SPF Clutch/Pressure Plate RR

[Tony Ripepi]

Hello All,

It is all back together and I have driven it for about 100 miles to make sure all is well. The clutch was fused to the fly wheel and that was the cause of the problem. Huge thanks to my buddies Peter & Rick and to McLeod Racing. McLeod rebuilt the clutch for $100 and the hydraulic throw out for $125( It was a ten year old unit and they simply shipped me one of their new designed units without the banjo fittings). I did buy their short throw shifter and replaced the Hurst unit that was installed HUGE positive difference. While the transmission was out we drained the GM synchromesh fluid and replaced it with the Redline fluid and it is much smoother in every gear.

The transmission does come out the bottom....without removing the tunnel, seats, carpeting etc. before you start disconnect the ground on the battery.

1) Remove drive shaft and put in a rubber plug in the transmission to keep the fluid from draining out and making a mess, there is also a plug for the speedo when you remove the drive.

2) Disconnect all of the electrical for the neutral switch, remove starter, and take off the shifter, shifter turret from the top of the transmission, boot, chrome ring and the top of the transmission shifter to allow you to push the transmission back far enough to access the pressure plate and clutch.

3) We had to pry the clutch off of the pressure plate and it left some of the organic clutch material on the fly wheel. Once the pressure plate and clutch plate are off of the fly wheel you can unbolt the bell housing remove it and take the transmission to the floor. You need two guys to take it out and a transmission jack really helps.

4) Take some 80 grit sandpaper to the fly wheel to remove the residue from the old clutch and also resurfaced the pressure plate with a hand sander. The engine was very solid when the transmission was out and we did not need to brace it up.

Took less than half the time to reverse the process, reinstall it all, bleed the clutch and it works great. Having a lift made all of this possible in my garage.

Thanks for all the input and McLeod Racing for being a stand up organization even though the parts were ten years old.

Tony R.