No Subject

["Cordeiro, Alan" <Alan.Cordeiro@mts.com>]

>1.   Do I need a new clutch?  Is hard-shifting a symptom of needing a new
>clutch?  If not, what are the            symptoms?

You have symptoms of a clutch NOT DISENGAGING. 
This could come from a bad master or slave cylinder,
or bad components ( throwout bearing, fingers broke,
....) in the clutch

>2.   How can I improve the smoothness of the shifting?  I miss the
>smoothness, man.  It's not real hard to       shift, but it's getting
>there.  Will the Redline synth stuff work -- or is  there a better
>alternative?

If it shifted smoothly till recently, then changing the oil will 
probably not help. The original oil from the factory is synthetic
anyway, I changed it, and saw the CLEAN stuff come out,
wished I had not done it.. well perhaps the PO had already
replaced it with synthetic.

>3.   Does a clutch job really take 10 hours?

Rumor has it thats about right.

>4.   Will replacing the clutch make the shifting smoother again?

Doing that magnitude of repair will probably get whatever was
shot, just verify that the hydraulic components are all working 
correctly first. If nothing else BLEED that system out, you may
be surprised to see what crud comes out if it was never done..

Alan Cordeiro
1986 5kQ, new master installed at 130k, new slave in
box somewhere in the garage. Clutch is just fine
at 175k.....