| Clutch replacement is fairly straightforward. Simply remove transmission, bellhousing, pressure plate, clutch, and flywheel. About the only difficulty a shadetree mechanic will run into is removal of the pilot bearing. In some cases the pilot bearing can be removed by filling the hole with grease and pounding on the input shaft with a hammer. The hydraulic force created is sometimes enough to push the bearing out. In this case however, the bearing was worn to the point of requiring a puller. |
 |
| Initially I purchased a "Pilot bearing puller" from Harbor Freight, but it was not capable of pulling pilot bearings because even when fully collapsed the fingers were far bigger than the size indicated on the box. Luckily I was able to borrow a quality bearing puller from a friend and avoided the cost of buying one for now. |
 |
| Once the puller is in place, turn the nut clockwise with a large wrench (leverage is your friend) to remove the bearing. |
 |
| Tool and bearing (right) The new pilot bearing should go in quite easily with a shot-filled mallet. |
 |
| The flywheel was well worn, but over all in good shape and was machined for $20. Reattach and torque to spec. |
 |
| Problem: I should have gotten an install tool with my pressure plate and clutch kit, but someone took it out of the package. Luckily, I have a spare input shaft! The input shaft however, does not fit through the springs on the pressure plate so I had to improvise the installation procedure a little bit. First install the pressure plate loosely with one bolt and let hang. |
 |
| Next, grab the clutch and take care to note which side faces the flywheel and which side faces the pressure plate. There should be just enough room to place the clutch in between the pressure plate and flywheel and hold it in position while you stab the clutch with the unused input shaft. |
 |
| Once the clutch is in position, the the pressure plate can be bolted to the flywheel and torqued to spec. |
 |
| Carefully remove input shaft and attach bellhousing to engine block. |
 |
| If the clutch stayed in place, the transmission should bolt right up and you're done. |
 |