I have never had to "jam" a clutch alignment tool into any clutch I have ever done. What are you doing? You should have the pressure plate loose when inserting the tool then torque it down. This can be a pain by yourself of the ground.

 

You're just not using a big enough hammer.

 

I was having to jam it because the clutch tool was stripped and fucked up.... from me trying to jam it in before loosening the plate

"Gentle. You don't know the meaning of the word 'gentle', do you Min?" -my old bassist.

Yeah I figured that out let me go try with my new tool.

 

Did you paint your old transmission?

 

I would always put the pressure plate and clutch on the tools splines. Then I would put the tool into the pilot bearing. This was way I would knot the clutch was lined up and it would be easy to bolt to the flywheel.

 

After 7 more man hours I give up.

**** just won't go in.

My car is now officially an engine stand for my motor.

 

I have never in my life had a clutch that is so much of a pain in the ***. I am not knocking what a nice piece of hardware it is but this clutch is a total PITA to put in.

 

Ill take that shitty engine stand off your hands

 

I had the hardest time ever getting my miata trans on the engine with the unsprung clutch. it has to line up perfectly.

Also, the new pilot bearing was SO tight that i couldnt push the trans to touch the engine. I had to use the bolts to pull the trans in I KNEW that the input shaft nose (small diameter) was inside the clutch splines so i put a top bolt in and made a triangle of bolts tightening each a turn or 2 in a rotational sequence until the trans was tight to the engine.

First time i have seen that was with this miata trans.

 

you guys are all pathetic.

 

You guys probably did this already, but did you jack up the front of the motor to tilt it back a little bit? And did you hang a rope through the shifter turret to hold up the trans?

 

I told him about the jacking up the front of the motor a few days ago. I also told him to buy a tranny jack, which he did, so he should not need to use the rope trick.

 

I wonder if he sacrificed the goat yet?

 

Used the rope through the shifter hole trick, and the front of the motor jack up and had a trans jack still no luck.

 

Listen fellas this is the state of the union:

The input shaft has to go through three things

clutch one
clutch two
pilot bearing

We can get it in clutch one, but it is about an inch from clutch plate one to clutch plate two. That means if there is ANY angular play with the transmission, the input shaft will not go into the second disc.

Y8s since you have done twin disc clutch install before, if you or anyone else can come over and successfully help me get it in, I have a bottle of The Balvenie 17 YO Madeira Scotch or some equivalent fine beverage for you.

Plus a cuban cigar.

 

Failflora....I love this shot.

 

Here is the deal.

With the cover loose, you put the alignment tool in and notice how that **** moves around a LOT. wiggle it around (gently) like a joystick and try to figure out what the MIDDLE of that range is. center it all with the tool in and then tighten down the pressure plate. that'll give you the best chance of making it into the pilot bearing straight and easy.

THEN
with a spare pilot bearing, verify that the input shaft on teh tranny is not fucked up and has no burrs on it. bearing should slide on firmly but easily.

THEN
get your OEM jack and a block of wood or something and put it up under the front of the motor (I use teh A/C bracket) and support the front of hte motor so that when you have the tranny nearly lined up (maybe 2 inches out) all the gaps around the top and sides and bottom are all equal-ish.

THEN
put a tranny jack under the tranny and get it close to the height you need and tweak the OEM jack under the front of the motor to match its angle while maintaining clearance in the tranny tunnel.

THEN
You should be EASILY able to get within an inch of mating. Run your hand around the whole perimeter of the tranny mouth where it mates to the big sheet metal gasket/block and make sure nothing is hanging around in there that would prevent it from fully mating. The starter and neutral switch **** LOVE to hang down in your business and **** **** up.

THEN
while wiggling the bejeezus out of the tranny, try to close that gap. you'll probably get it down to 1/2" no problem. recheck the crap around the space on all sides and start the two top bolts (they are the longer of the tranny bolts). If you can, start the two at 5 and 7 o'clock too. no wrenches, just finger tight so you aren't forcing that gap down smaller than 1/2".

THEN
with the tranny jack barely supporting the tranny, wiggle the **** out of it while you lay on your back and push toward the motor. seriously, up, down, sideways, every which way but loose, any which way you can, and any other clint eastwood + monkey movies you can think of.

THEN
when you've done this for about 3 minutes longer than your strength lasts, it will pop into place easily. finger tighten the four bolts you started and put in the rest. win.

if it doesn't go in with that, something is installed incorrectly.

 

Again, remember to have someone jiggle your shaft back and fourth. This was one of the few times my ex would wiggle mine without complaining.

 

Basically y8s just described NORMAL clutch install/trans re-install procedure.
If you have been doing it any other way than that or skipping any steps, you are retarded.
Only thing I'd add would be to insert the driveshaft into the rear and have someone spin that around as well so the shaft teeth don't get stuck on something, but that's already been mentioned as well.

 

If that doesn't work just hack off the input shaft with a sawzall: it will slip right on afterwards.