Pelican Technical Article: Replacing and Adjusting the 914 Clutch

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Figure 1: Pelican Parts Complete Clutch Package

Replacing the clutch on a 914 is a job that can be performed by the home mechanic equipped with a little knowledge and a few special tools. The actual job is not very difficult, as long as you follow the correct and proper steps. Performing the clutch replacement yourself can save you hundreds of dollars, and also teach you a little something about your car.

The instructions provided in this article are designed to give you all the information that you need to perform this task. This is not an overview or a mere cursory glance at the job; everything that you need to know is contained here (at least to the best of my knowledge). The most important step in performing this job is the diligent attention to the check list of tasks. We have provided a convenient check list for you to use while you are working on the car. Without the checklist, there is plenty of opportunity to miss or forget small detail steps in the process. Click here to download this check list. The document is encapsulated in an Adobe Acrobat file, and the reader for the file can be found at www.adobe.com.

Our advice is to download the checklist, print it out, and read the article very carefully. There are quite a few pitfalls in the installation process, and preparation for the task really counts a lot. If you have all your tools and parts laid out beforehand, you will save yourself a lot of trouble later on. If this is the first time performing this job, count on spending at least two full days on it. The clutch job performed for this article took about eight hours. Granted, there were quite a few things that went wrong due to rust and oil leaks on the car, and the picture taking probably added about an hour to the total.

The very first task in performing the job is to obtain all the parts and tools that you will need. Pelican Parts offers a complete clutch replacement kit with everything that you will definitely need for the job. In addition, we offer a supplemental package of items that you may wish to order as insurance. These are items that most likely will not need to be replaced, but due to the nature of the car, may need replacement. We don't recommend cutting corners on the clutch job to save a few bucks. If you're investing the time and energy to do the job, you might as well do the job right. Figure 1 shows a picture of all the parts that you will need to do the job right:

Pressure Plate
Clutch Disc (we recommend the six
spring early 911 type)
Throw-out bearing
Throw-out fork bushing
Pilot bearing (for flywheel) and felt
2 Throw-out bearing guide clips
2 CV joint gaskets
2 Muffler gaskets
Resurfaced Flywheel (good core
usually required)
Flywheel o-ring and metal washer/gasket
New flywheel bolts
Transmission fluid

Pelican Parts sells a complete package with all of the parts that you need to do this job. Please click here to find out the current price on this package. Your continued support of Pelican Parts insures that these technical articles, and our friendly, convenient customer support of the 914 will continue into the future. Please email us with any questions, or to place an order for our complete clutch replacement package.

In addition to the parts listed above, you may need some more parts if they are damaged or broken on your car. If you would like to get the job done quickly, it is advisable to have these parts on hand, otherwise, you will may end up having to wait for an order to arrive.

Optional if leaking or broken:

Flywheel seal and mainshaft seal
(replace only if leaking)
New clutch cable
Throw out arm retaining fork
Locking cone screws
Shift bushings (replace when bar is
already out. Click here for more info on
replacing these bushings.)

Figure 2: Additional Parts That May be Needed

Figure 3: Original NOS 914 Clutch Disc

Figure 4: Original NOS 914 Pressure Plate

Figure 5: Original NOS 914 Throw-out Bearing

Figure 6: Resurfaced Flywheel

Figure 7: Special Tools Needed

Everything listed above but the new clutch cable is shown in Figure 2. A brand new 914 clutch disc is shown in Figure 3. This is is an original disc purchased back in 1975. The disc was part of some NOS (New Old Stock) parts that we recently acquired. The color of the discs available from Sachs today differ slightly in their overall color. The 914 clutch disc differs from the early 911 disc in that it has only four springs, where the 911 disc is a six-spring clutch. In terms of size and compatibility, they are completely interchangeable. We recommend using the 911 clutch package in the 914, as it gives the clutch a better feel. The 914 pressure plate is shown in Figure 4. This is the same pressure plate that is used in the early 911s that were built with the 901 transmission. Note how on the pressure plate, the spring fingers are new, and not worn from contacting the throw-out bearing. A new throw-out bearing is shown in Figure 5. The bearing rides on the mainshaft of the transmission and should be replaced along with all of the other clutch components. The final main piece of the package is the flywheel. You can choose to purchase either a brand new flywheel, or simply trade yours in for a resurfaced one, as shown in Figure 6. The resurfaced ones are just as good as the new ones in terms of performance. Two surfaces need to be turned down on a lathe for proper operation; the inner surface where the disc contacts the flywheel, and the outer surface where the pressure plate mounts. If the distance between these two surfaces is off, then you will have problems with your clutch. Additionally, if the surface of the flywheel is not smooth, then the clutch disc will have difficulty holding onto the flywheel. Sometimes, depending upon how many times the flywheel has been turned down already, the flywheel bolts may need to be countersunk just a bit. This is certain to be true especially if your old clutch disc was scrapping the top of the flywheel bolts. Flywheels with counter-sunk bolts still work perfectly fine, but the next time they are removed, they should be disposed of.

