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Thread: Cuda's Cars, v2.0

  1. #831
    I have a full set of plastic pry tools. I think one of them might be thin enough to get under the heads of these clips. I'm hoping I don't have to remove the A-pillar trim but I suspect I might.

    Normally don't have much issue with headlights, and treating them like paint (clay, polish, seal) has worked for me in the past. These are being real boogers.

  2. #832
    The '03 has a grind/whir noise when the A/C is on. It started doing it last summer, but only made the noise occasionally when it was 100+ degrees outside. Now, it's pretty much any time the A/C is engaged. I did re-tension the belt before this started, because it was squealing. Wonder if over-tightening the belt would lead to bearing damage. Seemed like if I left it any looser it would squeal.

    I'm thinking A/C pulley bearing or perhaps idler bearing. In a quick search I don't see A/C clutch/pulley assemblies available separately from an entire A/C compressor unit. There's a huge jump in labor and cost there, going from replacing a bearing to practically refreshing the entire system. Might have to disassemble and if it's not a bearing (which I would assume is a relatively standard part that I could find separately with some sleuthing), find a clutch from a junkyard or something.

  3. #833
    Not much to update here lately, the cars are driving along nicely. #knockonwood

    But... sooo... if one man wanted to replace his FR car's clutch using jack stands and a rented tranny jack, would one man be crazy? Clutch jobs are expensive...

  4. #834
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    Depends on the transmission, but certainly not inherently.

    Assuming we're not talking about some big ass truck with a 250lb transmission, the biggest factor for me would be access to the bell housing bolts. If access isn't a major hassle, I'd go for it. Eh, maybe in some other places I'd be concerned about the exhaust - which probably needs to be moved or removed, but in California it's a not much of a worry. Typically, it's drop the driveshaft from the diff & remove, clear the exhaust away if necessary, support the transmission, remove the mount, remove the clutch linkage or hydraulics, undo the bell housing bolts. On some cars, the shifter is bolted to the body and there is a linkage to the transmission and that can be a minor pain - I recall my E30s were made of broken bits, so the remote shifter was a substantial unexpected cost - like $150 IIRC. Speaking of, the E30 also had some tough but not impossible to access bolts - knowing that in advance and having a 2' ratchet extension on hand was gold.

    Don't forget to mark the driveshaft's orientation to preserve balance. It's helpful if you can get good understanding of the bottom of the transmission and make a cradle of some type for your jack. I'm assuming you don't have a transmission jack, because who does? Well, I do... you're welcome to borrow it if you want but it's almost a liability... I made the mistake of getting the heavy duty one figuring "worst case scenario," but it's massive and a PITA to negotiate. I rarely use it, and keep thinking about dumping it. It's awesome for holding up a motor during motor mount replacement though. Anywho, know with a fair degree of certainty how you'll support the transmission. Remember you need to be able to roll it back 6-12" so you want it to be solid. Also be sure you get the clutch disc centering tool in advance - some but not all clutch kits come with it. Said E30 did not. Know how you'll bleed the clutch if it's hydraulic - some are easier than others. If it's a CCS/HTOB ("concentric clutch slave" or "hydraulic throw out bearing") sometimes there are caveats. The HTOB on the 9-3 is upside down, it almost has to be pressure bled. So, have a pressure bleeder if you need one. You may not need to open the hydraulics, but my STRONG advice is use the money you're not spending on labor to replace the slave. Don't go in there twice. If you need to drop the exhaust, get any gaskets you will need in advance. Probably try and have a helper - I never have, but I think it would have saved some cussing along the way. You will probably lose some gearbox oil in the process, so be prepared to refill; be sure to loosen the drain & refill plugs while it's on the ground.

    Oh, and mind the wiring. There's surely some reverse lights & neutral safety switch crap on there.
    Last edited by thesameguy; October 5th, 2017 at 03:31 AM.

  5. #835
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    Nail on head.

    I haven't payed for clutch work ever.

  6. #836
    Spiny beast TheBenior's Avatar
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    I lowered my Miata's transmission onto my cousin's chest*


    *Not recommended with transmissions weighing considerably more than 80 lbs.

  7. #837
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    That's how I got the first E30's out. It was fine.

  8. #838
    We are definitely talking Nissan 350Z here. Probably not the heaviest trans but not the lightest either. A friend of mine bench pressed his but he's the kind of guy who has more fun working on his cars than driving them. He also does a lot of rock climbing...

    The '07 does have a CSC, unfortunately, and it's plastic. I'll have to read up on them again; the impression I remember is they had a high failure rate when the cars were newer. My car has ~70k miles and has been doing fine, so my thought was "if it ain't broke, it's probably not one of the bad ones" but 70k miles is getting into the range where it might be worth replacing it "while I'm in there." I just don't know if it was originally a bad run of parts causing problems, or a bad design with a superseded part that's sold now, or what. I never did find anything conclusive on that. There's an awesome metal aftermarket CSC available but of course not legal in Street Touring. Idunno, if there's a way to do this without opening the hydraulic lines I'd probably just leave it be.

    Bell housing bolts *should* be fairly straightforward from what I remember. I'll look at some writeups and the FSM to be sure. But generally this car is pretty easy to work on. I just hope the long tube headers don't end up getting in the way. I don't think they will. Those would be a pain to remove. The cats and Y-pipe will come out in 5 minutes. All hail quality aftermarket parts! They do exist.

  9. #839
    Administrator dodint's Avatar
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    What's the logic for the illegality of that in Street Touring? Cost? I'm always annoyed when stuff like that happens, when a reliability issue can be cured but it's forbidden because of costs. Is there any actual performance gain?

  10. #840
    I don't think there could be any performance gain. It's likely heavier, too. It's just that there's a catch-all phrase in the rules which says "If it doesn't say you can, then you can't." It makes sense why that's there, but it does suck in scenarios like this where you're looking strictly at a reliability mod. Once in a great while a special rule will be written for a specific car - for example early Miatas are allowed to use a special sway bar bracket piece that would normally not be legal, because without it they rip the sway bar mounts out of the car.

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