Ok this marks the start of the official Brian's Clutchnet 6 puck, Spring Hub Race Clutch with Red Level x2 Pressure plate, I will do my best to take pics of each step and include all the info that I can in order to show people the tips and tricks of doing one in a driveway without anything but a good hydraulic jack and jack stands.

Enough Chatter the Gaze at the Awesomeness of this clutch and parts.

The Disc, note that the springs are completely covered, zero chance they will pop out.

The Pressure plate is made from even stronger rivets that normal, really mazing size and it simply feels stronger. 

Even got them to send up a new throwout bearing

The Parts together

Brian delivered the new Trans that was freshly rebuilt as well as the new resurfaced flywheel to go in.

We figured new plugs and a fresh rotor and cap will be in order as well

Lots of chemicals and greasers and such, you can see the new UR5 Spark plugs.

The new Harmonic Balancer, which in my opinion looks better than a new OEM one

Even decided to do an oil change and move to all synthetic oil.

With Luck the car will be here at 8pm tomorrow and we will get started on everything.  There are a lot more side jobs to do done on top of the clutch job, so we will post those up as we get to them, like showing how the auto tensioner works on the Fiero, and the Rodney DIckman 4spd shift improver kit.

Awesome David...so pumped

Additional planned work:

- Front & rear brakes, new fluid (DOT 3)...would love to upgrade, next year with the brakes

- New E-brake cables

- Coolant change

- Clutch fluid (DOT 5)

- Ordered the manifold gaskets, etc...so close to order the Truleo kit less the intake...next year

DG, we can talk...could use that heat sink kit of yours, gotta find ways to cool down for track days

Here are pics of the car itself.

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Amazing Tires, these are not the full slicks, but still have great traction.

MSD 6AL-2 Ignition box with dual stage Rev limiter and Launch Control

The 3.2 V6 with a ton of mods.

Interior center gauges are Water Temp, Oil Pressure and Air / Fuel Ratio

Tires are Toyo R888 which are 100 treadwear, they have only one autox day on them from last weekend, so still slippery.  My KUHMO V710's died but were a 30 treadwear, plan next yeat for another set on different rims, then the V710's for autox, and these R888's for track.

Just a mid afternoon update.

Exhaust y pipe is unbolted, main harness unbolted, heater hose removed from water pump, battery un-bolted various heat shields and cooler tubes removed, dog bone is removed from engine side. Slave is removed (left attached to bracket and did not crack the hydraulic lines.

Strut tower bolts and brackets are removed. 

I think all the little stuff is removed and out of the way, ready to start dropping this thing.  Can't wait to see the type and status of the current clutch.

Just in from last weekend...check out the camera location, need to get me a few of these puppies in HD http://www.goprocamera.com/products - http://www.goprocamera.com/products

Ok its quarter after 10 at night and I am still in the garage, we just called it quits for the night.  I am too tired to write up a full day wrap up so here is the short version.  

(Note Was nice to meet FarmboyK from Manitoba, as he stopped by today and helped me while I was dropping the cradle, Brian arrived around 5pm and helped out until nearly 10pm.)

Car is up, everything unhooked, trans is out.  Clutch, Pressure Plate and Flywheel were all BLUE from heat scoring and slipping, however oddly the disk was not worn to the bone. Went to put new flywheel on and realized the one that we sent out to get re-surfaced ahead of time, would not work.  Idiot me, didn't realize until the last min that his is a neutral balance flywheel and the one we sent out was from an 86 Fiero with a stock 2.8. (his is a 3.1)  So we had to stop on the trans at that point, so we moved on.   Removed the 3 rear plugs to find out they were all under gapped at .045 when with his MSD Ignition it should have been .060 also found that the plugs had not been tightened in the last time they were installed, so 2 out of 3 were leaking a small amount of exhaust out the plug holes. (plugs were also blue at the socket end)  We then  removed the old damaged harmonic balancer and installed new one. 

Found that several of the oil pan bolts had also worked there way loose about 1 turn each, so they were snugged down.

