[s-cars] July 4 good time to replace clutch :)

[CLAG500 at aol.com]

Hi Ivan,
 
  The slave is held on place by one bolt. There is no way to get much  
leverage on it while laying under the car so getting the slave pushed all the  way 
in and lined up with the hole is a bit difficult. I always thought  installing 
a stud in place of the bolt would make it possible to put the slave  on and 
get it on to the stud. Then a nut could be easily started. There is a lot  of 
tension on the slave. There will most likely be less if you are installing  one 
without fluid in it but there is still a spring inside the slave. (Do not  try 
to bleed the slave without it being installed as they will come apart if  
there is no pressure on the plunger). I remember it going in fairly easily  
though when doing it on a lift so you may not have a problem with it. It was a  
nightmare with the car on jack stands but so was everything else. ;-) 
 
As long as you have a lift and a good trans jack this will be a fine job to  
do solo. I actually enjoyed doing it on a lift. I had a few helpers but it was 
 my third trans installation so it was easy for me to delegate. I did have to 
 tell everyone to go do something so I could guide it out though. 
 
I did jack the front of the engine up a bit. I think when I did it on a  lift 
we put a 2X4 on a floor jack to lift the front of the engine from  
underneath. It doesn't take much to tilt it but you will need to have something  
prepared to allow you to do this. I thought about making some kind of bridge but  
ended up just pushing up on the engine from the front. I think having the  
lifting bridge on top will be difficult as you won't be able to see the  position of 
the engine and trans from under the car. Also it has to be raised  and 
lowered at different times. I doubt the Audi techs even use that bridge in  the 
Bentley. 
 
Don't rush too much but keep up a decent pace as there is a lot to do. Wish  
I would have had a digicam when I did this job. Glad to see someone getting 
some  use out of those write-ups. I had almost forgotten about them. Let me know 
if  your clutch kit doesn't have the alignment tool (it should) and I can 
look for  one of mine in the garage.
 
Good luck Ivan!
 
Chad
 
In a message dated 6/23/2006 9:10:31 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
idemkovitch at yahoo.com writes:

Chad,
 
I  already got all parts on order. Have few questions.
Your  note about clutch slave cylinder doesn't seem to be very clear (may be 
it will  when I get there :) )
What  stud are you talking about?
 
I  will be doing all myself - helpers will not be an issue :)
 
Also,  bentley says to use special tool to lift front of an engine in order 
to point  transmission downwards. Did you do that? Is it necessary? If so - I 
will  have to start thinking about building something like that..
 
Thanks,
Ivan