Clutch fork removal (and gearbox)

No sooner was it in, now its out almost immediately. The clutch fork needs shortening, therefore it needs removing first.

After browsing the cobra club forum and reading that gearbox removal is impossible without the engine also being removed (or at least off its mounts and shuffled forwards) I was a little apprehensive of attempting this, but not completely deterred.

First, I supported the rear of the engine with a nice big bit of wood under the flat-bottomed sump. I was a little concerned about this but didn't really have a choice as my borrowed cranes have all gone back to their homes. Max reminded me that most of the engine weight is on the mounts so it should be fine.

Right, so, back of engine supported. Gearbox on hydraulic jack (with wheels) aligned fore/aft. Remove fixings from bellhousing and move gbox+bellhousing backwards.

For some reason I thought at this point I could reach in, pop off the clutch arm and remove it. I forgot about the flywheel and clutch. So, next step: remove bellhousing from gearbox and put it back on the engine.

Our spirits were high at this point and I somehow managed to remove the bearing from the fork and manipulate it out of the bellhousing. Unfortunately we were deflated slightly by the gearbox being jammed in the chassis to the rear so at this point it couldn't be removed as the splined end would clash with the opening in the bellhousing before it was at the required angle to take the gbox out from the top.

The bellhousing cant be removed as it wont clear both the flywheel/clutch and the gearbox shaft. Solution = partially remove bellhousing and dangle it on some string off the scuttle hoop, then heave the gbox around (taking some nice chunks out of the chassis powder coating of course) et voila!

Re-fitting is the reverse of removal.