LT1 M6 Clutch Replacement

I've done two of these now, and wanted to give the details on the install since it's fresh in my mind. This writeup applies to stock clutch setups and most aftermarket clutches such as Centerforce and Star clutches and pressure plates. It'd be great to have a tranny jack, or at least a tranny cradle for a regular jack, however we didn't have one either time I worked on one, and we just used a 2 x 6 to balance it on a floor jack, it's tough, but it works. I've used the method where you separate the tranny from the bellhousing, and remove the bellhousing separately. I find it much easier this way, as on the ground it's too hard in my opinion to reach the other bolts, and it's nice that you can see the input shaft as it's going back in for alignment purposes.

1. Disconnect your negative battery terminal.
2. Have 4 jack stands ready and lift the car up evenly on all 4 corners, I found it works fine to have the tires about 10" off the ground with the car lifted up, you won't be removing the tranny out from under the car (not necessary and not recommended as it's tough to lift it up under the car) so you don't need to get it high enough to get the tranny out from under.
3. If you have stock exhaust manifolds, you'll be fine without having to remove your ypipe, if you have headers, there's a good chance that your ypipe is in the way, so you'll have to unbolt it and get it out of the way.
4. On the inside of the car, go ahead and remove the shifter, on Camaro's the center console around the shifter comes off, but on a Trans Am most of the console needs to come out.
5. Back under the car, unbolt the factory tunnel brace (I think 15mm bolts) and set it aside.
6. Start off by removing the torque arm. The two back bolts are 21mm on the top, and 21mm nuts on the bottom. On the front (torque arm mount) loosen the 15mm bolt that tightens up the mount. Yank the torque arm out of the rear, and the front should slide out of the mount now.
7. You're going to want to keep the driveshaft in on the tranny side, that way you don't lose fluid and have a huge mess. You'll have to unbolt it from the rear as follows. Remove the 4 bolts at the universal joint and the two "straps" that they were holding in. You're going to want to push the driveshaft forward into the tail end of the tranny and let it drop down, you'll probably need to support it with something while the tranny's still up in the car. Chances are it won't just "slide out," if it's rusty as most LT1 driveshafts are, feel free to lightly tap around the universal joint with a hammer to loosen the rust hold, then grab something to pry it off the rear and push forward, it shouldn't be too difficult to make it slide out if you're prying with a good sized tool ;). Make sure to use something to tie the driveshaft to hold it onto the tranny now.. twine, bungee cord, whatever, just make sure it's held in.
8. Head over to the tranny now and unplug the 4 connectors from the tranny.. CAGS, Reverse solenoid, etc.. it all comes down as one harness, so pull it back and out of the way. Three of the plugs are on the Driver's side, and one is on the passeger side, looped over the tranny.
9. Remove the two nuts that hold the slave cylinder housing on. Slide the slave cylinder out, leave the braided line connected, and push it to one side, it'd probably be best if it was supported by something and not left hanging by the line itself. Now slide off the metal housing and set it to one side, and leave the two studs protruding. Go ahead and yank downward on the clutchfork to release it from the throwout bearing.
10. There are 8 bolts that go from the tranny to the bellhousing. With the crossmember still attached, go ahead and break the 8 bolts loose. The top two are the most difficult to get to, you will need almost a 3 ft. long 3/8" extension to reach around the top of tranny, the other six are pretty easy to reach with standard extensions. The bolts are all 15mm and will probably make a nasty sound when they break loose, I swear they have no "tightening" point, they're either "on or off"... in other words, once they break loose they are finger tight. Go ahead and remove the top two bolts and the bottom two bolts, and now slide the jack (or tranny jack) under the car and support the tranny in the center somewhere.
11. Slide back a bit and remove the crossmember. Remove the 15mm tranny mount nut, and the other 4 bolts that hold the crossmember to the chassis are all 15mm. Take out the crossmember and slide it out of the way. If your tranny mount is broken, now is a good time to replace it.
12. Go back over to the tranny bolts now and remove the other 4 bolts, the tranny will still be held up by two dowels, so get someone under the car with you for some help, and move the tail end of the tranny back and forth a bit to break it loose. Once it does, slide the tranny back about one inch, which is about as far as it can go at this point, because now you have to remove the clutch fork.
13. Slide the tranny back further until the input shaft is clear of the bellhousing and ready to come down. You may have to work with the jack a bit up and down to get it to clear the tranny tunnel in some spots, once you do, let it down gently, and slide the tranny (do not remove it from the jack, leave it on there and slide it out to one side somewhere under the car where it won't be in the way).
14. You're now going to remove the bellhousing, there's 6 14mm bolts holding it up here. Use a 3/8" swivel along with the 14mm socket to get the bolts out. Behind the bellhousing there's the inspection plate which is held on by 4 10mm bolts.. remove that also, and get both out of the way.
15. Remove the pressure plate, also uses 6 14mm bolts, be careful as when you remove the pressure plate the clutch will drop out, so watch your head. :) You should be able to have someone hold the flywheel to keep the motor from turning while you unbolt the pressure plate bolts, they're on tight, but not so tight that you wouldn't be able to get it off this way.
16. The flywheel should be resurfaced before you put in the new clutch. I'd personally recommend a local automotive machine shop, check the yellow pages and call one up. :) The flywheel comes off with 6 14mm bolts again, so remove those and slide out the flywheel. Remember it's cast iron, so don't let it fall on your head either :).
17. (optional) Beer.
18. After you get your flywheel resurfaced, clean up any parts that you want to clean that are going back in (clutch fork, bellhousing, whatever..), time to get the car back together, so grab your clutch and pressure plate. Make sure to have a clutch alignment tool, it's a 26 spline tool, and I'd avoid using a plastic alignment tool, spend the money on a metal tool (don't ask me how I know)...
19. Put your flywheel back on, installation is the usual reverse of removal. There's a hole between two of the bolt holes that aligns with a dowel on the motor side. Consult a Haynes manual real quick for the torque specs, I think it's around 70 ft/lbs.
20. Put some high temp lubricant into the input shaft bearing on the motor side. Slide the pressure plate and clutch onto the alignment tool, depending on your pressure plate, there's usually a dot or mark on some kind on the pressure plate that you'll have to match to the white "X" that should be marked on the flywheel. Mount these up and make sure everything aligns correctly with the alignment tool. The tool should slide in and out easily with no bind whatsoever. If it has any kind of resistance going in, the input shaft will not go back in. I think the pressure plate bolts take around 20ish ft/lbs to tighten up.
21. Pop the bellhousing cover back on and make sure to reinstall the inspection plate at the same time.
22. Bring the tranny back over lift it up and slide the input shaft into the motor. Make sure to line up the tranny evenly, if it doesn't go right in, rotate the input shaft a bit, it should slide right on. Bolt the transmission back onto the bellhousing and pop your clutch fork back in.
23. Bolt up your crossmember and mount. While the slave cylinder is still out, make sure to bleed the clutch by opening up the fluid cap under the hood, and pushing the slave cylinder in manually underneath the car until you see no more bubbles coming out on the top. If there isn't enough clutch fluid, replace it with standard DOT 3 brake fluid. Bolt your slave cylinder back up.
24. Bolt everything back on, typical installation is the reverse of removal. To get the torque arm back on, you'll have to work with the jack on the rear to align it properly.
25. Make sure to give your clutch about 500 miles of break-in before you go pounding on it again, of course, unless you want to do this all over again :).
26. Enjoy! Questions or comments? Hit me up at my email.