Doing clutch. Pull engine, or pull tranny & transfer case?

[Madbomber88]

Started replacing the clutch in my 71 today. Both Chiltons and Haynes tell me to pull the tranny and transfer case to replace the clutch. A guy in the other forum is suggesting pulling the enging instead because it is easier. What's everyone's opinion? I'd have to rent a transmission jack if I do it that way.
Thanks,
-Tim

 

[BobK]

Pulling the trans and 205 isn't that bad.No where near as involved as pulling an eng.
It's a little aukward (spelling?) but that's it.
I did it by myself and my floor jack.I'm sure if you had a friend to help it would be ALOT quicker.

 

[BranndonC]

Awkward

 

[BobK]

SMARTASS /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[BranndonC]

yes /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[Triaged]

Don't use a tranny jack...use a engine hoist. You can unbolt the tranny hump and lower the tranny & T-case together with the hoist slid in the door. It will give you alot more room to work under the truck and makes getting at the top bellhousing bolts a snap.

 

[Madbomber88]

That's an intersting idea. Without me going out to check, how large is the tranny hump? I have to admit I would much rather buy an engine hoist than either buy or rent a tranny jack. When you lower the tranny and t-case to the floor, did you slide it out completely from under the truck? Is the corssmember the exact center of gravity to run the chain?

 

[84_Chevy_K10]

Wrap the chain around the adapter. That is pretty much the center point of the weight and will allow you to lower it easily.

There is no way other than this to do it. Having tried damn near anything to make this job easy, by FAR, this way is the easiest.

 

[Triaged]

Like Tim said the adapter is the balance point of the assembly (at least it was for my th350/np205 combo). I could use one finger to lift the bellhousing to move it into place to reinstall. When I removed them to rebuild my trans I dropped the 205 first and then the trans with 2 regular floor jacks...what a pain!

The trans tunnel is about 2' x 1.5' on a 1st gen. It gives you plenty of room to move around. I slid the th350/np205 under the truck and then hooked them up to the chain. My truck is tall enough to clear the bellhousing at ride height...but it won't fit on a jack. I set it on a piece of cardboard and drug the cardboard under the truck to get it ready to lift into place.

 

[Madbomber88]

This is just my naive side, but is the adapter and its bolts attaching it to the tranny and transfer case strong enough support both the transmission and the transfer case if I lower it all as one piece while only supported by the chain around the adapter? Can I get the chain around the adapter without removing the crossmember, or do I have to remove that first? Need to support the engine at all through this process?

 

[Triaged]

It will support it just fine. It has to support alot of the weight of the 205 bouncing around most of the time when it is all in place driving. Some people get along fine for years without using the t-case to frame mount.

You will have to support the motor. I just use a 2x4 over the fenders and a rope to something handy to keep the back of the motor from falling.

 

[K5MONSTERCHEV]

[ QUOTE ]


There is no way other than this to do it. Having tried damn near anything to make this job easy, by FAR, this way is the easiest.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes there is. Use a tranny jack, and get the adapters that go on it, that bolt to the tranny/tcase. That will hold it and it wont go anywhere. Piece of cake! /forums/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif

 

[retroblazer]

What happened to the pictures in this thread .... I ended up with a 1969 Blazer that needs a clutch replaced. It has the 250 and a three on the tree. I like the engine lift idea. It looks like I need to remove the transfer case shifter housing to be able to move everything back far enough back to clear the bell housing.

 

[Bent77]

Jeez Raffo



And yeah if you have a good trans jack, drop the driveshafts and pull the shifter. I think it’s easier

 

[retroblazer]

I' went to HBF tools for a new engine hoist jack yesterday. I'm doing it from the top , pictures to follow in the next week.

 

[diesel4me]

I put three clutches in my 72 K5 in less than 3 months-thanks to defective Borg-Warner pressure plates with 3 fingers--I ended up using a Centerforce 11" diaphram type one in the end and had no more woes,and a MUCH easier clutch pedal effort..

I bought a transmission adapter thing for my floor jack and bolted it to the cross member,and removed the frame bolts to the cross member,the frame bracket off the transfer case,and the bell housing bolts--the speedometer cable ,had to pull the shift lever out of the SM465,and was able to just pull everything back about a foot,it balanced pretty good,I used a come-a-long to pull it back..

The truck had the removeable floor hump so getting to the bell housing bolts was a piece of cake..

I have also used the engine hoist method too,and it works equally well..I would not try pulling the engine to do a clutch--it is hard enough getting the transmission main shaft to slide into the clutch disc splines the other way,I would think it would be near impossible to line them up while trying to shove a 600 lb engine back towards the firewall..on a pre-72 K5 the engine mounts sit flat on the frame though,so maybe it wouldn't be so bad..

--the clam shell mounts used on 73 and up models would suck ,the engine has to be tilted a lot to let the brackets on the engine go past the mounts ,that would make it very hard to get the tranny shaft into the clutch disc...bend that disc even a tiny but and you'll get chatter and vibrations galore too..

I had to do one clutch job twice the same day,after I found out I had the disc facing the wrong way !....so watch out for that,it should be marked "this side towards flywheel"..I was in a hurry,and ended up making the job take twice as hard and long by that simple error..