Well as you guys know, i just picked up a 79. the reason i got it for only 500? the clutch was toast...
Little did i know. lucky for me, i have a nice workshop with a pit!
after a few hours work to get the transmission ready to come off, i grabbed my dad to help, and we pulled it off.
Instantly, a absolutely horrid smell came out. my dad thinks it was burnt lube oil...
as we set down the tranny, a piece of clutch disc fell out. ugh .
Pulled the pressure plate, and the clutch disc fell into about ten pieces, with rivets and springs falling as well. The flywheel was heated to the point that there are blueish purple spots with 1/4" deep, 1" long cracks...
so i had to replace: the flywheel, the pressure plate bolts, the pressure plate, clutch disc, pilot bearing and throwout bearing. all of this took almost a week after work. started out as 200 total for the clutch kit, and all told it came out to nearly 400. if the clutch was changed ten thousand miles ago, it would have been kept to the original budget.
so if your clutch is starting to go out, GET IT OVER WITH!

 

damn...

 

i feel ya in my 95 i had a centerforce explode and lock up my tranny on the road. When I pulled it apart the material was completly gone on the pressure plate side, and it was 80% gone on the flywheel side. I was able to salvege the flywheel though.

 

good thing you could do it on your own ...



could you imagine PAYING for labor ... i'd be a G note easly '

 

pictures??

 

400 ehy howd it get to that? I payed 75 for mine and even had to get a custom bearing put on, well sucks it cost so much gonna be easyer next time you have to do it lol

 

yeah I remember a case like that on a Bug I used to own. Clutch was starting to go out, picked up the new stuff on the way home from school. parked the bug in the garage, had dinner, watched the news. Got to working on the Bug about 3 hours later. Now a bug engine only takes about 15 minutes or so to get out. Dropped the engine and was greeted by the most obnoxious burning smell, and it was still smoking 3 frigging hours later..

though I got lucky, no gouges or anything like that, just a shot pressure plate and clutch disk that was pretty close to grenading itself..got by with out haviing to resurface the flywheel..

Good advice though, don't put a repair like this off--can cost you more than you think....

 

Costs:
Centerforce stage 1- (because i plan to build some power) $220.
New pilot bearing- $13
Now for the unexpected:
"New" flywheel from JY: $40
Resurfaced: $47
8 new Grade 8.8 bolts: $9.XX
New TO Bearing: $57 (yes, i know, but i wanted it that day)
4 trips to town in a powerstroke... $20 ish...
And in the past I have never had issues doing it myself. cheapest i've found around here to put one in was 150...
Last two clutches i changed were changed early enough they didnt need the flywheel resurfaced...

 

I thought you are supposed to get the flywheel resurfaced no matter what to make the clutch contact better ans last longer. Is this incorrect?

 

Ideally yes...Some times budgetary constraints don't always allow it. I have done 3 clutch jobs on my toyota trucks, 2x's I have the flywheel resurfaced.

 

New clutch and fywheel resurface cost me less than $200 but I give myself a discount.

 

Ya, that doesnt count...
And i probably couldve done it for 250, but i wanted a heavier duty clutch...
And Ideally you should resurface a flywheel every time. If you replace the clutch before it's trash, you should be able to get away with it without issues.

 

I am about to do my clutch as well. My friend has full bay in his back yard. Lift and all. I got the Marlin 1200 ftpd clutch kit (OME plate, disc and Throwout bearing), OME master and Slave cylinders, Toyota rear main seal, Toyota pilot bearing, new precision Flywheel (made in china but its pretty beefy and I have heard that they last), Marlin 8kg flywheel bolts.

Can't wait to get it done. Gonna start it this thursday. Nice thing is, is that I can leave it there for a few days on the lift if need be.

I plan on doing a pic heavy tutorial for anyone who might need it.

 

Good job doing it right, even if it cost a little more to do so. Always beats a ghetto fix. It'll last longer and perform better in the long run.

 

I would've gone with the marlin full ceramic, but they wouldnt have been able to ship for a week and a half. Kragens had the centerforce in stock.

A full writeup would be nice for those who havent changed a clutch on their own. It really isnt that hard, and some people cant drop the dough to have it changed without skimping somewhere else...