Seems that my z needs a new clutch. So far I have done all the work on the car and am not about to take it in to get a clutch put in by a mechanic, so i am going to do it myself. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I should look out for or anything that may make it easier to do the drop and swap??Thanks for your help.

Avoid dropping it on your toe.

Did you get a clutch alignment tool?

Have a friend there with you to help. It can be done by one person, but having another person there makes it easier IMO (not to mention safer).

Also, you will likely talk to God a few time during the exercise! If you are pulling the tranny out the bottom, just make sure the car is up high enough to get it out. And, be sure and be safe...use good sturdy jack stands on all four corners.

Getting it out is easy (gravity)... it's getting it back in...well, I just roll the tranny on my legs and lift it up with my knees, while grabing the end with my hands. I slid it into place using my knees as the fulcrum point, and wiggling the end until the shaft aligns, then I crawl out from the car, and rest with a cold beer before starting to wrench in the bolts. Got it down to a science. Just make sure you have good jack stands and a friend to hand you tools.

ps. the drive shaft bolts are kind of a pain.

Borrow a transmission jack. It's a lot safer and a lot easier.

I just put a 5 speed in mine and used my floor jack. It went up and in much easier than I had expected.

But a tranny jack would be best if you can get one.

Borrow a transmission jack. It's a lot safer and a lot easier.

Good suggestion, but any idea where to get one? I just called all over Dallas for one and couldn't find anyone who rents or loans them out. Tried auto parts stores and general equipment rental stores. So anyway, I just ended up doing it without one. Wasn't pretty but no one got maimed and nothing broke. Best thing I can suggest is if you can't find a tranny jack (very expensive to buy by the way - $150+) get a very tall hydraulic jack to help lower it. I didn't even have that so I just supported it with jackstands, removed all the bolts, grabbed hold of it and had my wife pull the stands out while I held onto it and lowered it down. Took some banging to get it to break loose.

Good luck -

michael

(PS I'm talkign about my 210 tranny that i just pulled but it's pretty much the same, just lighter.)

EDIT: oh yeah and drain the tranny fluid before you pull the driveshaft!

Borrow a transmission jack. It's a lot safer and a lot easier.

that's what I thought, but it gets in the way of the exhaust. It's a bitch to manuver, and that fact that the tranny sits on top of it, it means you have to jack your car up that much higher. It just quicker for me to just 'man' it in. the tranny aint that heavy.

When I did this on my 78 280 (5 speed) I just removed the exhaust where it meets the manifold. It was a little more time consuming but it made the whole job go alot easier.

Just my 2 cents

When I did this on my 78 280 (5 speed) I just removed the exhaust where it meets the manifold.

If you have the stock exhaust manifold I imagine that would help. But if you have a header then it's not so easy.

I already had the engine out of the car so everything was off and out of the way already. Definitely made things easier.

Don't forget to drain the box first! nothing worse than working in a puddle O Hyploid! You'd stink for ages.