Found that the Cam Cover gasket is leaking a small amount of oil so it will be replaced tomorrow after a run to the parts store.

Well here are the pics.   Have a good night, I am heading for the shower and to bed.

Capt Fiero wrote: ...trying to get in touch with Oleg at Clutchnet to get him to Air-Freight a new pressure plate.

Aw man, not AGAIN !!!

Brians Email

From: Brian Browne [mailto:bbrowne68@shaw.ca]
Sent: July-22-10 10:56 PM
To: sales@clutchnet.com
Cc: 'Capt Fiero'
Subject: RE: Brian Browne Wrong Pressure Plate for 86 Fiero GT V6 with 4spd Manual Transaxle
Importance: High

Oleg,

I am lost for words on how angry we are, this is not the first order that our club has from you, nor is it the first screw up on the pressure plate.  I spoke with you personally, reminded you of the past problems, you remembered this and said there will not be a problem.

You need to speak with David ASAP tomorrow and advise him if there is any way for us to modify, or you ship and have a new one by this Saturday July 24^th, if not:

1)      I want a full refund processed by Monday July 26^th to my credit card so I can place an order with another company that will provide correct parts, and you can pick up what we have as it’s no good to us at all!

2)      I want compensation for the race registrations of close to $700 CAD that I will not be able be able to attend, and NO f**kING REFUNDS!, never mind the time and wasted energy that we are experiencing currently...I can provide you the receipts so you can write it off with your business

This is more than a mistake, this is carelessness...David has provided you so much information and details, then we even speak and remind you and still have this all messed up...then wait 3 weeks for this, not impressed!.  We were so excited and posted how nice everything looked, etc., we should have everything running as of tonight and start to break it in as I am registered starting next Saturday for 3 days straight in racing, and the first two days on a team...now they are out and have to find another driver...there are many people involved that will be affected Oleg, never mind David who will have my car sitting at his place for a longer period!

Speak to David, I look forward to your reply and outcome.

Brian Browne

P.S. I am going to bed, wll have my cel on my nightstand in case he calls very early.

Wow, that's just inexcusable.

Unfortunately, it seems that unprofessionalism within the industry is not uncommon.

Ok here are the pics where the Pressure Plate and Bell housing were rubbing.

We tried to clearance the bell housing however it was still rubbing and we did not want to grind any more off for fear of reducing the strength of the trans.

This is the way to re and re a trans in a driveway without a hoist,

We marked the trans where it was rubbing

Dr Fiero aka Watts aka John,

You can see the red paint where it was rubbing

Various angles to show the paint rubbed off where it was hitting.

More of the Trans Marked where it was hitting.

Capt Fiero wrote:   Dr Fiero aka Watts aka John

Heh heh, great picture of John. If that isn't the look of total disgust, I don't know what is!

Was able to be semi productive today and re-do all the front brake with new studs, nuts, pads & rotors (GA), and replace two coolant hoses...and picked up yesterday the newly wrapped y-pipe from Dr. Fiero

OMG we could be complete if this pressure plate was the correct one, or arrive yesterday as demanded!, Oleg from Clutchnet is actually arguing with me now on "No shipping to Canada on Saturday's", event though I advised him I spoke to the owner of the UPS Store in New West yesterday...all he had to do was checkmark "Saturday Delivery"!!!...lol, getting sily

Crossing our fingers it arrives early...

Ok with the clutch portion of this work on hold, Brian decided to redo the front brakes. 

So the Grand-Am front brakes got new pads, new rotors and new wheel studs.  It was amazing how quickly it went.  Brian also changed a rear coolant hose, however I did not get pics of him doing that.

I did the left side of the cars brakes and he did the right.   I just love the look of new brake parts, especially when its topped with nicely painted callipers and racing tires.

Ok pics.

The brakes

Love those super size rotors.

Brian putting the wheel back on.

Love those tires, amazing feel even when handling them in your hands, they just feel sticky.

