I'm a long time Doo guy but my new GF has a 2000 ZL 440 with 3000 miles on the odo. The primary sounds unhealthy (like a can full of marbles) and it has a herky-jerky engagement with a burning rubber stink. What's involved in rebuilding this thing, or should I just pull the clutch and bring it in? I'm pretty mechanically inclined, but I have no tools or experience with this type of clutch.

Buy a new one, it will save time and money and get your performance back.

I say yes to buying a new one.
If its as bad as you say it is you probably went way too long to fix it.

there on ebay for about $220 new your dealer will probably want more like $400 +.

The clutch is the key to performance. I had 160 horsepower sled that couldnt even get on a trailer due to a bad clutch.

I maintain them every year or every 1500 miles to keep them going good.

take the cover off slowly the spring is just a little longer than the bolts. there is a bushing in the cover.
this wears and galls the shaft.

by chance you clutch is savagable take a good look at the center shaft for galling (NFG), the weight pins can be removed and the weights can have new bushings pressed in ( most common problem), if the steel roller the weight rides on has grooves in it your preaty toast.

The only tools you commonly need to do a AC clutch is a torx wrench and a small cresent wrench.
the bushings are a little pain if you dont have a good vice are arbor press to press them in and out.

Aaron

Yep, I agree with these guys, go new, by the time you put half the price into fixing the old , aleast new you know what you have,,,R2R

Lots of brand new ones on ebay priced very right.

i say atleast take it apart for the hell of it. it anything it will be a good learning experience for future maintance. also the new ones almost always come uncalibrated so a little experience taking it apart and putting back together the shit one will help you put the new one back together porper.

Buy, or borrow a puller to remove the clutch from the crankshaft. You can make a clutch holder to aid in disassembly with a length of threaded road, a few nuts and fender washers. Use the holder to keep the cover from coming off while removing the cover bolts, unscrew the nut on the holder to relieve the spring tension. A basic rebuild kit from Cat will include weight bushings, pins, washers and lock nuts for the pins. Check the on-line micro-fische for bushings and other parts you may want to replace. If you have to replace rollers and remove the spider, then you may be better off replacing the clutch with a new one.