General my £200 '95 Mk1 75sx 'Paddy Punto'

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General my £200 '95 Mk1 75sx 'Paddy Punto'

LUK or Valeo will do perfectly fine, used both in the past without issue so I would say go with whichever is cheapest of them..

Clutch alignment tool, never used one myself - my alignment tool for fire engines is a bit of copper plumbing pipe with a little bit of tape on end. Done at least 5 or 6 clutch changes on fire engines and never had a problem with them being aligned after. That said, the tools are cheap so upto you chap really.

tips.. I have never undone the hubs to do it. Just undo the spindle from the bottom of the shock on passenger side and you should have enough movement to pull the top outward far enough that the driveshaft comes out the cup. Careful it doesn't drop on the ground and pick up loadsa debris!! wrap bag around the end to keep clean, bag held on with a cable tie, and then another cable tie to hold the driveshaft up and out the way. Drivers side driveshaft will just fall out when you pull the gearbox off, again careful it doesn't fall in debris, bag and cable tie up as with other side.

I myself have taken to just dropping the whole engine out to do the change these days, makes it miles easier to align everything and get the gearbox back on. I'm sure alot of people see this as a bit drastic but its what i find easiest - but then its not as easy if you don't have a proper engine crane etc, is perfectly doable leaving the engine in, but much much easier if you have a friend to help when putting box back on unless you are much stronger than I am - I am only a little weakling lol.

Other than that, cleanliness is the key here really and do not forget to clean the new pressure plate of the packaging oil!!
 
Thanks Blu, duly noted and will keep all that in mind. Forgot that the hub nut wasn't part of the process, that makes things a bit easier.

Taking the engine out isn't really an option as I don't have a hoist, but I think I'll be OK with my dad on hand to help line up bell housing bolts etc.

May try and ratchet strap the gearbox to my trolley jack before removal and keep it there under the car until it's ready to go back up. Will see how it goes!
 
no chance of me buying an engine hoist at the moment, though I did look into hiring one from HSS and similar places for about 60-70 quid for 2 days (Would hope to do the job in 1 but you never know).

For the moment I'm going to tackle the job without one, have an extra set of axle stands on the way (ratchet type 3 tonne - better than my Lidl ones haha) and various good bits of wood in dad's shed to support things.

Been reading the following guide which is quite useful, shame about lack of photos but good nonetheless:
https://www.fiatforum.com/punto-mk1-guides/211883-how-fit-new-clutch-mk-1-a.html

Out of interest, anyone know the weight of a Mk1 Punto gearbox? Thought I saw on a thread somewhere it could be around 60kg, but that could have been for a Cinq or something smaller.

Cheers and regards as always
 
box is same as a cinq/sei.. I'm not good at judging weights.. They are pretty heavy but not so heavy it'd crush you to death haha. I think fwd cars have pretty heavy boxes cause the diff is part of it - every rwd box i have moved or worked on has seemed really light compared to a box off a punto/cinq/sei.

if you have multiple trolley jacks its much easier job. axle stand and lump of wood under the sump to hold engine. Then with a trolley jack under the 2 gearbox mounts you can carefully lower it down and you are pretty much just holding it steady. Its getting it back in thats the hardest part of the job as you really can't get it lined up without a bit of brute force. Ideally you want the car high enough in the air for you to fit under it and kinda bench press the gearbox up, being careful of course and a helping hand to guide it on. If the car is not high enough you end up too stretched out to pick it up properly.. I have managed on my own a couple of time though so its not hugely heavy, I can pick one up easily off the ground and push it up from underneath without too much strain, when its off to your side though it feel super heavy.. If that makes any sense at all.
 
After a very long bank holiday weekend, I return with good news! :slayer:

Clutch replacement went well, working over the span of 3 days with the help of my dad. About 5 hours on Saturday (then pub), probably 8-9 hours Sunday until (with breaks in play for rain, packed up about midnight), then another 2 hours Monday morning and back on the ground for a test drive.

I've gotta say, won't be tackling this job again in a hurry but glad to have done it!
Bit busy at the moment but will follow up with more detail and photos soon

Cheers for all the previous tips!
 
Least you'll have great feeling acceleration from the new clutch. Noticed mine for weeks after the new clutch. Bites sooner

Definitely bites sooner yeah, stalled it a couple of times in the first hour or so of driving it again haha. It's also got rid of the very annoying 'shudder' I was getting when changing gears (vibrating the whole dash), down to the old release bearing I believe as there was a fair amopunt of play in it compared to the new one (none). Very glad of that as it's been going on for years!

I've been driving like a granny while the clutch beds/wears in to be safe (500 city miles?), so haven't given it the beans just yet!
 
So finally getting round to uploading some pics of the clutch replacement, didn't capture everything as I was trying to maintain momentum!

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getting the show on the road

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nearside suspension disassembly

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bit of a split in the inner CV joint boot

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gearbox linkages and sensors disconnected

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bit of bungee cord holding the starter motor up

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exhaust off and parts pile growing

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solution to trolley jack not reaching the bottom of the gearbox with the car in the air

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jack stands and belt combo holding things up

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sheared transmission mount to chassis bolt. head cam off before the bolt moved anywhere, knew I should have been more patient and let some Plusgas soak in, but wasn't the end of the world (just unbolted gearbox from the bracket instead)

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parasol to save me from the sun!