Extra long wheel studs to keep the track officials happy, ensure that with the thicker rotors the studs have enough grip and it just looks good having the extra stud Length.

Nice brakes and callipers behind the wheels.

The new pressure plate is here, I am going to begin the installation right now and work until its either too dark to see or I pass out.  I want the clutch installed, trans installed and at the least part of the suspension installed before I quit tonight. 

        If anyone feels like coming over to chat or offer moral support, LOL, I"ll be here, Brian said he is coming over as well.

Well Brian left at 10:15 and Tristen just left here at 11:20 Thankfully with a charging Fiero.

Brian and I got the Trans/Clutch back in, cradle is jacked up and cradle bolts are tight.

Tomorrow I'll start on Brakes and the remainder of the suspension. (just the 3 strut tower nuts and caliper bolts)  Then the Exhaust Y-Pipe, E-Brake Cables and main wiring stuff.

    With any luck, car will be on the ground driving by tomorrow night.  I'll post pics in a bit, need to take a break and get cleaned up.

WooHoo, the new pressure plate arrived, we got it installed and hand cranked the motor nothing is hitting now.

We got started around 6pm tonight and by 10pm, the clutch was installed, tranny back in and bolted, dickman mounts put back on, drivers suspension put back together, cradle raised back up into position and cradle bolts tight.

At that point we called it a night.

However I had a guest over that would not be able to go home until we fixed his alternator.  So after Brian left around 10:15pm I helped Tristan finish off the rebuild on his alternator and install it into his 86GT.  Thankfully all went well and it was charging at 14.5v on the first fire up.

Ok Pics for the night.

The new pressure plate, honestly it does not look as robust as the fist one, however it works and we shall see just how good of a clamping force it has.

Very much shorter than the 1st one though, which totally solved the hitting the bell housing.

Never heard of Hechoenmexicc however the 184 was stamped on the Luke clutch we had.

Stopped and cleaned up the flywheel before we installed the 2nd pressure plate as there was red locktite residue, and at the same time cleaned up the center hub which was kinda crappy looking.

Pressure plate installed.  I actually had to install it twice as the first time I did not get the disk lined up perfect and was not happy with it.

Tristan working on his Alternator

Lisa coming out to check on us and make sure we were not goofing off.

Its Up, Yaaa

Nice to see it with the guts pushed back up.

The motor is back where it is suppose to be.

Yeah, Hecho en Mexico is a pretty common term...

Damn, hanging out with you guys was fun last night!

Ya, Mexico, maybe that was the 100km drive Oleg had to do, border shopping?...lol

Was fun last night and good to see you made it home...tonight will be even more fun, we'll be there

Hmm interesting.. hope everything turns out ok!

I'm guessing they take a new pressure plate and respring them to spec?  What's their warranty on this stuff anyway?

Good luck guys!

Hey David,

I may pick this up on the way home from Driver's Edge.  In speaking with Frank, he is suggesting this product as it's half the price of MOTUL and really good, plus to do a flusj like this through the whole system we can identify when the fluid starts coming out Blue:)...lol

I will call you later, I am estimating 3-4lt's of this: http://www.driversedgeautosport.com/ate_superblue.htm - http://www.driversedgeautosport.com/ate_superblue.htm

Sounds good, I think 2 liters should be enough though.

Bassman wrote: http://www.driversedgeautosport.com/ate_superblue.htm - http://www.driversedgeautosport.com/ate_superblue.htm

I know a lot of the 944 Spec guys run this stuff.  A thread about it on the 944 board http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/924-931-944-951-968-forum/56002-opinions-on-ate-super-blue-race-fluid-2.html - http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/924-931-944-951-968-fo rum/56002-opinions-on-ate-super-blue-race-fluid-2.html

Lol just looked on the date, goes back to 2003  

Say just noticed someone mentioned, DOT5 is more compressible at high temps... is that what you were running in your clutch hyds??? T hat would explain the problems you were having on track day?

