91 Legacy Clutch Fork

[Cinder55]

Wife broke the eyelet of her clutch fork where the clutch cable connects to it. Just sheared the metal eyelet right in half. Obviously this is a pretty major job here to fix. As I see it I've got 3 options here;

 

1) I can try and pull the tranny myself. I've done 3 tranny replacements on a project Mazda RX-7 and by the 3rd one was getting pretty good at it. Had it down to less than 6 hours for complete pull and install. Are Subi's tranny's insanely hard to pull and install? Similar to Mazda's at all?

 

2) Pay a shop to do this. Car is only worth about $1100 here in my area and that's functional price. As it sits it's probably not even worth $500. I've got emails into a few shops to see what they would charge to take care of this. I'd imagine it's cost prohibitive on a car this old with this low of resale value. Any idea what book labor is for a tranny pull and install?

 

3) Write the subi off and start looking for a replacement. Wife and I both really love this little car. Goes like heck and blasts thru everything Alaskan winters can throw at it. There's a ton of new parts put in in the last year; is there a market for parting these 91 Legacy Wagons out and recouping some of our investment? The junkyards around here won't give us much for it I do know that.

 

Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions?

 

Thanks,

 

Christien

[Fairtax4me]

Got a big floor jack? You don't even need to get it all the way out of the car, you just need to get the engine and trans separated far enough to get to the fork. Of course It would also be wise to replace the clutch while you have access to it. Assuming it hasn't been replaced recently.

 

Depending on which way you want to go, you can lift the engine or lower the transmission. Either way is really just as easy/difficult, just depends on what you have available as far as jack/stands/ramps, or a lift.

 

Get a new fork from a dealer (only about $30), and while you are there be absolutely sure to get new clips for the TOB as well. They look like half of a paper clip, but are vitally important.

 

I can drop the trans out faster than I can lift the engine, but it is easier to work on the clutch components with the engine out of the car. The fork is easy to replace once you have access. It's just held on by another piece of metal that looks like a bent around paper clip, all you have to do is tug on it and it pops off of the pivot stud.