Thread: HOW TO: GTiR Clutch With Engine in situ

I used to be an advocate of dropping the engine to do a gtir clutch/box swap until it dawned on me one day that there was a much easier way. Almost definately known by a few before me but always kept quiet and never detailed in public...lol

I dont have any pics of the whole process but its pretty simple once you know whats what, depending on what additional bits are on the car there maybe some more work required but the basics of it are, but not necessarily in this order....

Depending on airfilter position, remove it and the inlet duct for access, same with anything else that gets in the way..lol..Drain the gearbox and transfer box oil, get the front pipe out of the way, if you want to, remove the prop from the transfer box but you can leave it.

If its still fitted this is one of the hardest parts of the job.. Get the y bracket off, (the very mention of the y bracket pissed me off...lol) Once its off its best off chucking it away at the earliest oppotunity, Now, remove driveshafts/axles, (once undone you can do this without touching the lower ball joints, drop the hub from the strut, and anything connected to the strut (abs, brake line) off so you can push it up out of the way and get enough movement on the hub. Pull the steering full lock towards the side you are doing and wrestle with it, the shaft will come out of the hub) Pop the shafts out of the box/transfer box and put some where safe.

you are now ready for the clever bit that makes it possible to get the box off with the engine in situ

undo the cast bracket that fits to the transfer box end case. Now, undo the transfer box end case, and pull the diff out, (do not lose the shim that sits in the end case) the connecting shaft is part of the diff and comes with it.

unbolt the clutch slave cylinder from the box (doing it this way instead of removing the banjo means no need to re-bleed when refitting) get the lines unclipped and get it out the way, unplug reverse light switch and remove earth. Undo shift stabiliser, undo selector rod from box.

support gearbox with a jack and have another one on the underside of the engine, remove front and rear stabliser mounts, the bracket for the rear stabilser mount needs to come off, remove both gear box mounts from chassis, remove rear gearbox mount completely from gearbox case, (if you dont do this you will not get the gear box out)

with the box supported, get rid of the starter motor and start undoing anything that looks like its holding the gearbox on..lol..theres a few sneaky ones underneath. But the 'bastard bolt ' is the worst, you want to get this out first, the 'bastard bolt' goes through the tf box into the gearbox, theres 2 you need to do, but only one is the 'bastard bolt'..lol..These 2 bolts live sort of under the starter motor right down by the speedo sensor which is on top of the tf box. The 'bastard bolt' is easier to get at if you remove the speedo sensor, when you get the 'bastard bolt' out, throw it in the bin, you will be glad you did next time you have to get the box off

that should be it, although i've probably forgotten something, the box is ready to come off. drop the jacks as far as they need to go without the front engine mount touching the chassis rail and wiggle the gear box off, being careful not to drop it on your fingers.

drag it outta the way and you now have access to the clutch.

only pics i have are these :

This one shows just how little you need to drop the engine, the bumper was off for a different reason, it can stay on



This one shows what you should be looking at if i remembered everything in the above how to ( ignore the connecting shaft being there, we put it back for the pics, to throw people off..lol..but with it in, you can clearly see why it needs to come out)



all of that shouldn't take you anymore than a couple of hours once you get good at them Tbh, the first time, if you have never done a gtir clutch with the engine out at least, be prepared for lots of swearing, a few sulks and maybe some tears

fitting is reverse. Although you will need to add sealent to the tf box end case before putting it back on, make sure the shim is still in the end case...Be warned, when putting the diff back into the tf box make sure the connecting shaft has fully located into the gearbox, you will know if it hasn't as the end case will not pull up properly and you will strip threads. If its in properly the end case will sit close to the body of the tf box and pull up easily, any resistance and the diff/connecting shaft is not fully located

nice writeup, so basically you take the transfercase apart without removing the shaft? when we did alleyboy's gtir we dropped the transfer case

sort of, but the connecting shaft will come out with the diff as its all one piece when in the car. If you havn't got access to a lift its alot easier doing it this way than struggling with removing the whole transfer box when flat on your back.

one of the mods mentioned in the group N manual is to modify the connecting shaft so its in 2 pieces, held with splines and a circlip, basically meaning you could pull the transfer box, pop the shaft and get it off, saving the need to pull the diff out.

Once the connecting shaft is out of the way your basically looking at doing a fwd box.

i read this a little too late, now im spilling blood and sweat.........tears comes tomorrow if it does not work

Hi there, Could you please tell me whether the GTiR's have a clutch cable or hydraulic clutch set ups? Hope that makes sence.
Thanks, Brittany

hydraulic

Hi there, I'm needing to bleed my clutch because the fluid is completely shot. I was just wondering before I started where the bloody thing is!?!? A little bit of direction would be very helpful, thanks!

This is some classic material right here. Thanks.

Ok how do you take out the transfer case only?