

Eventually we got the darned thing off but it held on well which didn't bod well for the rest of the day.

Airbox and gubbins removed in prep for access to gearbox bolts



Look at the space in there! An MR2 engine bay with space? Some mistake officer?



Larry had joined us at this point which meant Calum had some real help with the heavy stuff about to start. Good timing sir!

The driveshafts, they came out ok, some issues with suspension bolts but nothing major. Suspension struts were changed just over 4.5years ago so it was expected they would come off easy enough. Mind you, the exhaust has been on less than 2......

Starter motor would not budge for love nor money nor the hammer nor even the pry bars. This resulted in having to remove a water pipe from the main coolant system to free up the gearbox. So now a coolant change is being carried out too. Eventually the gearbox came out. This is now 6 hrs after work started. Ho hum

Clutch removed from flywheel. Some meat left on the friction plate but also some heat marks on the flywheel indicating possible pressure plate failure as opposed to the clutch failing. Either way, new clutch required. Hopefully the new clutch will bed in nicely, flywheel face smooth, no roughness nor visible scoring. Just the heat marks.

Old clutch, not bad for 114k miles on a turbo'd motor. I clearly drive slower than Miss Daisy :(





Pressure plate, mm some heat markings on there


The flywheel showing heat scoring. It will be fine..............







Starter motor removed from gearbox. Mating face given a good talking too and sanded for good measure. Next time the blighter will fall out when the bolts are removed.

Gearbox input shaft and general area tidied up, however will give a nice light clutch and fit all back together again.

New Exedy std clutch as below complete with release bearing and clutch cover plate. Nice and meaty but not too heavy on the leg


New clutch fitted, gearbox bolted up and mount attached. Clutch cylinder installed and gearbox linkages attached.

End of Day 1.

Still to do.

Torque mounts still to be attached and er torqued..........
Gearbox oil to be refilled <- note: this is not optional on an empty gearbox.
Reverse switch and speedo drive to be re-attached.
Re-attach all boost piping removed to facilitate gearbox removal.
Remove leaking flexing Oil Pan No2 and replace with no leaking / flexing unit.
Change Oil Filter and then refill sump with oil.
Install induction kit in place of standard airbox and resonator chamber.
Re-fill engine coolant <- note: this is not optional on an empty cooling system
Try clutch and gear selection, not sure of placement in order of this.
Remove front bumper and then remove chargecooler pre rad.
Fix horns while there - meep meep just doesn't cut it. Never has, never will.
Possibly re-attach front foglights.
Start car and go through nightmare bleeding of coolant process. This is dependant on the starter motor not in a huff after the pounding it got being removed
Re-attach exhaust and do road test.

Will update after tomorrow's work. This being dependant on success and pub visit.