Attn Experienced Clutch Changers!
 

i have a 1.6 that i swapped to 1.8 clutch and flywheel... im almost done with 1 thing... i have the tranny back in, but the 14mm bolts that bolt to the starter on the right side of the tranny wont line up... any tips? i have all the 17mm bolts in all the way around but cant get the 14mm bolts in... i tried jacking the engine, tranny, both at the same time and still couldnt get it lined up. nothing is in the way, the gasket is good, but still theres a very tiny gap around where the starter is.. i dont get it! spamnavy please read and all others who done this before!
thanks, marlon

Man, I'm clueless on this one, and I've done several Miata clutch changes. Maybe check to see if the little bracket that routes the clutch hydraulic line isn't sandwiched in between the tranny bellhousing and engine.

can you run the bolts all the way through w/o the starter in place? That'd help decide where the problem is.

the bolts stop when getting all the way through the tranny. it hits the starter and wont go through/catch thread. ill check it out in a few once it warms up a bit....

but the same bolts will screw in the starter (starter not installed - outside the engine bay)?

here is the best picture I have that describes the bolts you are talking about. There are three 14mm bolts, but only two will thread in, while the third requires a nut on the other side to fasten it. I hope this helps, i would like to help more but im a bit unclear on exactly what the problem is.

Attachment 216922

good news! everything is bolted and torqued!
bad news- cant get the fill/check plug off to refill the gear oil... any tips on how to get that off so i can get my baby back on the road and tuned?!?! i broke 2 14mm wrenches... i tried looking for an 8pt 9/16 socket, but that didnt work... will a vise grip work? help me!

damn...thats item #1...adjustable wrench?

is it safe to use an adjustable wrench on that bolt?

heh, uhm you pull the fill plug before the drain plug, always.

Anyway, what you need is air tools. An impact gun would get it off with a quickness.

damn. i drained the tranny already before pulling the fill plug... geez... anyone wanna lend me some air tools? i will only need it for 10 minutes eheheh

if you can't get it off, you can tow your junx over :gay:

the guy that did mine just used a wrench...and another larger wrench and pried it off...he's a big kid though.

lol tow where? its been a week and a day now that my car hasnt been turned on! anyone else have any tips on how to take off the fill bolt?

i meant you can tow it over and use a lift and air tools :dancegay:

i think there's another way to get oil in the tranny tho.. through the shift turret or some shit... read about it, but never had to try it. think i saw it in the miata.net garage

like i told you online last night, i was able to just use an 18" adjustable wrench.

http://imageserver.isnweb.com/KDT68612.jpg

the shifter turret method wont work... i tried and wasted a lil oil... but not my shifter turret is full haha... ummm i guess ill go borrow someone's big wrench... ben? do u have 1? haha

yeah, but the lock on my toolbox failed in the LOCKED position. haven't been able to get back into it. probably should have been working on that instead of screwin around on the net.

like i said, if you can tow the car, we can put it on my dad's lift and use his pneumatic impact.

Vise grip it tight then wack the vice grips as far from the bolt as you can with a BFH. It's like a manual impact wrench.

yep. thats exactly what i did! now its time to break her in!