Your Favourite Tool - When changing a clutch

[lozz]

My favrouite home made tool for vauxhalls is,

2 blocks of wood, one with a v cut in it,
this enables the box to be split withought taking it out the car,

shame all cars wasnt as easy,

[bytecode]

Trolley jack,

yup - got two of those, one small red one (£15?) and a medium (£10 - carboot) absolutely brilliant, I just wish I could afford a decent one like those that the tyre fitters have; low profile, large cup, high lift.

£70 @ costcos for a massive one,

A massive what? Oh! A Jack! - Sadly there are none near Cornwall :'(
However I did get two farm jacks via ebay this morning 48" (120cm) lift - I can't wait to play with those!
I'm gonna use them to do what the axle stands are doing in these pics:




(The chap did a sterling job of documenting his process)

for dropping the engine/subframe out of my MGF (Although I shall be supporting the body with something much more stable once the "lift" is achieved.)

[bytecode]

My favrouite home made tool for vauxhalls is,

2 blocks of wood, one with a v cut in it,
this enables the box to be split withought taking it out the car,

shame all cars wasnt as easy,

Sounds intriguing, do you have a pic in-situ?

[lozz]

My favrouite home made tool for vauxhalls is,

2 blocks of wood, one with a v cut in it,
this enables the box to be split withought taking it out the car,

shame all cars wasnt as easy,

Sounds intriguing, do you have a pic in-situ?

no mate sorry,
but iwill give you an idea of what the blocks of wood are for,

you separate the box just wide enough to get the 2 blocks of wood in,
the one with the V cut you tap in a chizzle hammer it down until the box widens

withought the wood you can loose a few fingers,
clutch alighnment is a dodle as clutch plate sits a lug

[lozz]

(The chap did a sterling job of documenting his process)

for dropping the engine/subframe out of my MGF (Although I shall be supporting the body with something much more stable once the "lift" is achieved.)[/quote]

Had to do asimalar job on a Nissan elgrande last year,
that was a mission and half, axle stands where no good for that, it needed a crane,
ended up using waggon wheels to stand it on,

[bytecode]

no mate sorry,
but iwill give you an idea of what the blocks of wood are for,

you separate the box just wide enough to get the 2 blocks of wood in,
the one with the V cut you tap in a chizzle hammer it down until the box widens

withought the wood you can loose a few fingers,
clutch alighnment is a dodle as clutch plate sits a lug

Ah, Neat!

[bytecode]

Had to do asimalar job on a Nissan elgrande last year,
that was a mission and half, axle stands where no good for that, it needed a crane,
ended up using waggon wheels to stand it on,

What - the Chocolate yummy ones from my childhood!?
I often wonder whether I could get a proper car lift on my drive without my neighbours complaining ;-)

[lozz]

Had to do asimalar job on a Nissan elgrande last year,
that was a mission and half, axle stands where no good for that, it needed a crane,
ended up using waggon wheels to stand it on,

What - the Chocolate yummy ones from my childhood!?
I often wonder whether I could get a proper car lift on my drive without my neighbours complaining ;-)

No mate, proper waggon wheels

Car lift ?
id love to be able to afford one,ive got the work space for one, but there out of my league in price,
ihave to make do with the deep car pit, but Atm its holding 50 gallons of water,

[bytecode]

ihave to make do with the deep car pit, but Atm its holding 50 gallons of water,

Time to put on your Wetsuit!

I do keep wondering whether I could cut a pit into the middle of the garage floor - What the neighbours don't know can't hurt them ;-)
My landlord would probably be well up for a pit too.
If (wildest dreams) I did, I would definitely fit a sump/bilge-pump though, just in case of water - although I don't think we'd get much water here as we're on top of 100m high rock - there's no higher ground for miles...

Darn - you've set me off dreaming again...

[mjb]

My favourite tool has got to be my Stanley 68-010 ratchet screwdriver which goes everywhere with me - chances are at any given time I am no more than 3 minutes away from it. It's got the following bits in it (Torx not supplied with the screwdriver):

PH2
PH1
Flat head bit marked "6.5"
T10
T15
T25
T27



For changing a clutch though, the most useful tool would have to be either a pipe wrench (for undoing the gearbox mount pin) or a couple of yards of strong wire (mains cable or co-ax) for pulling the release fork to push the bearing into the pressure plate.

And Stella Artois...

[highlander]

I have one of those screwdrivers as well - they are superb! Bought it for work purposes (disassembling and reassembling routers (for memory upgrades, etc), plus installation of kit into 19" racks) - but the Torx bits have helped with doing little jobs on the car too. They're really sturdily-built too, which is always a bonus.

[lozz]

Theyre excellent.
ive had mine 6 years and it hasnt broke,
eveyother one ive had shouid of had a "SNAPOFF" logo on it,

[omega]

socket and electrical tape on a 5 inch bar to center the clutch
kettle and a good supply of tea
lots of rags to keep the hands sort of clean
a phone in case i drop the car on me
and the dog to keep the spanner goblins from moving my tools.

[Catflem]

and the dog to keep the spanner goblins from moving my tools.

My dog nicks my tools

If the shed door is left open the bugger gets in there and anything with a rubber or wooden handle gets dragged behind his favourite bush, and then gets Boris'd (chewed to ****)

Favourite tool when doing ANY work on the car............. is my Fag lighter

[mjb]

I have one of those screwdrivers as well - they are superb! Bought it for work purposes (disassembling and reassembling routers (for memory upgrades, etc), plus installation of kit into 19" racks)

They're fine for racking stuff up, but I prefer a 'normal' screwdriver for inserting/removing cage nuts. *slightly* less chance of skewering my hand

They're really sturdily-built too, which is always a bonus.

Theyre excellent.
ive had mine 6 years and it hasnt broke,

I've had mine about the same length of time, it's been horribly abused yet still works perfectly.

a phone in case i drop the car on me

I call that essential safety equipment.