repiv
03-11-2007, 05:13 AM
This week, I decided I would finally get going on putting in my new AP2 tranny and clutch kit. I got to the infamous upper starter bolt. I wrestled with it for nearly 1/2 a day. I just couldn't figure out how I was going to get that thing out. Then I managed to get the socket on it. Unfortunately, with the U-joint on the long extension, the bolt required so much forced, the extension bowed to the extent that it pinched a hole in one of the coolant hoses. I gave up and went for a nap. I had visions of a 2 day deal of dismantling the intake manifold just to get at that hose.
Then I remembered something that Harry posted in one of the clutch job threads. I went back and read every post till I found that one. There, he stated that he didn't want to bother with angling the extension, so he removed the belt tensioner, intake manifold brace and brace/tensioner holder. So I did it. Lo and behold, I could actually see the upper starter bolt AND I could access the hose that I pinched. What seemed like an insignificant little post amongst pages and pages of posts, saved my bacon.
I'd like to think that over the years, I've helped hundreds of S2000 owners understand their cars a little bit better and make their "wrenching" more enjoyable. To have this help when I needed it, is payment in spades for anything I've done in the past. We should never take for granted that even those tiny little notations that we might make in a thread is of no consequence. After I got that bolt out and retrieved the pinched hose, I believe "There is a God". Well, at the very least, there's "HECASH". :pineapple:
THANK YOU, HARRY!
(He's feeling a bit under the weather, so get well soon.)
BTW, I did the "angle" trick when lowering the engine cradle. This involved lowering the front hangers about 1" to 1.5" and the rear ones 3" (they'll go 4", but 3" is enough). This gave me plenty of room to remove the 2 upper tranny bolts. It also made it such that it was not necessary to unbolt the A/C compressor (as the manual says) nor did I have to un-clip the steering rack wiring harnesses. If you have a supercharger, this will allow you to do the clutch job without taking the blower off. I took mine off because I'm changing the belts (s/c belt and serpentine belt).
Then I remembered something that Harry posted in one of the clutch job threads. I went back and read every post till I found that one. There, he stated that he didn't want to bother with angling the extension, so he removed the belt tensioner, intake manifold brace and brace/tensioner holder. So I did it. Lo and behold, I could actually see the upper starter bolt AND I could access the hose that I pinched. What seemed like an insignificant little post amongst pages and pages of posts, saved my bacon.
I'd like to think that over the years, I've helped hundreds of S2000 owners understand their cars a little bit better and make their "wrenching" more enjoyable. To have this help when I needed it, is payment in spades for anything I've done in the past. We should never take for granted that even those tiny little notations that we might make in a thread is of no consequence. After I got that bolt out and retrieved the pinched hose, I believe "There is a God". Well, at the very least, there's "HECASH". :pineapple:
THANK YOU, HARRY!
(He's feeling a bit under the weather, so get well soon.)
BTW, I did the "angle" trick when lowering the engine cradle. This involved lowering the front hangers about 1" to 1.5" and the rear ones 3" (they'll go 4", but 3" is enough). This gave me plenty of room to remove the 2 upper tranny bolts. It also made it such that it was not necessary to unbolt the A/C compressor (as the manual says) nor did I have to un-clip the steering rack wiring harnesses. If you have a supercharger, this will allow you to do the clutch job without taking the blower off. I took mine off because I'm changing the belts (s/c belt and serpentine belt).