Clutch Install Question... is this right???

[DCsGST]

I'm getting a ACT 2100 kit installed by mechanic who's doing it on the side, I'm not gonna pay $300+ for a shop to do it.

When he looked it up in the book it said it will take 5 1/2 to 6 hrs to do. Is that right? I was thinking 3 hrs. I would do it myself, but I don't have a garage or shop so until then I had to bite the bullet and get it done. My car is FWD so it shouldn't be that bad.

I'm really anal about my car so I'll probably hang around and "Supervise" him cause I know how to do it, but I don't want him to screw it up.

The thing that sucks is that he is doing it on a weekend and can't get the flywheel stepped until Monday and then installed that night. The guy was like, no biggy, I can just put the tires back on and roll it in and out of the shop. Uh.... I don't think so. the axles wont be hooked up to the spindles, is that even possible?

Sorry for the long post, but this guy works on imports all day yet I'm still worried he doesn't have a clue and is going to fu(k up my baby.

Any suggestions besides, "just do it yourself and use the money you saved for more mods!" Duh, if I had the space, I would.

Thanks in advance,

 

[boost]

Thats about right with the labor. Yes it is possible for him to the car around, you can either leave the axles in and tie them up or I have a setup at work for FWD and AWD cars. All you use if you do remove the axles, you dont always have to remove the axles from the hub, is a bolt, a couple of washers and a nut to keep the wheel bearing races together.

 

[DCsGST]

Cool. The guy is only charging me $35 and hour so it will still be cheaper than the $300 quote I got.

Thanks for the reply. I'll probably still watch him, just to see how he does it, then the next time I have to replace the disk I will do it myself.

 

[madmax]

Well, if he had the axles out, then he's disconnected the lateral arms. So he's not going to be able to roll it around. I'm in the middle of my first clutch install on the DSM and I've got about 15 hours into it. Then again I've had a few things go wrong, dropped a bolt down the speedometer hole and had to "fish" it out of the tranny with a snake. But an experienced shop with all the tools could probably do it in 3-6 hours.

Hopefully it'll start up and run well tomorrow, if so, than I'd say the install is pretty straightforward. Especially if you have a tranny lift.

 

[boost]

I am assuming you mean the lower control arm. All you need to do is throw a couple of bolts back in and your fine, I do it everyday at work.

 

[DCsGST]

Wow, 15 hrs. You must like to take your time huh? That's the way I like to do it too. Other than losing a bolt and needing a lift, how bad was it. I hear guys on here say they can do it in 3 hrs. thats kicking right along.

 

[90LaserTurbo89k]

i did my first clutch job about a month ago, and it took me roughly 6 hours. i dont have a tranny hoist/lift, i just used a jack and raised it to the correct height.

it's pretty easy to do, if you have an idea of what you're doing.

 

[boost]

As long as I have all the parts before hand, I can bang one those jobs out in an hour and a half, 1 hour and 15 to R&R and 15 mins to cut the flywheel.

 

[DCsGST]

That's good to know. Hopefully I'll have a house next summer with at least a garage possibly a shop. I'll just make sure not to abuse this clutch until then.

 

[DCsGST]

Originally posted by boost
As long as I have all the parts before hand, I can bang one those jobs out in an hour and a half, 1 hour and 15 to R&R and 15 mins to cut the flywheel.

That's the quickest time I've heard yet! Why you got to be way the heII on the East coast! Oh well. I'll do it next time. At least know I know the guy can't fu(k it up if it's not that difficult to do. This isn't his first clutch job so I'm not as worried anymore. Thanks guys.

 

[boost]

I dont think you buy a house with out a garage and shop equiptment if you own a mitsubishi can you

 

[DCsGST]

Originally posted by boost
I dont think you buy a house with out a garage and shop equiptment if you own a mitsubishi can you

! I have most of the tools, but they are in storage now since I moved up here. I miss a garage! My inlaws have some stuff, I've done most all of my other mods there, but it's in a small town and I don't want some dude named cletus who is used to working on Ford trucks and tractors touching my car. I can't even imagine what he would do to her.

"It's a Metsa-say-what-ski?" "Why's id gots sucha lil ol' in-jun in dar?"

.... it gives me chills...

 

[boost]

You can always check it over when you get it back.

 

[madmax]

Originally posted by DCsGST
Wow, 15 hrs. You must like to take your time huh? That's the way I like to do it too. Other than losing a bolt and needing a lift, how bad was it. I hear guys on here say they can do it in 3 hrs. thats kicking right along.

Yea, this was my first install of a clutch. I got everything together yesterday, and it's running good. I'd say if I had to do it again I could probably do it in about 5-6 hours. Now that I'd know what I was doing and how to do it. Plus dropping bolts in your tranny, having to go buy another jack, and a few other "runs" to the parts store can slow you down a lot.