The clutch has completley let go in the old forester, i see replacement clutch kits on ebay about £80 upwards, are there any particular ones to avoid?

 

Also how much work is it to get the clutch out of a forester, ive only done a few clutches mostly on small fwd cars, with the 4x4 system is it handier to remove the engine or the gearbox?

I would avoid transmech clutches ...

I really like the LUK clutch.

remove box, is quite easy & in many ways far better than a small fwd car, just knock out  drive shaft pins, remove prop & rest is the usual, very good access & most stuff well thought out so quite pleasant job but on old fozzy a few corroded bits may hamper the job.

Hello Farmpug long time no see mate :) 

Ah right handy enough, a bit like an old jeep then but with front driveshafts, the gearbox drops out. I thought the engine would need to come out, but this shouldnt be too bad, rusty bolts aside.

 

Hello Gambit, yep havent really done much work on the forester it doesn't really give much trouble, its been great fun round the fields that probably caused the clutch to finally let go.

Got the clutch changed, got a blueprint kit for £80, a bit of a good deal i think, took the gearbox out and left the engine in place not too hard all bolts came out easily enough. the service history had a clutch kit at 150k and the previous mechanic was kind enough to use copper grease on the bolts, i just snapped the front lower balljoint bolt putting it back in:

 

The old one:

 

The gearbox lost some oil during the change, what sort of oil do these gearboxes take?

75w90 gl4/gl5, need 4l really if wanted drain & refill, most motor factors have half decent 75w90 in 5l at sensible price