In addition to the parts specified above, you will need the following special tools: (some shown in Figure 7)

CV bolt removal tool
Large Floor jack
Flywheel lock
Clutch Alignment Tool
A set of metric hex keys
Torque wrench (capable of applying
torque from 14.5 to 79 ft-lbs.)
Flywheel locking tool

Once again, Pelican Parts can help you with some of the special tools that you need to perform this job. Feel free to ask. We recommend using a CV bolt removal tool made by either Snap-On or Mac tools. Other tools of questionable quality (Lisle, etc.) may strip and break off, leaving you with a much more difficult job. A flywheel lock may consist of a piece of steel with two holes in it. As shown further on in the article, virtually anything strong with the right shape will do. Although I didn't have one handy for this article, I like to use one of the steel supports that hold the engine mount bar. These make excellent flywheel locks. Be sure that you have the proper torque wrench for tightening your flywheel bolts. They need more torque than you would normally think. I would also recommend investing in a set of socket hex keys. They won't break and you can apply plenty of torque to them.

One you have gathered all your parts, tools, printed out the check list, and completely read this article, then you are ready begin. The first step, and I can't stress this enough, is to clean the underside of your car. If you are fortunate to live near one of those self-serve car washes, you should do it there. Please don't spray your car with SOS cleaner and then wash it off into the street; that will only hurt the environment and your neighborhood. The car used for this technical article didn't have enough clutch left to make it to the car wash, so the pictures show quite a bit of grease, grime and oil.

The next step, after the car is cleaned, is to loosen the CV joint bolts with the car still on the ground. Use the proper tool for this task. Although sometimes a hex socket will look like it will fit, this will almost always strip the bolt and leave you with a big problem. You loosen the CV joint bolts with the car still on the ground to avoid having the wheel turn around on you up in the air. You most likely will not be able to loosen all of them with the car on the ground, but the other ones you should be able to get to later. Just keep hoping that they are not frozen tight.

After you have loosened the CV joints, jack the car up and support it on jack stands. I usually like to place my jack stands under the jack points on the car, or underneath each end of the engine mount bar. Make sure that you give the car a firm shove and confirm that it is secure on the jack stands.

Figure 8: Rusted Muffler Studs Broken Off

Figure 9: Muffler Removed

At this point in time, remove the muffler and the muffler bracket from the transmission. Becareful when removing the nuts on the muffler. Nine times out of ten, they will be rusted solid to the muffler, and might break off. Use some liquid wrench or WD-40 on the screws and let them sit for a little while. If you do break off a muffler stud, you will have to drill it out and get a new stud, or buy a new muffler. Check your muffler for rust holes before you spend a lot of time fixing it. A muffler with all of it's studs broken off due to rust damage is shown in Figure 8. Remove the muffler bracket as this will interfere with the heat exchangers when removing the transmission from the car. Make sure that you don't put any pressure or force on the heat exchangers. They are bolted directly to the heads, and the length of the exchangers makes for a nice long torque arm. Putting force on the heat exchangers can seriously damage your heads. The heat exchangers with the muffler removed is shown in Figure 9.

The next step is to disconnect the battery. You must do this prior to removing the starter. Otherwise you may have a disastrous accident. When removing the starter cable with a socket wrench, it is often common to touch the top of the undercarriage with the wrench. If this happens, you could weld the wrench to the car, or seriously give yourself a very significant electric shock. Do not forget this step.

Figure 10: Speedometer Cable Removed

Figure 11: Clutch Cable Setup

Figure 12: Cone Screw Located in Front

Figure 13: Cone Screw and Rear Shift Coupling

Figure 14: Transmission Ground Strap

After the battery is taken care of, disconnect the speedometer cable. This is done by loosening the large nut that attaches the cable to the speedometer drive on the rear of the transmission. Figure 10 shows the speedometer drive with the cable removed. Next, disconnect the clutch cable. Start by loosening up the adjusting nut and removing the V-shaped piece at the end of the cable from the throw-out arm. Then remove the nut and clip that retains the clutch cable pulley, shown in Figure 11. The clutch cable should slide right out and away from the transmission. The third and final item to disconnect from the transmission is the shift linkage. The shift linkage is attached to the front shifter bar by a coupling that is held in with a cone screw. This coupling is shown in Figure 12. Remove this screw and inspect it to make sure that it is not damaged. Becareful not to strip the screw, as they are almost impossible to drill out without damaging the shifter bar. Next, move towards the rear of the car, and remove the cone screw from the rear shift coupling. This coupler (side-shift transmission) is shown in Figure 13. The shifter bar should now slide out of the coupling in the front and rear, and can be removed by feeding it through the motor mount bar. Be careful not to misplace the coupling as it can now easily slide off the shaft. At this time, you should inspect the shifter bushings and replace if necessary, as detailed in our technical article, 914 Shifting Improvements. Remove the accelerator cable if you have a 914-6.

After the shift linkage is removed, remove the transmission ground strap. This step is often overlooked until the transmission mysteriously hangs in mid-air when you lower the jack at a later step. Plenty of ground straps get broken or damaged in this way. The ground strap is located on the top of the transmission, and attached to the bottom floor of the car, as shown in Figure 14.

Pelican Technical Article:

Replacing and Adjusting
the 914 Clutch
Page 1

Difficulty Level 6

Pelican Technical Article:

Replacing and Adjusting the 914 Clutch Page 1

Difficulty Level 6

Replacing and Adjusting
the 914 Clutch
Page 1