Took a first pass at the hardtop stand today. Turned out okay, except it was 36" wide on the side and the door to the house is a 30" opening at best. Oops. I sawed it in half down the middle to get it inside and I'll glue in two unions so it can go back together.

I think I've figured out how to narrow it down, so I'll start on stand #2 when I have some more time. Anybody want #1?

 

I would have taken a window out before cutting up your hard work...

On another note - was planning on driving the Colonial Cruise route either this weekend or next, but might not be able to anytime soon because my clutch is starting to slip. Money and time has me scheduling the clutch replacement next weekend. I've done clutch jobs on Nissan Hardbody's before and the only hard part was man-handling the transmission without using a jack to lower/raise it. I haven't read any DIY threads yet, but is there anything I should look out for or special tools needed?

 

BTW - for us PS3 folks, PlayStation is doing their "Welcome Back appreciation program" where you can go to the PS Store and download 2 free games ( choose from Dead Nation, inFAMOUS, LittleBigPlanet, Super Stardust HD, and WipEout HD Bundle). Don't know how long this program will last, so get 'em while you can!

 

One of the starter bolts is supposedly super difficult to reach.

I took notes when I did the smart car cruise. I think the best place to stop for pics will be the two loops just past Indian Field Creek (heading toward Yorktown). There are other places along the river to pull off, but they were packed solid when we came through around 12:30.

 

Perry, 12 point 10 and 17mm socket for the clutch pressure plate/flywheel and 4 ft extension and swivel 14mm socket for the top starter bolt and a 6mm allen head socket for the driveshaft bolts are the "special" tools you'll need. You have to drop the subframe 4-6 inches for access to the top bell housing bolts. I will write a quick how to when I get on my computer. Takes too long on the phone.

 

Perry is it the original clutch?

 

OK, so here is what I do to remove the transmission. On my lift, I can have the trans on the floor in about 2 hours. But, I have done at least 30-40 S2000's in the past 5 years.

First, start with taking up the center console after removing the shift knob, unplug the hazard and soft top button, use a flat head screw driver to pop up the plastic ring above the shifter rubber boot, pull it up, and spin the triangle shaped rubber that covers the 3 shifter bolts. 3 10mm bolts, and pull the shifter out, and grab the spring, too.

Then, disconnect the battery. Remove air box set-up, remove serpentine belt, remove upper alternator bolt completely and loosen the bottom one. Move the alternator as far right as it will go to gain access to the top starter bolt. 4' extension, swivel 14mm and a flashlight are your new best friends for this PITA bolt. Look with the flashlight between intake runners 2 and 3, and you will see the starter, and the bolt has orange paint on it. It's right next to the block. Use the extension and swivel socket, and hold your tongue just right and keep cussing at it until you finally get it on the bolt. It's usually pretty tight if it's never been removed, so I just use a pipe (jack handle) on the ratchet and bust it loose. Once its loose, you can just use the extension to remove it (air ratchet or electric impact work awesome.) Don't pull the bolt out, just make sure its all the way unthreaded.

Remove exhaust manifold heat shield if you still have one, and loosen and remove all the manifold bots except one. Leave one finger loose, so the manifold doesn't try to hit you in the head when you're under the car.

Unplug both cam sensors on the valve cover, and remove the hose that goes to back of the intake manifold from the air pump.

Thats it for under the hood. Now underneath. Remove the one 17mm bolt that holds the header to the block, unplug both O2 sensors and unbolt the cat from the manifold, and the cat from the exhaust. Remove the last manifold bolt, and pull the manifold out from the bottom.

Unplug the 2 or 3 electrical connectors from the transmission. Remove the drive shaft loop 12mm bolts. Unbolt the PITA driveshaft bolts. If they strip out, cut the heads off. Call me, and I have some replacement bolts that have a socket head instead of the allen head. Once the heads are cut off, they come out by hand. You can just do the diff side of the driveshaft, and pull the trans out with the driveshaft still attached. Get the 4 10mm bolts that hold the shifter boot to the body of the car (straight up). Remove the 2 12mm bolts that hold the slave cylinder to the trans, and pull it out of the shift fork with the rubber boot. Grab the shift for firmly, and pull it out of the throw out bearing. It will just hang out in the bell housing. Make sure you hang on to it during reinstallation, and it faces the correct way.

Remove the front splash guard plastic if it's still there. Dumbass push pins always break. Unplug both electrical connectors on the rack and pinion. Loosen the top 10mm bolt on the steering shaft knuckle, mark the shaft on the rack and the knuckle, and remove the bottom knuckle bolt completely. Remove the steering knuckle from the shaft.

Remove the center subframe bolt on both sides completely. Get some wood and a jack/tripod to hold the subframe from front to rear. Loosen the 2 front bolts and 2 rear bolts about 3-4". Slowly lower the jack/tripod until the subframe comes down and makes contact on the bolts. You'll know if you need to go more, by looking at the top 2 bell housing bolts. If you can't see them all the way, come down some more. Put a trans jack under it, and start removing the bell housing bolts. 17mm bolts all the way around, except the 2 bottom ones are 14mm. One bolt on the passenger side comes out towards the front of vehicle. The one bolt on the left upper/middle area has the bracket for the wiring harness for the transmission, so be sure to put it back that way. I think I remember 9 bolts, including the 1 starter bolt. Just make sure they are all out before you start tugging on it. There is a handy little slot on the bottom of the transmission where a nice size screw driver fits, and you can pry a little pit to make sure it's free. After it's free, its fairly simple. Pull, lower, pull, lower. TA DAAAAA. Trannys on the floor.

9 12 point 10mm bolts hold the pressure plate on, and 8 12 point 17mm bolts hold the flywheel to the crank.

Are you replacing the flywheel? If so, be sure to install the new pilot bearing.

Lube up the shaft of the trans before reinstalling. Flywheel bolts torque to 95ish Lbs Ft and pressure plate to 19ish.


*** DISCLAIMER *** I am not responsible for anything you do to your car. This was all from memory, so use common sense, and your eyeballs, to verify nothing else is in the way. It's good to have someone help with the transmission as it is fairly long, and can be awkward.

 

Might have to bring the car to your shop and have you do it. I wanted to do it myself to get the experience and to save some money, but I don't think I'll have the time to do it before our Colonial Cruise this month. I'll call you sometime this week, or better yet, I'll stop by again while I'm out driving around looking like I'm working...

 

Ill cut you a good deal.

 

Damn, nice write up! I'll be seeing you soon!