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gearbox finally out after combining trolley jack with ratchet straps

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old clutch components


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new clutch assembly and bearing (new one had no play, unlike the old one)

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homemade clutch alignment tool with socket extender

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new clutch in

From then on it was just going through the motions to get everything back together. Getting the gearbox back in was fairly tough, but not as bad as I thought it would be, basically a combination of trolley jack and straps to take the weight, then me bench-pressing the gearbox upwards as my dad tightened the ratchet straps, and a lot of wiggling!

All still feeling good since, as I said I've been taking it easy with shifts and throttle. I am getting a bit of a smell in the car after coming to a standstill after a long drive, which I think is from the cocktail of moly grease, WD40, brake cleaner and general grime that got onto the downpipe of the exhaust before, during and after the whole process. If it continues I might go back in and try and clean it as best I can.

In other news, had all 4 of the new wheels balanced as I was getting a fair bit of vibration around 60-70 mph, all good now.

Also been getting quotes to have the front drivers side wheel bearing replaced, as it'started to make a fairly loud hum/moan anywhere past 40mph. Most places quoting around £120, but money fairly tight at the moment as I'm moving into a new flat in the next few weeks. Contemplated doing it myself but I think wheel bearing is a bit beyond me with regards capability and tools!

The fun never ends as usual!
 
Well the front bearing is far harder than the rears but its not that hard really.. Your main issue will be getting the bearing out without a proper puller or press or the like. But if you take it apart so you have just the knuckle or spindle or whatever you want to call it you could then take that somewhere to get them to get it out. Fitting the new bearing is actually pretty easy - stick the new bearing in the freezer over night so its good and cold, heat the knuckle up in the oven at full whack for a while so its properly heated up all the way through. Then carefully so you don't burn yourself, the bearing should just literally drop in. Let it all cool down naturally then refit everything.
I not actually done this on on a punto but done it on a few other cars and it works perfectly fine and is same principle. I have always managed to get the old bearing out myself but its always a fight lol.
 
Great work , good photos.
Second the take it apart and go to a friendly garage to press out old bearing, get a new bearing and take it with you and ask them to press new one in too.
 
thanks for the tips chaps, if I had the time over the next week or 2 I'd probably go down that route, but I'm fairly busy and got a 200-odd mile drive to Bristol and back at the weekend and would rather have it sorted before then!

Have booked it in to a garage in Chatham after they quoted £100 quid on WhoCanFixMyCar.com incl parts + VAT, can't see me getting anything lower than that.
 
life often gets in the way, i have so many things i need to do to my cars and never manage to find the time...
Need to finish this engine swap on my panda and the pile of stuff for the ignis is just getting silly!! The wife's 500 needs a service soon too. Sadly I plain just don't trust anyone else to do stuff to my car, perhaps I am overly cautious but i always get upset about something when someone else does some work on my car lol.
 
That's a very good front wheel bearing all in deal. Well done .
 
So had the wheel bearing replaced, turns out it was the nearside and not the offside front, which the garage could tell once they had it up on the lift and could give it a decent spin (which is what side the garage who did my wheel balancing also predicted, silly me). They gave me the bearing afterwards and it was absolutely knackered, the grease between the ball bearings was like solid chocolate, may upload picture at some point. Good thing I didn't attempt the job myself, as apparently he needed 8 ton pressure on the press to get the bearing out!

Drove nice and smooth on the way home from the garage, but the next morning I noticed steering wheel wasn't straight(!) and the car was pulling to the left slightly, and also the left wheel was pointing left when I had a look at work, so rang the garage back up and they told me to bring it in for alignment that afternoon which was great.
Turned out the alignment of the left side was way off, possibly due to the car now having a fresh wheel bearing in and the wheel being aligned with the old bearing.
Stood and chatted with the guy as he worked, he had a hard time adjusting the tie rod as it was so corroded, in the end he used a fancy induction heater wrap device instead of a blowtorch to crack it loose.
All good now and while it still pulls a teeeeeny bit to the side, it's not very noticeable.

The chaps did however wonder when the MOT was due and jokingly advised that a fair few things would need looking at. The inner nearside CV boot had a tear in it which I knew about, but upon further inspection and a return journey to Brostol at the weekend, it's now flinging molygrease all over the place so I'm in the process of getting quotes for that. Steering rack boot also perished apparently.

Also a few miles up the road on my way to the garage initially, the right hand rear of the car started making some horrendous creaking/knocking noises after some potholed roads, which they thought could the drum brakes but I'm breaking sure it could be trialing arm bearing or subframe mount. Further investigation required.

Another battle won, but the war against aging components rages on! :cry:
 
keep at it, i had this with my panda when i started working on it and its basically got new everything at the front now, arms, inner and outer cvs, suspension top mounts, wheel bearings, tie rod ends, engine mount, gearbox mounts, shocks, springs, ball joints. Most of it looked original so by my reasoning it should be good for another 25 years and 100k lol. Once i finished engine swap I'll look at refreshing the rear end of it.

In intrigued by this induction heater thingy, i wonder how hot it makes it - they usually use oxyacetylene to heat things are alignment places, induction heater sounds fancy!
 
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yeah from what I can tell it involves wrapping a jacket of coiled wires around the bolt, then passing high current through and heating the bolt itself, bit like an induction hob.

after a bit of googling I found the one he used on Amazon, not cheap tho!
[ame="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bolt-Buster-Heat-Induction-Tool/dp/B00ATSL7VE"]Bolt Buster Heat Induction Tool: Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools[/ame]
 
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