Saturday, September 09, 2006
I just saved $400 by not going to a mechanic
I think that is the closest "real" title I've ever done.
We (Protege, Subaru and myself) successfully put in a clutch today. Tercel was the proud recipient and guinea pig for the clutch. It was the first time that we had attempted doing anything transmission related. It went fairly well, just taking off bolts and unhooking things (next time label bolts and nuts in small bags) and going down the checklist I made for the install. Unfortunately it wasn't complete, but was very helpful while we were still on it.
Essentially we jacked it up, disconnected the battery, unhook and unbolted lots of things connected to the tranny (hehe), pop the tranny off, switch out the clutch and pressure plate, threw the tranny back on, and hooked everything back together. That took from 11:30 am until 7:30 pm, including breaks, forgetting to connect one bolt and not having 2nd gear for a lap around the parking lot and fixing that, and general shenanigans.
Great day, we got it in and all I have to do is get some tubing or a flexible funnel and top off the transmission with gear oil, 75W-90, and she'll be good as new. I've already done 2 mini burnouts and the clutch works like a freakin' charm and is now smooth as buttah. Just gotta replace the blown shocks and then she'll really be good as new. Total cost of the install:
$90 for new clutch kit
amount a local shop quoted me for a '92 Tercel clutch change:
$500
Money Seth saved and immeasureable experience:
Priceless ($400 + 6 hours my labor)
I was so dirty though; we all were. Filthy. I had to wash my hair 3 times because the first two times the water came off blackish brown. Washed my face twice and my body twice and then had to go back and get spots I missed (or needed extra scrubbing) on my knees and inner arms. Filthy. J said she should've taken a picture. I threw the shirt I was wearing away.
Good times.
We (Protege, Subaru and myself) successfully put in a clutch today. Tercel was the proud recipient and guinea pig for the clutch. It was the first time that we had attempted doing anything transmission related. It went fairly well, just taking off bolts and unhooking things (next time label bolts and nuts in small bags) and going down the checklist I made for the install. Unfortunately it wasn't complete, but was very helpful while we were still on it.
Essentially we jacked it up, disconnected the battery, unhook and unbolted lots of things connected to the tranny (hehe), pop the tranny off, switch out the clutch and pressure plate, threw the tranny back on, and hooked everything back together. That took from 11:30 am until 7:30 pm, including breaks, forgetting to connect one bolt and not having 2nd gear for a lap around the parking lot and fixing that, and general shenanigans.
Great day, we got it in and all I have to do is get some tubing or a flexible funnel and top off the transmission with gear oil, 75W-90, and she'll be good as new. I've already done 2 mini burnouts and the clutch works like a freakin' charm and is now smooth as buttah. Just gotta replace the blown shocks and then she'll really be good as new. Total cost of the install:
$90 for new clutch kit
amount a local shop quoted me for a '92 Tercel clutch change:
$500
Money Seth saved and immeasureable experience:
Priceless ($400 + 6 hours my labor)
I was so dirty though; we all were. Filthy. I had to wash my hair 3 times because the first two times the water came off blackish brown. Washed my face twice and my body twice and then had to go back and get spots I missed (or needed extra scrubbing) on my knees and inner arms. Filthy. J said she should've taken a picture. I threw the shirt I was wearing away.
Good times.
# posted by Seth @ 6:57 PM 
Who Links Here
