getting gearbox out of 87 sierra

[Crawford]

Hey.. spent the day attempting to get the gearbox/clutch out of my sierra

I thought the gearbox would split away from the clutch but obviously it all has to come out in one piece!! smashing at it with a hammer didnt work haha

anyways everything is off besides from 1 bolt on the clutch, and the starter motor.. the problem is getting the starter motor of..

Do i need to take the carby off to get this out? as its almost impossible to reach the bolts... this is in a 87 sierra with air conditioning..

everything is just siting on jacks at the bottom so that the clutch doesnt drop down and pull the starter motor with it.

someone let me know please
cheers

[christover1]

The starter motor bolts can be tough to reach, but I have never taken the carby off to get to them. Mine is much older model, but doubt it is different. On mine, I pull the bottom bolt from under the car, and the top bolt reaching from passenger side around back of engine. smaller tools can help. I cut down some old ring spanners, but a 1/4 or 3/8th drive socket set would be better.
One of these bolts holds the earth strap, too. It doent matter which one, so put it back on the easist one, with bolt around whatever way suits you best. I then pull it out from underneath, often dropping it on my head, so be careful.

The box will not come out, until starter is removed. Clutch should all stay on the motor, bar the thrust bearing, which stays on box. Unless something has badly broken, and jamming it all up, it should come off easily.

starter should come out first, as the box twisting may be jamming it...put box bolts back in, till starter is out.

good luck
christover

[Crawford]

hey finally dropped it out and i cleaned everything.. gearbox lewks brang spankin new haha

neways i turn the shaft inside the gearbox and it makes little noise so seems like bearings are ok in there..

the clutch when i opened it 2kg of fibre fell on my face and a plate in there fell out.. the plate has had its bolts grinded down seem it was rubbing on whatever it rubs on haha

so anways.. buying a clutch kit this week... is it hard to align everything back up?

anything else i should do while i have halve my car apart?
get back to me cheers fellas

[PJ.zook]

Depending wether a flywheel comes with the clutch kit (i doubt it), check it over for small cracks, any grooves worn into surface, etc...
If so you can get them machined pretty cheap, small cracks will usually machine out, but larger ones wont. Whomever is machining it should know what they are doing and will be able to tell you if it is still useable.

[DiddyZook]

GET THE FLYWHEEL MACHINED !!!!!!!!

I know that when you put in a clutch at home it seems like too much. There is a reason why just about any workshop will tell you that unless the flywheel is machined there is no warranty on the clutch. I have just burned out another clutch (2nd this year) after electing to bypass the flywheel machining. I am convinced that it was my attempt to cut cost on this last clutch which lead to it's early death. The difference between getting a little machining and doing another clutch, is enough for me to say lesson learned. And by the sounds of things your not exactly having fun doing it are you.

[JrZook]

And might be worth putting a rear main seal in the engine while its all apart.

[nicbeer]

Also do ya spiggot bearing in ya flywheel.

cheers

[sierrafreak]

When putting the gearbox back in it might pay to cut a short piece of the gearbox mount. It makes it easier to get it back in there.