John, for the clutch I am running just Dot 5...was Prestone now GUNK, David can take a look as it's at his place, guess this is something we can convert back to if that's the case...time for another discussion:)

Now back brakes...OMG...For all this I should have bought Blair's beast...lol

Austin wrote: Say just noticed someone mentioned, DOT5 is more compressible at high temps...

???

What am I not understanding here?

How can DOT5 be "more compressible" at any temp when liquids don't compress?

Patrick wrote: What am I not understanding here? How can DOT5 be "more compressible" at any temp when liquids don't compress?

Vapors do though - and dot 5 (not .1) has a lower boiling point.  So at higher temps, it'll boil - and compress (well, sort of!).

Patrick wrote: How can DOT5 be "more compressible" at any temp when liquids don't compress?

Dr.Fiero wrote: Vapors do though - and dot 5 (not .1) has a lower boiling point.  So at higher temps, it'll boil - and compress (well, sort of!).

Yeah... what he said

Austin wrote: Patrick wrote: How can DOT5 be "more compressible" at any temp when liquids don't compress? Dr.Fiero wrote: Vapors do though - and dot 5 (not .1) has a lower boiling point.  So at higher temps, it'll boil - and compress (well, sort of!). Yeah... what he said

So in other words... Due to a lower boiling point, the use of DOT5 can lead to a "spongy" brake pedal during extended hard braking.

Okay, got it.

[EDIT] Could that also lead to a "spongy" clutch pedal if DOT5 is used in the clutch hydraulics and the engine bay gets really HOT? If so, that's baaaaaaaad.

Ok saw after all the delays we are getting stuff DONE.  WooHoo.  Today was a day where lots got accomplished.
New Ebrake Cables, new Rear Calipers, New Rear Top of the line Pads. New sliders, new Springs for the calipers even new style pad retainers.
Struts got mounted properly. rear toe link was tightened up and cotter pin installed.  All the hose clamps were tightened up.  So in total the car has new pads all the way around, new calipers all the way around and new Grand Am rotors on the front. 

Tomorrow will be flush and fill clutch system and replace slave.  Slave will have new blue fluid as well.

The Exhaust Y-pipe has an issue that I don't like, the bolts are tight but the springs are no where near tight enough.  So Ill build a little spacer for them.

Tons of little things need to be done still, but hopefully it can all get done quickly and have the car back to him tomorrow night.

Its Fiero Chick's and I's Wedding Anniversary tomorrow so I would like to take her out for dinner and have some private time for us.

Lets skip the chatting and get right into it.

Brian's E-Brake Cables were living on borrowed time and seeing as this car will be full insured for street use it is required by law here and he wants it.

First pics of nice new E-Brake Cables.  The job got more complex later.

Ebrake and Sway Bar Joint

Another nice Cable

After I got the old cables installed, and started really checking out the old calipers they were partially seizing up.  I told him he cold get the last of the season out of them and then the car would need a complete rear brake overhaul or upgrade before next season but he decided nope NEW PARTS NOW.   Fiero Brakes have gone UP a lot in the past couple years, Total bill without core was 430 bucks, with core it came to nearly 600 bucks. Thats for  1 set of rear pads and 2 rear calipers.  OUCH.   Now Brian Still has the Show Bug in his brain, and had to dress up the calipers, a job that if I knew how much he was going to go nuts on it I might have suggested he do it at a later date instead at the same time as we were installing them.  Just teasing Brain. 

Brian getting the initial adjust on the E-Brake, he never knew that you could do that.

New Calipers Brake Pads and all installed.

Every time I turned my back, Brian was over with the paint re-touching up the calipers, I think he was obbsessed with getting them pretty red.  LOL, that or he was just getting high off the fumes.

BLUE Brake Fluid.  This stuff is great.  Suppose to be better pedal feel and not fade out as quick.  and its BLUE.

Thanks to Dr. Fiero's Power Bleeder it made it much easier.

Just walked around and opened up the bleed screw on each wheel and waited for the clear/black fluid to wash out and clean blue to be moving through.

