Time for a new clutch…

With great power comes the need for a great clutch.
– Ben Parker ( I think that’s what he meant. We miss you Ben. )

So… Out with the old and in with the new.
After removal and inspection, the old clutch was into the rivets and was completely done.

In with the TU black/purple plate, 6 puck unsprung hub 232mm clutch. I’ll be honest, I was a little wary about installing an unsprung hub until I saw the inside of the bell housing…At some point in this car’s life it had a spring or 2 exit the hub and bounce around inside. The housing looked identical to the one on my old festiva that had experienced the same failure. It had quite a few impact dimples on it. Unsprung hub it is!

This teardown will include my process for replacing the clutch in my Consulier and some might want to cross reference with the suspension rebuild thread.

I’m not going to get into how to pull off all of the panels and such, that’s easy. This is for the “humping of the football” mess that follows.

The trans does not come out of the car with the engine in place. There is just too much in the way. Trust me, I tried.
It does come far enough away from the engine to facilitate a clutch replacement.

Disassembly process:

  • Shift cables, slave cyl, and brackets
    • All of the attachments must be removed. This includes slave cylinder bracket and shift cable brackets. Slave cyl and one cable share a bracket.

  • Motor mounts and bobble strut.
    • The upper trans mount and cross bar must be removed to provide enough space for trans to fit up and to the driver side through the frame.
      • Also remove the bracket that holds this mount to the trans. The trans won’t fit out past the upper bar with it in place.

    • Front motor mount has one bolt that mounts through the engine into the trans.
      • Pull the bolt that holds the fuel pump bracket. This will make it easier to get to the motor mount bolts.

    • I found it easier to get to the speedo drive with the entire bobble strut bracket removed from the trans.

  • Speedo drive
    • Has to be removed to get the passenger axle out.

  • Starter
    • Not completely necessary to completely remove, but the bolts go through the trans and it’s a pain to line up the engine / trans during assembly with the starter locked down with the rear bolt.

  • Axles and driver side suspension
    • If only doing a clutch it’s “possible” to get away with only unbolting the upper ball joint and axle nut to remove the axle… but see next bullet point.
    • I found it FAR easier to pull the entire driver side suspension. This gives you so much more room to work with while trying to man-handle the trans and line things up for assembly…and you can replace all of the bushings while it’s out … you know you should…you’re welcome.

  • Bolts and all that jazz.
    • It should go without saying but you have to remove all of the bolts that hold the trans to the engine.
    • Don’t forget the inspection plate.

  • Trans manipulation – I’d rather be punched in the throat than do this again.
    • This is a bit tricky if you don’t have 2 floor jacks and about 3 jack stands because not only do you have to have the car supported but the engine and the trans in 2 places ( bell and outer cover ) and the lower frame rail is in the way.
    • Pull away from the engine enough to get the trans off the alignment pins.
    • Rotate front down and jack up ( counter clockwise as looking in from the driver rear wheel ) until the diff clears the lower frame rail. Jack on the diff, this will make the trans want to roll forward.
    • Slide toward the driver side. Keep in mind that there is very little room for this to happen.



Notes:
Degrease the engine and trans first. Nothing like a slippery 300lb anvil covered in grease / oil to ruin your day.

The trans is in a precarious position when partially out through the drives side and can move VERY easily when bumped the right way…support it with duct tape, zip ties, chains, or minions.

Even with the trans out the side, there is only barely enough room for a clutch alignment tool The trans input shaft wants to occupy the same space as the tool

As for assembly order, it’s the exact opposite of dis-assembly. There aren’t any gotcha’s that I found when putting it back together other than disc alignment but that's not Consulier specific. If it isn’t aligned it’s never going back together, period.

I’m only going to add that due to the lack of space in there, replace the throwout bearing while the pressure plate is out. Every little bit helps here.

Post-Op notes:
The clutch does take some getting used to. Only 50 miles into the break in.. but Chris, if you're listening, this thing is awesome!
It's like trying to hold 2 permanent magnets apart...it's apart...it's apart....womp, it's together!