i Have a 2000 s2 and my clutch is grumbling on overrun, i am thinking of changing it myself, my question is what is the best way, gearbox out or engine out?

 

neither

I did mine and was able to get the box back far enough to get inside it

 

could u aline the plate ok?

 

Yep,
Take off the prop. shaft undo the bolts on the housing the top ones are a bugger to get at! I had the use of a lift which makes life easier with the box on a support lift. I just moved the box straight back far enough to get to the clutch inside. Then with the clutch replaced slid the whole thing back together it went very smooth for me but I did have a buddy who is a mechanic watching over me.

 

Piece of cake

 

Hmm, sounds like you have found a neat trick there. The workshop manual involves dropping the engine on its subframe by 70mm

 

the bolts are a bugger at the top but with plenty of bruised and cut fingers you can get at them and a lift makes life a lot easier.

 

so whats the best way then? spanner/ratchet, or a 24" extension with a ratchet /air gun on it?

i think i'll be doing mine when it burns out
mine also buzzes on overrun, but i'm living with it, because it's not worth

 

Extension, then an extension and then another extension then the wibbly wobbly joint and finally a 14mm socket. In all about 18-24" of flexibility so you can get to the top bolt. It will also be seized in as they do not use any grease, so if you can squirt soak it for an hour that will help. Finally when you torque them back you will need 6.5Kgf/m torque for the 14mm and 4.5Kgf/m for the 12mm bolts.

Oh and the drive shaft bolts are a bitch, they are mild steel torqued really tight so you will knurl if you are not careful. Heat, WD40, alan key with monkey grips are in the order plus someone to keep applying the handbrake to stop the shaft from turning.

 

So are you saying you didn't touch the engine and ancillaries?
Could be good for when I need to do mine, save removing the SC