Morgan Wright Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 Clutch has been slipping up hills or when using a lead foot. Got a new clutch friction disc and new replacement style pressure plate from Bob's Automobilia. Finally found a shop that will take the job. Monday is the big day. Advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted July 9, 2016 Author Share Posted July 9, 2016 The shop I chose is a transmission shop, with lots of guys who seem to know what they are doing. I told him my car had a torque tube and he wasn't phased, said he had to remove the rear axle and move the whole drive train back. All the other shops I went to refused the job, said it was too hard, they just didn't want the job. Maybe they didn't know how. But the shop I'm taking it to, the owner seemed to know all about torque tubes and said, "Bring it in, no problem" and one young guy even looked excited about doing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAS VEGAS DAVE Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 Its not that hard to do, takes more time but not very complicated. I did mine in my driveway and had never done one before. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonMicheletti Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 Compared to Hotchkiss drive cars, Buicks are a PITA to do a clutch job on. I have done way to many myself. Lots of work. If you have to grind the flywheel clutch surface, if the '40 is like the '38, you have to pull the pan and the rear main to get the bolts out. Then it is possible to get the flywheel back on wrong. There is no locating pin so the flywheel is in the right place. 8 cylinders, 6 bolts. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted July 15, 2016 Author Share Posted July 15, 2016 They have the rear end dropped already, the thing on the floor under the car is the tranny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted July 16, 2016 Author Share Posted July 16, 2016 OK the mechanic says he's done but the new clutch is too dry and he needs to soak it with a chemical till Monday so it's not too tight. Anybody know what he's talking about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLYER15015 Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 Not a clue !!!! I had my clutch relined along with my brake shoes @ Denver Clutch and Brake with modern material 4 years ago for a VERY reasonable cost. Never heard of "soaking" a clutch, unless maybe they used leather ? I would get a second opinion............ Mike in Colorado Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 (edited) "soaking the clutch" is a new one on me too. I have been around and working on cars for over 50 years and if a manual transmission clutch gets oil soaked it is shot as it will slip. Now for an automatic clutch it is customary to dip the new automatic clutch plates in fresh automatic transmission fluid before you install the new plates. The auto trans guys that I knew would take the rebuild kit, pull out all the clutch plates and put them in a container of new trans fluid. Nothing special. I would ask your installer exactly what "soaking the clutch" is and what he does. Then please post the answer here as many of us would like to know. Thanks, Edited July 16, 2016 by Larry Schramm (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daves1940Buick56S Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 I hope it's not "soaking the customer!" 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted July 17, 2016 Author Share Posted July 17, 2016 It's a transmission place. They rebuild transmissions all day long. He said he was going to soak the clutch in a chemical. Not ATF or oil, a "chemical" because he said when he test drove it the clutch was too tight. I assume that means it grabbed too much because it was new. I can live with that, I expect a new clutch to be a little grabby at first until the plates smooth out. For motorcycle clutches you always have to soak them first, but they are different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted July 17, 2016 Author Share Posted July 17, 2016 One of the good things about taking it to a transmission place is, they didn't just pull the transmission and torque tube back and replace the clutch and slap the transmission back in, they noticed the front seal was leaking and removed the transmission, replaced the leaky front seal with a new one (rubberized cork, from Bobsautomobilia), and now my tranny won't leak anymore. Awesome, because it was leaking pretty bad. Now Monday I pick up the car and expect it to run like Ussain Bolt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted July 17, 2016 Author Share Posted July 17, 2016 The labor was $1400. I supplied the parts. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLYER15015 Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 54 minutes ago, Morgan Wright said: The labor was $1400. I supplied the parts. YIKES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
27donb Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 9 hours ago, Morgan Wright said: The labor was $1400. I supplied the parts. I was quoted $4000 in labor for this job on my 27-54CC, no parts. It takes time! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted July 17, 2016 Author Share Posted July 17, 2016 When Silvio told me $1400 I said take $1500. I was thinking it would be over $2000 and was glad about the price. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
27donb Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 1 minute ago, Morgan Wright said: When Silvio told me $1400 I said take $1500. I was thinking it would be over $2000 and was glad about the price. Small price to pay for that kind of heavy labor. If you are happy with the result, that's all that is important. The proof is in the driving! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daves1940Buick56S Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 So 2 guys for 10 hrs equals a shop rate of $70/hr. Not too bad actually. Here in the DC area finding a shop rate this low is difficult, you have to go out to the boonies. One guy at a shop a few miles from me quoted me a rate of $130/hr. This is why I do as much of my own work as I can! Enjoy the new clutch! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted July 19, 2016 Author Share Posted July 19, 2016 OK I picked up the car today but forgot to ask what the chemical was he soaked it with. What a difference! I was so used to the clutch slipping I almost don't know how to drive it now. Holy mackerel. Turns out this engine has tons of power I never knew about because I could never use it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
27donb Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 On 7/18/2016 at 8:03 PM, Morgan Wright said: OK I picked up the car today but forgot to ask what the chemical was he soaked it with. What a difference! I was so used to the clutch slipping I almost don't know how to drive it now. Holy mackerel. Turns out this engine has tons of power I never knew about because I could never use it. That's great news! More enjoyment out of the car is always a plus! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gfw2 Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 It looks like you have found yourself a great place to have the do buisness. $1400 and that included replacing the trans seal. I hope you asked if they would do other repairs if needed. Some shops will do more than just what it advertises. George 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 That's awesome. Sometimes it just pays to have the pros do it. Now you don't have to worry whether you did it right, you won't be listening to every little noise and thinking you missed something, and if there's a problem you have someone who will stand behind it. That alone is worth a big chunk of change to me. $1400 for that kind of job seems about right and I, too, would have happily paid it. Enjoy! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest buickguyflint Posted November 26, 2016 Share Posted November 26, 2016 Just remember Buick clutches were designed to make the cars easy for women to operate. Note the car with the engine at a low idle will make it possible to just release the clutch and the Buick will go without depressing the gas until it is engaged. No feathering of the clutch needed as the engine has plenty of torque to let you eliminate any of that tricky clutch work. It will shudder if you try to drive it like a Chevy. So just release the clutch accelerate and enjoy. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
27donb Posted November 26, 2016 Share Posted November 26, 2016 2 minutes ago, buickguyflint said: Just remember Buick clutches were designed to make the cars easy for women to operate. Note the car with the engine at a low idle will make it possible to just release the clutch and the Buick will go without depressing the gas until it is engaged. No feathering of the clutch needed as the engine has plenty of torque to let you eliminate any of that tricky clutch work. It will shudder if you try to drive it like a Chevy. So just release the clutch accelerate and enjoy. Jim One of my favorite features. My Wife has driven my 27-54CC. Although she didn't like it much when I told her to do a "K" turn. Just kidding about that, but the most difficult part for her was getting used to the manual steering at slower speeds. It's hard to break the habit of years of power steering. But the clutch was never a problem for her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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