Re: Clutch on 33

["David R Johnson" <johnsnd@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Feb 8,  6:16pm, jonathan coates wrote:

> Took the 33 to a mechanic today as a new clutch in this looked like
> chequebook time, the engine, gearbox etc come out under the car and I
> dont feel equipped for this, nor solvent enough to buy a lift.

Many years ago, while still an impecunious recent graduate, I removed the
engine and gearbox from my '83 Alfasud 1.5, which has a very similar
configuration I believe.  I did this without the aid of a lift by using a total
of 3 of the OEM scissor-type jacks; one under each cylinder bank, and one under
the gearbox.  I simply lowered each jack in turn a little bit at a time and
dropped the assembly down onto a trolley jack (floor jack in USA).  I was then
able to wheel it out from under the car, the front end of which was supported
on axle stands.  As I recall I did not have to pull cylinder heads to do this,
but the 33 might differ here I guess.  Once out, pulling the gearbox and
replacing the clutch was straightforward, as the clutch on the Sud is
conventional and the gearbox is not excessively heavy.

I also put on new calipers (found very cheap at a dealer closing down) at the
same time since I had the brake dragging problem.  Remember to remove the
handbrake cable from the the calipers.  This is a huge pain, but I think it is
much easier if the engine/gearbox is already part way lowered.  Make sure
everything is properly supported before going underneath!  The other tricky
part is removing and particularly reinstalling the front suspension
crossmember, this is the only point during the operation where I required a
helper.

Reassembly was the reverse of removal :).  It sounds like it may be too late
for you, but I just wanted to point out that this operation was not really all
that hard without professional equipment and experience provided you have a lot
of spare time.  I took a week off work to do it, including cycling several
miles to buy a new clutch with the old one in a backpack (for those that have
never tried this, some padding behind the clutch is recommended - it is heavy
and lumpy).  The slowest part was probably getting everything to line up again:
jack engine up, jack down, move 1 inch left, jack up, repeat until perfect).

Hope this helps someone someday,

Dave J. (now relocated to USA)
1982 GTV6 (engine removed with rented hoist - another suggested way to do it)

- -- 

------------------------------