Questions on clutch change on a 98 Cobra with a TKO

[rown4au]

Hi guys;

I have a 98 Cobra track car that I bought a few months ago and the clutch needs to be replaced. The car has a TKO swap, Bassani midlength headers, and Maximum Motorsports K-member.

I have removed the drive shaft, X pipe, and intake tube, and loosened most of the header bolts on the passenger side. I also have the bottom and middle starter bolt out but I am kind of stuck at this point.

My problems/questions are:

The top bolt on the starter looks damn near impossible to get to with the header on the car. I think I might be able to get it off if i wrestle with it and use a universal or two (maybe...

) but it looks pretty hopeless to get it back in afterwards. Has anyone with a similar setup (headers- K member) done this successfully?

I can't tell for sure if I need to drop the K member to get the rest of the header bolts loose and if I manage to get the header bolts loose on the passenger side if that will be enough to get the tranny out or do I have to pull the header completely off and get it out of the way?

I have not loosened motor mounts or jacked up or tilted the engine at all at this point. Will doing that help clearance on any of these bolts?

This is my first time pulling a transmission out of a car and doing a clutch job so I am figuring this out as I go and trying to use the
Ford service manual and a Chilton's manual I have to muddle through this. The car is no where near stock however so not everything matches up.

I am dreading the thought of pulling the K member so I am trying to avoid that if at all possible.

 

[Javi]

have you tried to remove it from the front of the engine, maybe getting some extensions??

Also, you should be good using 2 bolts alot of 2v guys do it.

 

[rown4au]

have you tried to remove it from the front of the engine, maybe getting some extensions??

Also, you should be good using 2 bolts alot of 2v guys do it.

I am looking at it through the passenger wheel well from the front side, there is no way you could get at it from underneath or on top. As I said I might be able to get the top starter bolt off it off if I spend a few hours doing it but I am not so sure I could get it back in.

I am also hoping someone with a similar setup can tell me if they have been able to pull the transmission without removing the header completely.

 

[Alex55]

Thank you for your share!