These tips are provided in the hopes that they may assist fellow enthusiasts. They are definitely basic, but would have at least been of use to me the first time I attempted these projects. They are not a full "how to" primer, but a supplement to a good repair manual. Keep in mind, however, that I am not a professional mechanic and I cannot anticipate every situation that you may encounter. Ultimate responsibility for safety rests with you and I cannot be held responsible for any personal injury or damage to property. Please be careful and know and respect your limitations; the only thing more valuable than the remaining number of Spitfires is the remaining number of Spitfire aficionados.
Replacing the clutch - Tips
Heck yes, you can absolutely remove and replace the tranny and clutch yourself. No special tools are needed other than a clutch aligning tool which is about $5 from any of the major suppliers. Some things that the Haynes manual DOESN'T tell you, but are helpful:
Undo the bolts on the bottom of the bellhousing before starting since you
can't reach these from within the car.
Put a block of wood under the oil pan and jack the engine up. This will
give you sufficient height to clear the front of the driveshaft. Loosening, but not removing the engine mounts may be useful
A wheeled floor jack works just as well as a transmission jack - never let
the transmission hang from the input shaft!
Change the pivot pin for the throwout bearing since they are prone to
shearing which causes shifting problems.
When you put the transmission back in, make sure the push rod for the slave
cylinder is sticking out of the bellhousing as it is impossible to get it out once
the transmission is in place. Clamping vice grips on it will keep it out.
The transmission will probably resist going in the last two inches. This is what
hung me up the first time. Friends who are mechanics suggested the following:
- Put two bolts loosely on the left and right sides of the bellhousing to hold it
in place. Now push the tranny in while moving it side to side, up and down
etc. I actually sit behind it with the output flange in my hands and my feet pushing against the bellhousing. With any luck, it will now "slam" home.
- Or: Put as many bolts in as you can. Tighten them down evenly, a little at a
time to pull the tranny forward. DO NOT continue tightening if the engine backplate
begins to bend. Back off and start again. Turning the flywheel with a screwdriver
through the gap may help line everything up.
If you do change the clutch, those hex heads bolts can be tiresome. I bought
a hex key and cut off the top so I had just a straight piece which I then put in my
reversible drill. The first couple of turns when loosening or the last couple when
tightening must be done by hand, however and staggered to prevent distorting
the pressure plate.
Those Pesky Old Thrust Washers - Change them some afternoon?
What are they? The thrust washers sit on both sides of the rear-most main bearing
and control crankshaft endfloat. As they wear, the endfloat increases (which
isn't THAT bad), but eventually the thrust washers develop enough play to fall out of position and into the oil pan and that, gentle surfer, is A Real Bad Thing. Now the crankshaft is riding directly on the main bearing cap and block webs, scoring and ruining both which necessitates either a replacement block or some extensive engineering. Yuk-O!
Checking the Thrust Washers: To check endfloat, you just need to push the crankshaft all the way back and all the way forward and measure the difference. Yeah, that's all ... the trick being finding a place to measure it with the engine in the car. A procedure for TR6s on the VTR web page suggests pushing back on the crankshaft pulley and pushing forward by depressing the clutch pedal. Visually if the crankshaft pulley moves forward "the thickness of a fingernail", then all's well.
See www.vtr.org/maintain/thrust-washers.html.
Changing the Thrust Washers: The real secret is just knowing that it can be done with the engine in the car. For some reason none of the manuals seem toadmit to this. Basically you unbolt and drop the oil pan with the engine in the car. It is possible that it may "foul" on the crankshaft throws when you try to remove it - the solution is to rotate the crankshaft out of the way. Now the crankshaft is visible and the rearmost main bearing cap can be removed. Remember exactly how it goes back! The thrust washers are on both sides of the crankshaft and can be slid out and the new ones slid in. It's not difficult of a job, but when
you're in the bottom of the engine where things like to churn around at 50
times a second, you do need to be careful about torque specs, cleanliness,
buttoning everything up right etc., so read your manual several times first.
I did this job twice on successive weekends and the second time, with experience and all the stubborn bolts already loosened, it only took about an hour start to finish.
The Little Engine That Could ... Be Removed Without Any Special Tools
No, you don't need to rent a lift or a winch or a block and tackle or a Sumo Wrestler or anything like that. This is not a particularly large or heavy engine. Remove the bonnet (hood). I would recommend that you wrap something soft around the bumper to avoid gouging the paint on the bonnet like SOMEONE I know did. Remove the radiator. Remove the transmission. I would recommend removing as much weight as possible, like the clutch, flywheel and manifolds. (If the flywheel keeps turning when you attempt to undo the bolts, have a helper wedge a large screwdriver or prybar into the teeth of the flywheel and against one of the bellhousing locating studs on the back of the engine). Go to the hardware store and buy 3 feet of chain (I got 800 pound test for a $1 per foot), two lifting hooks with shackles (about $2 apiece) and a good quality 2X4 stud. Attach the chain to the hooks which are attached to the lifting brackets on the cylinder head. Make it tight enough that the 2X4, with the greater thickness vertical, just fits. Put a block of wood under the oil pan and a jack under that. Jack it up enough to take the weight of the engine, remove the engine mounts and jack the engine up as high as possible. One guy, on each end of the stud, can lift the engine and walk it out the front of the car. Believe me, I am of moderate strength at best and I was able to do this with no real difficulty. Installation is simply the reverse.(don't you love that phrase?)
Converting the Lucas alternator to a GM unit.
If you've owned your late model Spitfire for more than 5 minutes, you probably will have to deal with a failed alternator. Keeping the Lucas alternator is good if:
Originality is important to you or
Ease of installation is important to you or
You can get a lifetime warranty at a good price. Shop around. Discussion on the Spitfire mailing list indicates a wide variation in prices and warranties.
Switching to a GM unit is a good idea if:
The lower initial price, greater availability, general mechanics familiarity, higher output and (arguably) increased reliability are important to you and you are willing to spend a little extra time on installation.
The switch involves 2 steps - converting the wiring and mechanically making it fit. For a discussion on the wiring, I refer you to Dan Master's excellent article on the VTR site at http://www.vtr.org/maintain/alternator/conversions.html As far as the mechanical installation goes, the bottom mounting bracket for the Lucas fits the GM perfectly and puts the pulley in the correct plane. The original mounting bolt is probably too long; either buy a shorter one or stack it with washers. The original upper mounting bracket will not work since the GM alternator is a larger diameter and hits the block before coming close enough to the bracket. However, it is a simple matter to fashion a replacement bracket. The original belt still fit for me, but it was tight enough that it was necessary to put it on the pulley before installing the alternator, so I replaced with one that was two inches longer. The whole job, start to finish, took a little over 2 hours.
Questions? Corrections/Comments? An overwhelming desire to shower me with praise? E-mail me at [email protected]