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Clutch Change 25th Anniversary Lamborghini Countach 


What to figure out for the the clutch change 

  • This 25th Anniversary Countach came in for clutch change
  • sort out A/C not working, leaking heater core
  • headlight cycling up an down repeatedly
  • reposition the leather on the dash to remove the wave along edge of dash from heat shrinkage
  • over all clean and tidy while engine out



Perpare to remove engine
  • Remove side radiator panels, trunk engine bay panel that earlier Countach’s do not have
  • Remove fuel injection system, air intake system, coolant hoses, undo oil line hoses, 
    air pump, air injection rails to headers, then headers, various other fittings, mechanical and electrical 
  • Lower suspension wishbone to chassis bolts need to be remove so you can swing the hub assemble upwards to get clearance to remove the CV jointed half drive shafts as they have dowel pins to help locate them to diff and hub shafts... to remove the shafts the suspension needs to swing outward to get clearance for the dowel pins to clear the diff and hub shafts. 
  • Engine removal is not as dramatic as many YouTubers make it out to be
  • It is a process for patience and care to remove the engine
  • Move it backwards an inch at a time, adjusting the angle for the assemble as you title it upwards will moving back. 
  • Normally we remove the front plate on the gearbox, to then remove the gearshift level to provide more clearance, one less thing to focus on during engine removal… the anniversary Countach has a box section wielded to the chassis in front of the gearbox that makes it not possible to remove the gearshift cover plate... 
  • The main concern is clearing the trunk engine bay bulkhead panel, beyond that it is similar to remove a front engine V12 and gearbox, its long, seriously heavy, not something you can reach into the engine bay to remove by hand


Replace clutch and fywheel engine service while out
  • Flywheel was damaged beyond refinishing, pressure plate was resurfaced, pressure disc replaced 
  • Replaced roller bearings for clutch throw out bearing shaft, cleaned up shaft on lathe 
  • Replaced water pump hoses and cleaned up fitting surface, many of the coolant hoses where wearing 
  • Replace motor mounts on engine and cross brace, originals no service life left in them
  • Fitting missing brass seal rings from air injection tube, engine looks to have been assembled without them
  • Replaced oil seals on gearbox to diff drive shaft 
  • Major clean and tidy before refitting 

 

Engine bay area clean, tidy, paint, refine assemble look and feel
  • All the surfaces in the engine bay received cleaning, surface rust removal and repaint 
  • Before disassembly to remove the engine we made note of the places where a hose position, electrical wiring positioning was causing chafing or wear
  • Brackets with 90 degree angles were fitted to remove the sharp corner, the hose near it was re-positioned for more clearance. 
  • Air hoses for the fuel injections system that had kink where replaced with shorter hoses, the original hoses might have work when new with full wall strength, or just been jammed in an kinked from the beginning
  • Refinish heat fiberglass heat shields for drive shaft CV joints with titanium heat shield material 
  • Care is taken when refining build quality in places where the factory did not have the time to needed to the engine bay area, all its fittings look proper, carrying assembled without going to far beyond the factory finish. 


Replace leaking Heater/AC core, stretch leather top of dash to remove wave in curve from shinking
  • Removing the leaking heater/ac core requires removing the glove and fuse box, stereo amp in foot well, ventilation fan with just enough room to get your wrenches in to undo the A/C hoses
  • When removing the coolant hoses care to direct coolant flow so it does not makes it way into the interior, prices of card board to direct coolant flow can help
  • Factory replacement was not possible, fortunately a request for one the Countach Group chat results in a finding one in Italy!
  • A new favourite tool is this Magnet Mat from Olsa Tools in Leduc near Edmonton so helpful when working in places you can barely get into
  • Dash top had a 1/4 inch shrinkage resulting in the top stitching being on the dash top, rather then leading edge.
  • We spend a few weeks slowly stretch the leather back into a more reasonable position, than reguled it, applied serious amounts of hide food
  • The glove box lid was it own special project. The glove box lid was not latching, instead it was positioned against the right hand side of the dash with friction between the globe box and dash holding it into position. Indeed...
  • There was dense foam strip applied to the right hand side of the fuse box panel to help tilt the position of the glove box to help with alignment
  • The holes for the fuse box panel mounting screws needed to be filled to properly reposing the fuse box panel so the glove box was more square
  • The glove box lid mounting holes were filed to position it more to the center
  • A spacer was made to move the glove box lid latch tab 1/8 forward so it could actual latch the lid
  • The opening were the tab is to fit in to engage with the latch in the glove box lid needed to be filed so the tap could slide into the opening to latch so it could hold  the glove box closed.
  • The metal push rod to operate the glove box latch was disconnected from the latch due to the soft fiber material for the inner lead being broken up
  • A metal tube was epoxied into the opening were glove box lid push rods slides to operate the glove box latch opening so it would stay in connection with closing latch mechanism 
  • After much filling and fitting the glove box lid now latches, from the factory it never did

 

As built by the factory
  • Under the dash by a venation tube is a screw jammed in between the dash and the panel infant of the dash with the demister vents 
  • The fusebox was full of metal filings from drilling the holes for mounting the fuse blocks to the aluminum panel
  • Lots of silicon on this car, here the area under the rear window were the vent tubes for the fuel tanks are
  • More silicon applied to the ignition wiring that passes through the trunk area into the engine bay
  • In the ignition relay and fuse box there was an active ground wire from a relay just hanging about… yes the red wires under the mounting screw are the 12V to the ignition and fuel pump relays 
  • Hole for the allen screw for the trim panel for the ventilation control was drilled with only half the hole and threads being part of the chassis mount tab
  • Interior was a mesh of none matching grade finished leather and while colour, none matching seats... this is after both seats properly cleaned, leather hide food, included was leather stitching that wonder a bit in places 
  • These are just a few of the build inconsistencies we danced with