Just for everyone’s information. I lost one of the return springs in my clutch after a complete ground up restoration. My mechanic informed me he could replace the clutch without pulling the engine!!! I gave him the car. He informed me that if you support the engine, loosen the engine support mounts and then move the engine forward about 1 1/2 inches, you can access the top three bolts on the bell housing!!! There is a reason this guy is mentioned in my will.
Ron Brook
Ron,
If your car is a 67 roadster (OTS) as your profile shows, I don’t think I will be alone in expressing a certain level of scepticism about your mechanic’s claim unless he plans to take a hacksaw or holesaw to your car. If you are serious, you might want to search the archives for similar threads on this topic.
Good luck!
-David
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You should definitely take some photos when he has the engine and gearbox positioned such that the clutch can be replaced.
As picture worth close examination this will be right up there with Nessie swimming in the loch and the Zapruder film.
Dave,
The job was completed 10 years ago, and I swear on a stack of bibles, this guy would do nothing to ruin the integrity of an authentic classic. He told me just what he did to drop it. I am sure a lot more was involved in supporting the gearbox, etc. but to not have to remove the bonnet, engine, etc., I was thrilled. The parts alone for the rebuild were $600 and he apologized for that. What is, is. He did the clutch, replaced all of the plugs and wires (copper instead of that carbon filament crap), repaired two leaky sections in the exhaust pipes, new oil filter and 9 quarts of oil, replaced the coolant. Total bill - $1500. If I had taken that care anywhere else, the parts would have been marked up that high to begin with.
The guy is the sharpest, most economical car mechanic I have ever encountered.
Sam’s Auto and Truck Center
Route 70
Medford, NJ 08055
Ron Brook - !E12958
George,
Nessie, can’t help you. Zapruder, can do! I am serious when I tell you this mechanic did not cut, bend, mutilate, distort or change any part on my car to accomplish the task. I did see photos in EJAG Magazine years ago of someone else who accomplished the same task. The pictures showed the gearbox supported below the floor of the body.
Regards,
Ron Brook 1E12958
A good friend of mine, now in his early 70’s, put himself through college working weekends at a Brit Repair shop in Glendale, CA in the late 60’s.
He tells me he could do two short wheelbase E-type clutch replacements in one day…no cutting holes in the car, no cutting holes in the bell-housing, nothing. And I’m not talking about clutch disc only, I’m talking disc, pressure plate, and throw-out bearing.
He said they made up a pair of “runners” that would hang in place on the front subframe, and support the engine as you unbolted it from the bellhousing, and slid the engine forward. You may have had to remove the water pump to get the engine far enough forward, I’m not sure.
When I told him “I always understood it couldn’t be done”, he just laughed and said “Ben, they saved all the E-type clutches for me…I put myself through college working one day a week!”
If it was anyone else, I may not have believed them, but this guy does absolutely impeccable work, and the idea of cutting the car would be laughable to him. He never ceases to amaze me on the number of times he’s helped me with a tough job, saying “It’s easy if you just do it this way!!”
This is the only car I EVER wanted. I traded even up for an Opal Manta. The Jag was in pretty bad shape. The engine had been rebuilt, but everything else on the car was not good. Six out of Eight Brake calipers were frozen solid the day drove it home. What you see is the result of a five year ground up restoration by Frank Melling while working for B&B Sport in Huntington Valley, PA. Driving this car is STILL a rush after 22 years.
I’ll get the popcorn…
Get the popcorn, if you want, but you have to remember that good mechanics have to be smarter than the average bear…I found the procedure he outlined for me a few years ago.
“1. remove tunnel cover and remove top of trans…fit aluminum cover to keep dirt out (most ‘mechanics’ would just stuff a shop rag in it.
2. disconnect drive shaft at rear end.
3. disconnect muffler hangers and rear hanger…tie up to rear end.
4. remove torsion bar tie plate
5. remove front motor mount to frame bolts and fit special plate (2” x 4" flat stock) in between
6. drain coolant and remove hoses
7. disconnect throttle linkage
8. remove trans mount
9. separate engine from trans, slide trans back as far as it will go, slide engine forward on special slider plates about 4".
10. R&R clutch"
I think the key to this procedure is Step 5. If I’m understanding his instructions correctly, he’s saying you separate the picture frame from the engine frames, and space the whole assembly forward, to create more room to move the engine forward.
