difficulty level for swapping clutch master cyl.

[H22/23cb7]

Whats up again guys, so I have a good week off until my next project at work so I wanna replace my clut h master cylinder. I have the h23 in and how hard is it to replace myself? Also replacing my fuel pump as I just replaced my main relay under the dash and my pump isnt priming still. Thanks guys!!!! I appreciate the speedy response!!!!!! Havs a safe weekend!!!!

[sonikaccord]

Replacing the CMC is cake. It's two bolts and a flared line. Bleeding it is another story. I used the one man bleeder method and it worked well.

Fuel pump requires a bit more effort. Undo fittings, hope that your bolts aren't rusted, drop the tank, replace pump. Easy, right?

[H22/23cb7]

Replacing the CMC is cake. It's two bolts and a flared line. Bleeding it is another story. I used the one man bleeder method and it worked well.

Fuel pump requires a bit more effort. Undo fittings, hope that your bolts aren't rusted, drop the tank, replace pump. Easy, right?

Sure does sound easy, what bolts might be rusted? The bolts that hold the tank staps???

[deevergote]

Honestly, "how hard" is relative to your abilities, facilities, and tools. Nobody can accurately say how difficult it will be for you. Still, the process isn't beyond the abilities of a beginner, if you're patient and can follow directions.

EVERYTHING underneath could potentially be rusted. You may be lucky, since you're in California... but where I am in NJ... dropping the tank could mean dealing with rusted bolts, rusted straps, and rusted fuel lines. It can be a TOTAL pain in the ass. My advice would be to drain the tank fully, soak everything in PB Blaster (or a similar rust penetrant), and be very careful. I don't imagine dealing with a snapped bolt while on your back would be a whole lot of fun!
If your fuel lines look to be on the way out, replace them while you're down there. It won't be easy, but it'll be better than springing a leak while driving.
RockAuto has a pretty decent deal on a pump/tank/strap package, last I looked. I was going to get it for my car, before it got wrecked. I don't know how the quality is, but the price was decent!

And yeah... master and slave are easy enough to swap out. The master can be annoying when dealing with the connection to the pedal, but that just requires some minor contortionism. I'm fairly large and terribly inflexible, and I was able to do it. Bleeding the system proved to be a major problem for me. I just could not get pressure in the pedal, no matter what I did! After trying a dozen different methods, including power bleeders, I eventually just had a friend pry on the fork at the slave cylinder, and that did the trick. Most people don't have problems... but I've encountered a few people that had the same troubles I did.

[Losiracer2]

the CMC removal and install is easy, the bleeding, i would get two people for.

The tank dropping you can do by yourself. Just get a jack and a 2x4 and balance it that way. Your straps shouldn't be rusted if they're similar to mine. My car is an AZ car and everything came apart like cake.

[masospaghetti]

Dropping the tank is a chore but doable with one person using a jack, as Losiracer2 said.

I swapped tanks between my wrecked CB and my current one. One of them came out easy. In the other, one of the strap bolts stripped out. The threads on these strap bolts are captive to a little bracket that is trapped between the rear subframe and frame, and replacing it would not be fun!

Luckily I had a slide-on nutclip that I was able to get in there to repair the hole. One of those "structural" ones with real threads, not the sheet metal ones. Still, my point is just to be careful when working with those two strap bolts, you really don't want them to strip out.

Regarding the CMC its not too bad but you will be in an uncomfortable position working under the dash. The hardest part is getting the hydraulic line reattached to the new CMC. Loosen up the line as needed from the firewall so you don't mess up fitting. Also you probably will strip the nut on the hydraulic line if you use a standard box wrench or even a flare wrench. I have the best luck with a small, high quality Crescent adjustable wrench as you can get these really nice and tight on the nut to keep them from rounding off.

Something like this would do well, I think (I like Channellock because they actually make stuff in the USA and, in this case, Spain instead of China): http://www.amazon.com/Channellock-80...YGS95EYVYKJ390

[H22/23cb7]

Cool guys thanks, I was able to pull the cotter pin at the pedal now I gotta break free my hard line and mounting bolts.

[Raf99]

...... One of them came out easy. In the other, one of the strap bolts stripped out. The threads on these strap bolts are captive to a little bracket that is trapped between the rear subframe and frame, and replacing it would not be fun!

Ya, this was me. My bolts for the gas tank straps were rusty and the top portion of the bolt/nut above the rear subframe just turned. So I had to drop my rear subframe to get at both ends of the bolts to get them off. I hope this doesn't happen to you as.......

- Dropping tank = stripped bolts/nuts above the rear subframe which is above the tank
- Dropping the rear sub frame required.
--- Dropping exhaust out of the way or low enough
--- Disconnecting upper/lower control arms, e-brake cables, and everything connected to it

The list goes on. If you are just using jack stands you'll be juggling trying to slide the gas tank out on an angle, with a rear sub frame in your way or not fully out, and an exhaust hanging down in your way. Then you'll get into rusted fuel lines, etc. Very easy for an afternoon project to turn into a 3 day long project with lots of cursing!