C4 Corvette Clutch Replacement?

How difficult is it to replace a clutch on a C4 Corvette? Can it be done without a lift?

it can be. not that bad, except for the fact that if i remember right you have to pull the rear diff too.

you can do it on stands, in the sands at CMP. but i think id rather be kicked in the nuts than do that again.

Remove the torsion bar and drive shaft.Make sure you put it up high on the stands,I use the large stands at about half mast.Its a couple hour job.

Dusterbd13 wrote: it can be. not that bad, except for the fact that if i remember right you have to pull the rear diff too. you can do it on stands, in the sands at CMP. but i think id rather be kicked in the nuts than do that again.

why would you need to pull the rear diff?

i've never done one, but i'd imagine it's similar to any other car that has a trans bolted to the back of the engine at the front of the car and the differential at the rear of the car..

you just remove the torque arm that connects the rear diff to the trans, remove the driveshaft, drop the trans, change the clutch.. then put it back together in generally the opposite order you took it apart...

I've owned an 85 and a 91. No need to pull diff. Just romeve torque tube and drive shaft and it comes out as normal. The 89 and up 6 speed is easy to pull. The 84-88 4+3 tranny is awkward to handle on a tranny jack, but it aint rocket science.

I did a '89 with the 6 speed in my garage on jack stands.

Few things: be sure its the clutch. The hydraulics on these things are notorious for failing. I put in a new clutch/flywheel/cleaned and painted everything over a slave cylinder that wouldn't release all the way (giving the clutch a little slip). Everything else was alright with 110,000 miles on it., but while I was in there...

You need real jack stands. By that, I mean the 6 ton ones that go a few feet up in the air. I forget the measurements, but if your not getting 20+" of clearance, that trans is not coming out the bottom.

You need to figure out some type of a transmission jack, the transmission is heavish and not something I can bench press on my back. I think I ended up using a piece of flat steel bolted to a floor jack and a ratchet strap. The bottom cooling fins of the trans is flat if the drain plug is out.

The C-beam is the bar that connects the transmission to the diff eliminating the trans mount. This can be "hammered off" by pounding it forward after unbolting, but way more forward than I was comfortable with initially. Also the c-beam bolts are like 21mm or so, the wrench slipped when I was tightening them (on my back..)I hit my head and I knocked myself out. Good thing the wrench didn't hit my mouth as I would have lost some teeth. They are difficult to deal with.

Most everything else is standard clutch r+r, DO NOT get rid of the dual mass flywheel unless you are certain you won't mind the noise. I had literally straight pipe exhaust header to tailpipe and at hot idle the trans made my engine sound like I spun crank bearings. No harm, but you can't hide it without the dual mass fw.

And goodluck! ask if you have any more questions, and the corvetteforum surprisingly has some tech hidden in places.

If those are correct wheels, it is a 90?

The 6 speed is sweet. And btw, the clutch hydraulics are external, easy to service, guaranteed to fail and available on rockauto.

When you put it back together, the C-beam has to be in just the right place to align the driveshaft correctly. There is a measurement taken at the trans end. From the tunnel to the top of the beam, and the left to the side of the beam. A shop manual will fill you in further. Get a set of C-beam plates from zfdoc, they make the job easier by holding the nuts at the top of the beam. Worth every penny.

In reply to daytonaer :

hi daytonaer hope you are still here, why do you have to replace the flywheel ?