Project Silverstone - Clutch And Flywheel Upgrades

Our ultimate goal is to disconnect the transmission from the engine. The clutch and flywheel can't be accessed until the transmission is dropped. First you disconnect the battery, battery tray, headlight cover, front-mount intercooler hoses and intake. This allowed us to remove the shifter lever held by three 13mm bolts. You then remove the power steering bracket, held by two 13mm bolts. Thankfully, there's no need to disconnect the line and bleed the transmission fluid

Loosen the two 18mm bellhousing bolts holding the transmission, but don't disconnect. You want to drop the tranny later, but loosen them for now, so it's easier to take off later

Now it's time to raise the car. You'll have to take off the front wheels and the plastic undertrays. Then remove the starter and starter bracket. There are two 18mm bolts you'll have to remove, as well as two 13mm bolts from the power steering unit

The next step is to remove the driver's-side axle. Use a 30mm 12-point socket to remove the axle nut. Next remove three 13mm bolts securing the lower ball joint. There are now six bolts securing the axle, which can be undone using a triple-square socket

Next you remove the easily accessible torque mount. It's held by four 13mm and 16mm bolts

You'll need to disconnect the passenger-side axle, but don't have to remove it

There are three 16mm bolts at the bottom of the transmission; you can remove these now

Place a stand to support the engine once you drop the tranny

There are three more 16mm bolts located within the driver-side fender lining. These are really long bolts and may take a while to unscrew

To remove the tranny, undo the top two bolts you loosened earlier. The last bolt is an 18mm on the rear of the tranny. Check to see if the tranny is falling by loosening a bolt to make sure you haven't forgotten anything. It's best to zip-tie any wires or hoses that might be affected when the tranny drops down. Have a friend to help because once the bolt is loosened, the tranny will fall

The 12 bolts on the clutch housing come off using a 6mm triple-square socket

You can then remove the 12 bolts on the flywheel using a 12mm triple-square socket

Install new flywheel using the same bolts. It's important to apply Loctite to the bolts when installing. One hole is offset, so there's only one way to fit the flywheel

Clean the flywheel and clutch plates using a solvent or detergent before installing. ACT provides new bolts for its clutch disc, plus an alignment tool to center the disc against the flywheel. Now tighten the bolts

Remove the stock release-bearing bracket from the transmission. The bearing snaps out and is replaced by the new bearing. Make sure to grease the inside of the bearing, the bracket and clutch linkage before reinstalling. Once done, reassemble all the parts