Will's 2006 Mini Cooper S needs a new clutch.  The clutch has started to slip in 5th and 6th gear when on the highway.  He could probably drive it for a few more hundred miles, but he goes back to Baylor in a few weeks.  So instead of waiting until it fails all together, he and I will replace it now.  I bought the Valeo Clutch kit from Detroit Tuner.  It is not a factory replacement but an upgrade to a single surface flywheel, clutch and pressure plate.  I will update this page as we progress with pictures to show how we did this repair. 

Looking into the bell housing of the six speed.  No oil inside so that is a good sign the rear main seal is still good. I did replace the rear main seal as well as the transmission input shaft seal as a precaution.

Will pulling out of the driveway to go to Baylor.  I talked with him after he got there and he said the Mini ran flawlessly.  I feel like we really accomplished something after all the work we did.

The engine support bar in place with a chain connected to the shackle, the transmission can be pulled free.

The actual replacement of the clutch and re-assembly is documented in this Youtube video.  I studied this many times while I worked through this project.  Lots of good and accurate information.

This is the Super Charger oil I used.  The front chamber took 4.9 ounces and rear chamber took 1.4 ounces.

I always know where I left my safety glasses I wear while working in the garage. 

Fink take good care of them while I am away. 

When torquing the new flywheel I used what I could find to hold the flywheel from spinning. This is a sway bar clip from a Jeep XJ I parted out a few years ago.  The holes lined up perfectly for the bell housing bolt and the dowel on the flywheel for the pressure plate.

I got the sub-frame pulled out.  Not as difficult as it sounds.  While I have it out I will replace the two control arm bushings and clean up the frame.

I am setting the Mini up on the side of the garage in front of the '53 Chevy Wagon to do the work.

The transmission is now out

While I had everything torn down for the clutch install I decided to replace the oil in the Super Charger and replace the water pump

Clutch, pressure plate flywheel and throw out bearing.  All looks worn out with heat spots on the flywheel.  The throw out bearing fell apart when I pulled it out.

I ended up running too close to the deadline to get the Mini back on the road since Will needed to drive it back to Baylor.  I did not take any more pictures of the rest of the project.  Installing everything is basically the reverse of disassembling.  It was not difficult, just time consuming for me. I am glad I did this because it saved us a lot of labor money that a dealer or shop would charge. If I had to do it again, I would designate more time to work this.

First day stopping point.  I am about 1/3 into the tear down.  So far everything is going well.

In the Texas August heat, I took a lot of breaks.  This was my point of view during most breaks.

Since it is so hot here in the Texas Gulf Coast, I can only work a few hours in the late day.  I water blasted the sub-frame to clean it up.  I also pulled the two most difficult bolt on the bell housing, the top two.  I knew going into this project that those two bolts would be the biggest challenge.  As they say, working a project like this is a 20/80 thing; 20 percent of the bolts will take 80 percent of your time.  I did not get any pictures of pulling the two bellhousing bolts but here is a shot of the sub frameafter cleaning it. 

In order to pull the transmission out, I had to support the engine.  I made a engine lifting bracket from a scrap piece of metal I had in the garage.  I bolted it to the right side of the head and added a shackle. 

I had to use a turkey baster to measure the precise amount of oil to put into the Super Charger.

Up on the jack stands.  I made sure the car is solid on the stands for safety sake.

If you are not bleeding, you are not wrenching.  I was not sure where the cut was I just saw blood on one of my wrenches.  It stopped bleeding after a while.

The biggest help for me is this youtube video.

Hot day to start work, but I am use to the heat.