engine refitting - clutch fork
 

morning all,

more questions from me i'm afraid.
If all goes according to plan, i should be refitting my engine this Sunday, and apart from trying to remember where all the hoses/connections go (3 weeks since i took it out!) the main thing that's causing me some concern is how i'm going to get the clutch for re-engaged properly. woud hate to get it all back in only to find i have no clutch!

anyone got any advice/tips/guides on how to get this sorted?

at the moment all i can come up with is trying to squeeze a hang between the block and bellhousing to get the fork back into the release bearing and then hoping it stays put as i slide the block down the studs to bolt it in, then somehow sliding the bar back through the hole in the bellhousing and then throught the fork itself.... another option i considered was maybe removing the fork completely, attaching it to the bearing and then pushing it back up through the hole in the bellhousing as i slide the engine into place, but again, this relies on getting a hand in there to guide the top part of the fork out...
there has to be an easier way!

You fit the fork and thrust bearing onto the gearbox , when fitting the gearbox back on the thrust bearing will click in place onto the clutch locking it back on , it is fairly easy to do

Thanks Ian.
just to clarify - i remove the fork form the bellhousing completely, click it into place on the bearing then as i refit the engine the fork will resume its normal position sticking out the top of the bellhousing so i can re-insert the thick bar and the linkage?

presumably the fork will only click into place on the bearing one way round? my bearing seems to be different depending on which way up it is (if you see what i mean - rotated through 180 degrees, the 2 connecting points seem to be at a differernt level).

doh - sorry, being an idiot... fork and bearing onto main shaft from gearbox, then slide the engine including cluth etc onto the shaft?

yes fork and bearing on gearbox locking pin in ! engine will slide onto shaft of gear box then bolt up engine then pull fork forwards it will lock bearing into place ...

sweet. thanks very much guys.

right. please don't think i dont' appreciate the advie chaps, but this still isn't happening!

firstly, the release bearing won't come off of the clutch cover... it slides so far and then just stops. looks like it's held on by the teeth that actually go into the clutch cover... can anyone pleeeease enlighten me?


secondly... stupid clutch fork!!!!!!!!
if i put the clutch fork in such a position that the big locating bar will go through the holes in the bell housing and the fork itself so that the fork is in the only position it can go in, then the hole for the bar protruding from the piston is about half an inch too high for the actual piston to go through it. i can't see anywhere obvious to adjust the bracket mounting the piston to the bellhousing (and i certainly didn't loosen either of the bolts holding it in place when i took the engine out!)
the fork obviously only goes one way round... as the other way it wouldn't line up with the hole in the top of the bell housing. i've even had the rod out of the piston and the gaitor off, but all i can see it the actual piston itself which moves freely in and out with no problems. piston has a concave surface, which i assume is to ensure that the bar is located correctly to operate the clutch fork>?

having done the cam cover gasket i was hoping to get the engine at least in place tonight but htis clutch situation has me seriously stumped! please tell me i'm missing something obvious? i have a vague recollection of there being a spring involved somewhere when i took it off, and i do have a spring in my parts box but i can't for the life of me see how this would help!

last thing is that the actual bar that locates the fork (the one it pivots on) doesn't want to slide throught he bell housing, but i'm assuming that this has to be at a certain angle or something to get through?

getting desperate now.. determined to have the car back on the road on sunday but at the moment i just can't see it happening!

excuse the lack of pics but i'm too furious to go near the car again tongiht...

i feel you pain mate... ive just changed my gear box and im having troubles getting the thrust baring to engage think im gonna have to take it back out...... its "moider"

thanks for the sympathy mate.. maybe it's not just me being a retard then?

really pissing me off though... obviouslt this holds everythign up getting the engine back in, and therefore me back in my car and not the mrs 1.6 8v astra!

the bearing will not come out of the casing you need to undo all the bolts that hold the clutch in then it will release !! then re alingn clutch put cover back on ..

second part of your question has me confused ! have you taken off the clutch slave off the top of the gearbox ? two bolts? 12mm ..
the fork will only go one way .

Ahhhhh! I see. thanks for that.:luxhello: I suppose that makes sense.. you don't want the bearing pulling out when you operate the clutch!
then presumably the clicking in bit happens (unless you're darlofil) when you slide the block complete with clutch and cover down the main shaft to the gearbox?

nope. clutch slave is still bolted to the top of the box. didn't need to undo it to get it all out.
i can't help thinking that if i undo it and line everything up with the fork etc then it won't go back into position so i can bolt it up again?

the clicking in part happens only when you have finnished bolting the gearbox to the engine then you need to grab hold of the top of the fork on top of the gearbox and yank it sharpley towards the front of the car to engage the bearing ! i found that you need to remove the clutch slave to be able to get a good hold of the fork to yank it ! re-alignment of the slave is the easy part ..

clutch seems ok now.. i hope.. engine's in, all ancilliaries other than rad and starter connected...

however... top tip... if you remove the driveshafts then make sure you get them spot on before trying to fit the pins through them... turns out both of mine are one spline out and everything is now mounted.

have had to walk away from it tonight due to stress/anger levels. was quick progress until tryoing to put the pins in though.

nearly there....

drive shaft pins
 

you can get away with just pushing the drivers side driveshaft back off the splines to reline up the holes.but the n/s shaft you will have to remove the top bolt on the hub to allow the shaft to go back enough so you can slide it off the gearbox shaft so you can line up the pins.unless you have had both drive shafts out and got them mixed up :D

that sounds like a major hassle! when i undid them originally they popped loose when i lifted the engine slightly with the crane. (gearbox was still attached obviously!) i was planning to give that a go again.. just without disnmantling the whole thing again. will remove fuel lines, loom and anything else that looks like it will catch.. .. hope that will work, otherwise it looks like top bolt on the hub!
anyone got any pics of which bolt this is on the hub?

(by the way - already got the engine mount nuts off, downpipe disconnected, and other bits and pieces)

why did you remove the drive shafts ??

I just changed my gearbox in my ver6 and did a clutch on my bro's ver6... out of all the jobs I gotta say that doin a clutch is by far the most horrible of them all.

Its actually worth payin sum1 £200 to do it and save all that hassle. When you're laying under the car and you got that fcukin heavy box on top of you and your rogering it in against the block and the flippin engine is rockin back and forth its soooooooooo GGRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

Horrible job...

because the bottom 2 nuts holding the box to the block were knackered and i needed better access to get them off. got the new ones done up fine with just a normal spanner from above the engine but the old ones were a total nightmare!!!!!:(

ooooooooooooooohhh i see !!

had another thought.. oculd hte shafts be 180 degrees out? would that make a difference?
still got to disconnect them again anyway, but i'm gagging to get the car back on the road, so want to get this done as quickly as possible!