QuestionDear Jim,
I have recently purchased a 1979 1500 and found that the clutch disk had rusted to the flywheel as it had been standing for a year or two. To correct this - following your useful advice in a previous question - I removed the seats, carpet etc and removed the clutch bell housing and gear box. I then cleaned up the disk, pressure plate and flywheel and refitted the clutch parts using a plastic alignment tool.
The problem is that I cannot refit the clutch bell housing. I can get it very close (perhaps 1.5cm) but it feels like there is something resisting and I can still turn the shaft over so I presume there has not been any mating taking place (is a twenty spline gearbox).
I wonder whether you could give me some tips on approaching this problem? What sort of angle I should take from within the car, whether to jack up the engine or not?
I currently have the front end of the car on stands and the engine held up a little with a jack.
Any advice would be much appreciated - I'm tearing my hair out!!
Thanks,
Jamie
AnswerJamie,
The 20 spline clutches setups used with the late Spitfire single rail gearboxes make final assembly notoriously difficult.
For myself I've had fair success by first making sure the clutch disc slides freely on the splines before bolting up the pressure plate. A clutch disc alignment tool is a must.
Then when fitting the transmission, try to keep the engine and the transmission as close to being "inline" as possible. By that, the bellhousing gap as it nears the engine rear plate should be even all the way around.
Put the transmission in gear (I like 4th, but it's not critical) and twist the output flange gently as you offer up the transmission to the engine. Sometimes you can feel the splines mate up, then you're home.
Otherwise it's pull the trans away, recheck the clutch disc centering, repeat.
Unfortunately I've never learned the magic spell to use to make it a painless install.
Cheers,
Jim
