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help removing T500 clutch cover

Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 12:53 pm
by jabcb
Amateur mechanic needing help.

Have T500 with clutch cover that looks to have never been removed.
Have all screws out & can't get cover to budge. Have tried rubber mallet.

Any suggestions on how to get it off?

Re: help removing T500 clutch cover

Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 3:00 am
by titan performance
Hit it harder !!

Re: help removing T500 clutch cover

Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 9:13 am
by ConnerVT
Last time it was off, they probably Three Bonded the hell out of the clutch cover. Had a hard time splitting my engine cases due to the same thing, and had a few seals that I had to destroy to remove.

What you never want to do is pry aluminum parts apart. Bad. Very bad.

Just be sure you do have all the fasteners removed. A story from my teenage years:

My buddy had a 1966 Ford Fairlane (289 CI), which needed the head gaskets replaced. First, we needed to get the intake manifold off. After removing what seemed like 10,000 bolts, the thing still wouldn't come free.

He pushed the car out to his driveway, attached a come-along (hand winch) to the maifold, and a tree branch over the driveway. Started cranking away.

His father started yelling at us when he came outside. Justifiably, as by this point, the front wheels were nearly off the ground, with the front of the car hanging from the tree. After lowering the car back to Earth, his dad dug around the grease on the intake manifold, and found two bolts we missed.

After removing those bolts, the manifold popped loose with almost no effort. :lol:

Re: help removing T500 clutch cover

Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 10:37 am
by jabcb
Thanks for the tips.

Am going to get a larger mallet & try again next weekend. Hopefully its just that my small mallet doesn't have enough momentum.

Three Bonded is a possibility. Some PO replaced most of the screws with allen head screws. Screws along the lower edge are still JIS/philips. The gasket is also leaking under the clutch.

Re: help removing T500 clutch cover

Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 2:38 am
by jabcb
Thanks for the tips.

Got a larger mallet & it only took 2 strikes to free the cover.

Re: help removing T500 clutch cover

Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2012 11:56 pm
by Craig380
Larger mallet = engineer's screwdriver :wink: :mrgreen: