So I was doing my clutch today ( again, this time with help and my handy dandy manual. )

We got all the way to removing the bellhousing when we realized it was snagged on something.... huh, weird.

So we counted all the bolts once, twice, again, and again. We had all 9 including the starter bolt.

K, so we had all the bolts disconnected, next we checked that the car was indeed in neutral (it was), the clutch fork was out (it was), and that the subframe had been dropped enough to allow clearance (it was!)

Dumbfounded we asked one of the guys working in the same shop. He suggested that the starter might be the culprit.. hmm never had that problem before?

So we checked the manual and went ahead for a starter removal.

After removing the starter (One of the most painful processes I've ever accomplished) we managed to get the bellhousing free.

So has anyone heard of this before? I know for certain every thread I've read talks about that pesky starter bolt, but not the OTHER one and REMOVING the entire thing!

Anyway the Xmission is off and the new clutch and flywheel will be installed and finished up tomorrow!

 

I just take the alternator off to get better access to the starter bolts with a long extension.

 

this ^^^

 

Ohh I left out once I removed the started bolts I colored the bolt heads red..So its easier to find them in the future!

 

I changed 9 S2000 clutches ... never had to remove a starter in the process.

J

 

I suspect that the OP removed the lower starter bolt, rather than the upper one. Then removing the starter required the removal of the upper bolt, thus freeing up the transmission. A number of people over the years have posted how they removed the wrong starter bolt and couldn't remove the transmission.

 

^What redy said. I did that too.