BTW, here’s an E-type he “nut and bolted” in 1983. It won 1st Prize at the Santa Barbara Concours in 1984, and upset a lot of the Jaguar old boys’ club at the time…remember, people weren’t yet doing high level restorations on E-types in those days, only XK’s were considered “real Jags” on the show scene.
I think there is a step missing where you use a sawzall to cut the top rail of the picture frame off 
Even if I pulled the water pump off, I’d be pretty surprised if my lump could be pushed forward 4"
In other news, UFOs are back in the headlines!
I want to believe…I just can’t
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Go back, and read my comment on Step 5
Ben, my popcorn reference is to the last discussion on this topic where name calling ensued and one member was suspended for a while. It’s just a way to say that this is going to get interesting.
I will concede that removing the water pump (not previously mentioned in these accounts) does create some useful forward space…
I am not yet convinced though - that will take a first-person report with photos, not just ‘someone who knows someone who did it’.
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I don’t believe he is suggesting separating the picture frame from the engine frames (which would be all but impossible without undoing brake lines, removing torsion bars and who knows what else. His quote indicates he removed the two motor mount bolts and inserted a flat plate in between the mount and the frame. Probably to act as a bearing and to allow the engine mount to “cantilever” a bit forward of the frame mount.
Still can’t imaging how you could get the engine far enough forward to make this work. And I don’t think most of us would approve of all the marks left behind by levering that 700 pound lump forward.
But maybe someone will try (and document!) this one day disassembling a project and prove us all wrong.
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That would necessitate bonnet off, and now adding in trying to separate frames (possibly laden with engine weight), and possibly causing damage. It’s rather hard getting those things together to begin with.
Even if it was possible with this to do list, I’m just not seeing much time savings at this point. The tie plate is off, the bonnet is off, the interior is taken apart, the hoses, and linkage is off, the prop is disconnected, the exhaust is off. At that point, all you have to do is spin off 24 nuts and the intake could be removed as a unit and the engine/trans lowered to the floor so the job can be done right, complete with flywheel resurfacing.
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You could be right, I’ll ask him next time I speak to him.
As for the paint, you have to remember these were daily driver cars at the time, so it was a different scenario than doing this on someone’s pride and joy today…but precautions could be taken.
No, it wouldn’t…not if the whole assembly came forward, including the hood mounting frames
I once spent a whole day taking my intake off, where some nit-wit cemented it on with the world’s strongest gasket sealant. Add to that the fact that the threads were shot on most of the studs, and it was quite a project, even with the head on the bench. If you were doing a couple of these a week, I could absolutely see how this could be more efficient.
What makes you think it couldnt be done “right” this way? If you can get the pressure plate out, you could surely remove the flywheel.
Your interpretation seems very different to his step 5. To separate the picture frame from the engine frames would require you to insert steps 4A through 4Z, including removing the bonnet (no big deal), removing the radiator, removing the bonnet frame, dismantling the front suspension, removing front brake lines, cut ties to electrical harnesses across the front of the picture frame, removing fans…remove the picture frame… the list goes on. If these steps were required, I’m sure this great mechanic wouldn’t have left them off the list. My interpretation of his step 5 would be more along these lines:
The front engine mounts hold the engine in a “virtual V” (see photo)
If you remove the large bolt securing the engine mount bracket to the top of the rubber mount, you could insert a piece of steel plate between them. If this plate extended forwards to the picture frame, you could (hopefully) find a way of securing there so that the steel plates (one each side) could be used as rails to slide the engine forwards. The “V” will keep the engine from slipping sideways. Maybe the rails could be angled somewhat to facilitate dropping the rear end of the transmission.
As far as I can see, the rails don’t provide a lot more than an engine hoist would, but if the car is on a lift, maybe a hoist wouldn’t get high enough; hence the rails. The main issue though remains how far you can move the engine forwards to create room to separate the engine and transmission.
Given the number of occasions that we hear such stories, I can’t help feeling that it can be done with enough persistence, and I even have an urge to try it for myself, more as an intellectual challenge than anything. What we need is some TV reality program to create an E-Type clutch replacement challenge, and watch the outcome…
-David
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The bonnet in the full upright & locked position should be enough, no removal. Picture frame intact. Hoses undone at the radiator & firewall. Manifolds and downpipes left in place. Exhaust from mufflers rearward removed as a unit. I envision using the hoist and a tall dolly under the engine to support it as it moves forward, but…
Zactly!
That’s some urge you have there.
I have asked my mechanic how far he moved the engine forward. He will gladly spell it out. No trade secrets.