Bassman wrote: Yup...next to flush and go with the Dot 4 we put in for the brakes tonight...nice and BLUE

See pics above.

Capt Fiero wrote: BLUE Brake Fluid.  This stuff is great.  Suppose to be better pedal feel and not fade out as quick.  and its BLUE. Thanks to Dr. Fiero's Power Bleeder it made it much easier. Just walked around and opened up the bleed screw on each wheel and waited for the clear/black fluid to wash out and clean blue to be moving through.

Geez, what a great idea for a tech day!

That is Craker's private tool that he uses to make his personal income and we would need his permission to use and some sort of deposit if we broke it for a club tech day.

    The club on many occasions has thought about buying one just like that as it does brakes, clutches and all sorts of things.  It is a simply amazing tool.  Frankly it would not be that hard to build one and I have thought about it several times.   A semi clear jug capable of holding 30psi, a 3ft rubber line and 6 foot rubber line.  A coupler to hook to an air supply, hardest part is the adapter to go onto the clutch master and brake master.   I took an old clutch master cap and adapted it so I could pressurize it using my air line, however I have no reservoir so I am limited to 2 oz of fluid at a time.   The Brake one would be even harder to build.

        Depending on if the club can alter its budget we may consider making it the next club tool purchase. Next Spring, However last year we were in the red and this year we are close to it after the camping trip and Arlington expenses.I think I should start a budget thread, and post up expenses vs income.

Dr.Fiero wrote: What was the tab for the 'pretty' brake fluid? Going to guess that it's WAY more than the ~$4/L I'm paying now??  ;)

$15.99lt, MOTUL is $19.99 per 1/2lt:)...we used 1.5lt last night for brakes alone.

http://www.driversedgeautosport.com/ate_superblue.htm - http://www.driversedgeautosport.com/ate_superblue.htm

And based on application...normal daily driver fine with Dot 3, as autox.  Mission track though is VERY hard on brakes, you really don't have cool down time, so after 2 laps I started to feel fade which is not good as you have to then adjust.

The ATE is great and has great hot and wet temps, but here is a basic scale was sent to me as a reference:

Wet boiling point defined as 3.7% water by volume.

Patrick wrote: Capt Fiero wrote: BLUE Brake Fluid.  This stuff is great.  Suppose to be better pedal feel and not fade out as quick.  and its BLUE. Thanks to Dr. Fiero's Power Bleeder it made it much easier. Just walked around and opened up the bleed screw on each wheel and waited for the clear/black fluid to wash out and clean blue to be moving through. Geez, what a great idea for a tech day!

Capt Fiero wrote: That is Craker's private tool that he uses to make his personal income and we would need his permission to use and some sort of deposit if we broke it for a club tech day.

Oh, I realize John would need to be involved in some capacity and/or at least be compensated in some manner for the use of his Power Bleeder, but I was mostly just expressing an interest in a possible club tech day which could revolve around the idea of flushing club member's Fiero brake/clutch hydraulic systems. 

Bassman wrote: And "That is Craker's private tool"...scared me for a moment

That and the fact that he uses it "to make his personal income".

Well I don't have any distilled water, or I would fire this baby up, however the pedal feel, is amazing.   Car is on the ground, everything is buttoned up, tightened up, checked and double checked.  Only thing left to do is the firewall side spark plugs, change the rotor and cap and she is done.

   Lisa and I are heading out for our anniversary dinner tonight, and we will make a quick stop at a store to pick up 2-3 gallons of distilled water to put in the cooling system.  Then tomorrow it is fire up day.

Capt Fiero wrote: Lisa and I are heading out for our anniversary dinner tonight, and we will make a quick stop at a store to pick up 2-3 gallons of distilled water to put in the cooling system.

What a couple of gear heads!

Happy Anniversary you two!

Happy Anniversary!

