so what is involved in changing the 5th gear syncro that always seems to go bad on FD's? i never opend a tranny before. but at one point i never did any mechanical work. how hard is this job?

 

I followed this write up. Made it very easy to do.



http://mahjik.homestead.com/files/hosting/...ro/synchro.html

 

thanks! thats a pretty detailed write up.

 

I had a friend who'd already done it on his car helping me. Once the transmission was out he walked me through it. I think it took about 2 hours to swap out the synchro using a puller similar to the one pictured in that link. Took as long to get the transmission back in. If you have access to a lift it makes the R & R of the transmission MUCH easier IMO.

Obviously a good time to address anything clutch related. I didn't read through that whole how-to, but in addition to the shift select spindle, it's a good time to replace the rear transmission seal too.

If you want to go first class, I guess you could consider removing and resurfacing of the flywheel, re-torquing the engine tension bolts and replacing the pilot bearing.