Feckin' Clutch

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Reverend Blair

Council Member
Apr 3, 2004
1,238
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Winnipeg
Damned thing. 3 hours to get it apart because every damned bolt has been rusting in place since 1982. Not even an impact wrench will break these bolts free. I had to heat every one of them with a feckin' torch.

Then, once I get the clutch out so I can compare, I discover that they sold me the wrong feckin' clutch kit.

I had to borrow a feckin' Neon to get home with and it's for sale so I can't even smoke in the feckin' thing.

Tomorrow night, assuming the geniuses at the parts store can figure out what the right feckin' part is, I can maybe put the feckin' thing back together again.

It's just a damned clutch. An hour and half, two hours, and the truck should have been back on the road. Christ, I had a full-time mechanic with me, I was working in his garage.

Feck.
 
R

Reverend Blair

Council Member
Apr 3, 2004
1,238
1
38
Winnipeg
Maybe call the Canadian tire guy or his wife?
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Christ, if I did that they'd go have a look at all the real tools available and we'd be forced to sit through even more commercials. I would like to see the Canadian Tire guy and his wife laying underneath an old truck saying things like, "Hand me that feckin' hammer,honey. I'll get the fecker out of there," though.
 
R

Reverend Blair

Council Member
Apr 3, 2004
1,238
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38
Winnipeg
I just went and ordered the right parts. That cost me an extra fifty bucks. It turns out that the smaller clutch for a six cylinder cost more than the larger clutch for an eight cylinder. Feck.
 
#juan

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
18,326
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don't do clutches anymore, but I used to. There was a time when I went through a whole procession of British sports cars. God, I did ring jobs , valve jobs, Main bearings, and just about anything else required. The most frustrating thing about British cars was the Lucas electrics. Every piece of wire in those cars was drawn out so thin that one more milliamp would burn it off.

Anyway, good luck with the job.

PS - Doing clutches, invariably skinned my knuckles about five times... :wink:

Cheers
 
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Reverend Blair

Council Member
Apr 3, 2004
1,238
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38
Winnipeg
I never burn clutches out, so this is only my second one. If I didn't have to take all the dogs to Saskatchewan with me, I would likely have put it off until spring too, but the thought of a sudden failure in some town too small to have a parts store and four dogs crawling all over me while I tried to change it in a field scared me into quicker action.

I used to have a Spitfire, Juan. You don't have to tell me about British electrics. Three fuses in the whole damned thing and fusible links for the rest. On the other hand, I've never been in another car that was as much fun to drive.
 
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Reverend Blair

Council Member
Apr 3, 2004
1,238
1
38
Winnipeg
I've been nursing this clutch since I got the truck. I bought it from my bro-in-law, so when I expressed interest his sales pitch was to tell me what all was wrong with it. The clutch was top of the list.

The other clutch I did was in the big green truck. Since the clutch is attached to the motor and that came without a motor, it was an easy install...just put the clutch on while the motor was on the stand.

The next thing I have to do is the exhaust. I'll check prices, but it's generally cheaper to pay Speedy to do that than it is to buy pre-bent pipes. I think I'll go with a pipe that ends just after the cab though...not much point in running it all the way to the tailgate.
 
TenPenny

TenPenny

Hall of Fame Member
Jun 9, 2004
17,466
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Location, Location
At least you don't OWN the Neon. That would be worse.

Never did clutches, but did a lot of other stuff. When I was a yungun, my next door neighbor was a shop foreman at a frod dealership, so in return for hanging around with him almost every night helping, I got free access to the garage and tools when I needed it.

Now I prefer to pay someone to do it, because my time seems to be taken up by two little girls. Although I just bought me an obd2 scan tool, so I can figure out the semipermanent check engine light....
 
R

Reverend Blair

Council Member
Apr 3, 2004
1,238
1
38
Winnipeg
At least you don't OWN the Neon. That would be worse.
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Actually I was surprised by how nice that Neon is. A fair bit better than the one I was given for a loaner when my Cirrus (company car) blew a transmission. I still wouldn't buy one, but they have come a long way.


Never did clutches, but did a lot of other stuff. When I was a yungun, my next door neighbor was a shop foreman at a frod dealership, so in return for hanging around with him almost every night helping, I got free access to the garage and tools when I needed it.
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That's always handy. Having a brother-in-law who has all the tools and, more importantly, can save me when I get in over my head is a definite bonus. On the other side of the coin, I seem to be building a small garage/big shed for him next summer.

Although I just bought me an obd2 scan tool, so I can figure out the semipermanent check engine light....
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If it's a Dodge, they still don't know for sure. It may have something to do with moisture on the circuit board though, at least if you live in a cold climate. No matter what make it is, the O2 sensor is generally a pretty good guess too. Less likely is that you actually have something wrong with your engine.
 
R

Reverend Blair

Council Member
Apr 3, 2004
1,238
1
38
Winnipeg
That's the most common one. You kind of have to wonder why the failure rate of those things is so high, they've been using them forever so you'd think they'd actually work by now.
 
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