| thanks to the excellent tech article, completed my first clutch job on my Z a few weeks ago, word of advice, if you are at stage 3 and are considering buying the RPS street cuz you think u wont mod any further, do urself a favor and get the RPS max, the mod bug never rests. anywho on to the pics… I was able to do all the work with the car 16” from the ground to the frame. tight but not uncomfortable. This is the great Harbor Freight tranny jack, compact and lightweight, it also has a safety strap and the ability to tilt the platform to ease stabbing of the tranny. 
you will need this to get the top two tranny bolts off, as per tech. 
this is essentially the angle you will need to get the top bolts off, guide the socket up there with one hand and turn the ratchet with the other. the key is to unbolt the tranny mount and let it hang back a bit, I let the tranny rest on the jack as I lowered it. take ur time with this step if its ur first time, dont want to muck up those bolts. 
here are all 10 bolts, I replaced some that looked pretty beat up. 
old RPS street clutch 
had this surprise waiting for me when I took the flywheel off…why this wasn’t replaced when the engine was out for turbos is beyond me. a poor patch job indeed. this is why I really try to do all the work myself.
to get the pilot bushing out the grease pack method wasn’t working for me, it was really stuck in there, so I opted for this pilot bearing puller tool from NAPA, effortless. 
this is the rear main seal carrier with half moon seal 
notice someone’s previous poor attempt at getting the seal out, I decided to replace this as well just to be sure I got this leak nailed down 
got everything cleaned up 
I could not get the new half moon seal to fit, I guess its meant to be compressed between the oil pan and the carrier, but I wasn’t about to unbolt the oil pan. so I re-used the half moon seal, put some extra rtv grey around it, also replaced the paper gasket that goes between the carrier and the block, and of course a new rear main seal. 
new RPS Max...make sure the alignment tool is loose before you torque the pressure plate down, and by loose I mean it should want to fall out, this makes stabbing the tranny loads easier (as per TTXTZ’s famous clutch post) 
fork, new release bearing, and new springs ready to go back in 
new chromoly pivot ball, notice that its shorter and stockier, but comes with a thicker washer to correct the height, almost forgot this washer. 
nismo bearing compared to the stock bearing, notice how the stock one is longer. also pictured is my bearing insertion tool (modified clutch alignment tool). the nismo bearing just would not go in, so I stuck it in the freezer for a few minutes and it went in easy. 
put a hose on the vent tube on the top of the tranny to keep from getting tranny fluid all over the side like I had at MSR at ZCON 
decided to knock out my pcv job while waiting for misc parts, I always put a rag underneath everything to catch dropped tools and parts, and yes you will drop something 
this is the restrictor that was in my old hoses, but not in my new ones. per a TSB the 90s had a PCV chatter problem under high engine load and Nissan redesigned the valve and inserted the restrictors in the hoses to cure this problem in 91+. Courtesy gave me the new style valves, but the old restrictor-less hoses. I elected to experiment and left the restrictors out, and so far no odd noises at all. I can always go back and put them in if needed. 
had to heli-coil this hole on the housing that someone messed up from previous installs 
to facilitate tranny stabbing, I learned about making these from a post by Tom B. theyre 3 inch long bolts with the correct thread size with the head cut off and a slot cut in the end. essentially theyre large screws that help to the guide the tranny back on. once the tranny is stabbed you just remove them with a screwdriver. I also put another screw at another spot. these screws along with the tranny jack made stabbing the tranny a piece of cake, took about 10 minutes. 
new clutch slave (old one was leaking after 3K miles, never buying reman autozone slave cylinders again) with new ss line and new battery cable, bleeding the clutch was easy with the speedbleeders (not installed in pic), I also did not require any clutch adjustment, there was no change from the old RPS street to the new RPS max in regards to clutch engagement point. 
the tranny jack also doubles as an exhaust jack, worked great for getting the exhaust back on, esp if youre by yourself. $70 well spent. 
some more thoughts...
- set up the tranny jack with the ratchet end facing towards the back
- unbolt the exhaust at the downpipes and x-pipe ends only, makes r/r'ing the whole center section a lot easier
- unbolt the driveshaft at the diff, easier than doing it at the center section, make sure to mark the driveshaft/diff mating area
- make sure the tranny is in neutral before u disconnect the shifter
- if the tranny doesnt want to stab try turning the pilot shaft a few random degrees with a long screwdriver through the starter hole (this is why it should be in neutral)
- loosen the boost and intake hoses to help the engine lean back a little bit to aid in stabbing the tranny
- as ur lifting the tranny up to the engine, keep your eye on the speed sensor, make sure the sensor clears
- hook up the battery cable ground on the tranny before you tighten any bolts
- remove the top bolts first, insert them last
- bleed the nipple at the slave first, then the fender one would like to thank Damon for helping out in person, Brian on the phone, and John, Steve, Don, Joe, Timothy and Tim for helping out over email. Now Im one step closer to doing my own engine pull, if I ever need to. if ur contemplating doing this it was pretty straightforward, just need the right tools, no real difficult parts. IMO 120K is tougher. now for the toughest part, the break in… 
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clutch replacement...pic heavy - 