Capt Fiero wrote: Well I don't have any distilled water, or I would fire this baby up, however the pedal feel, is amazing.   Car is on the ground, everything is buttoned up, tightened up, checked and double checked.  Only thing left to do is the firewall side spark plugs, change the rotor and cap and she is done.    Lisa and I are heading out for our anniversary dinner tonight, and we will make a quick stop at a store to pick up 2-3 gallons of distilled water to put in the cooling system.  Then tomorrow it is fire up day.

has it been 3 years already??????   where the heck does the time go???

http://www.ubcscc.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=3979&start=25#p33054 - Re: UBCSCC/Toyo Track Day #2 - August 2nd, 2010

Good thing I am not a novice, I would not be able to run on my R888's...lol, like hazing being a novice

Thank You, All of You guys for the wishes of well.  Lisa and I had a great time at dinner and then took a walk down on the beach where we got married.  Unfortunately the tide was in so we could not get to the exact spot of the ceremony, but still a nice walk along Crescent Beach after dinner was a good end to the night.

Ok enough Chatter about mushy stuff lets get back to the thread topic, CARS.  Its 5:30am I am up early to get an early to get a kicken start on the car. I am out in the garage getting revved up about this morning. Gonna light a fire someplace. So in other words.  I am going to kick the tires, light the fires, get the Car started and revved up.

    First order of business is change out the front plugs while it is cold, change the cap and rotor, then fire it up, get the scan tool on it, check the sensors then check the timing.  Unfortunately Brian's Balancer had walked and none of the lines on his balancer lined up with the lines on the new balancer so I am praying that at least one of the 3 grooves in the new balancer shows up in a correct spot with the timing gun.

         Once everything is good, I'll take the car for a quick test drive and report back here. 

I FINALLY slept in, had that first draft budget done and all those figures out of my head for last night at least...your up at 5:30am, OMG...I'll chat with you later as most of my morning will be with my GM reviewing and adjusting numbers.

Very glad you had a enjoyable night

LOL, no John we have not used your slave yet, I didn't want to open that can of worms unless we had to.  Right now I want to get the NEED things done before the "maybe we should" things.  However yes it is a nice shiny black. 

Just finishing up the last of the stuff, and was changing out the MSD Cap and Rotor.   Looks like he will be doing a dist shaft and pickup coil soon.   However the cool thing, even with all the crud, the MSD rotor had not worn down and was still at full tip length.  

I cleaned up the distributor shaft as best as I could on the car, however when comes out for the pickup coil change it will need to be completely cleaned.   If I end up with extra time today I may just pull it.  However I am trying to get all the NEED TO BE DONE things first.  Like the 3 firewall plugs.  Brian you remember the nightmare with the front plugs, I have ran into the same thing with the rear ones.  I may have to lower the cradle to get more leverage.

Wow...Dawg distributor rebuild...hhmmm, that's a nice winter project

I certainly hope to squeeze out by 4pm David...I'll call you when on my way.

Pics and write up from the day.

Well I took the car for several runs around the town, then we took it for a couple drives, then he took it for a drive, then I drove it to his house 20kms away, while he followed in his other car, then he drove me back in the Fiero to my place and he is on his way back to his place.  He is going to take it for a long cruise tomorrow before hitting the track on Saturday.  To be frank this clutch has so much bite, that even if it did not get seated perfectly, it would still be fine.  Without even dropping it hard, it has the ability to spin the R888's that are on the car now. 

Ok well I should post the final wrap up info and pics from the day, so here goes.  Sorry I did not get pics of the new MSD wires, it was getting dark by the time we got the final tune on the car and frankly I could have used another day of turning to get it perfect.

More on that as time goes on.

Ok first pics, this was a back woods attempt at repairing the boots on the old MSD wires, wrapped in shrink tube.  It didn't work as there must have been internal issues as well.  The boots were stretched to the point that a few of them had small tears.  The shrink tube worked wit the heat, just not the internal stuff.  So a new MSD 8.5mm Superconductor kit was bought, then spent the better part of an hour and a half building the new wires.

Now for the plugs.  Note all 3 have different burn patterns, its because all 3 had slightly different gaps.  Obviously the widest gap was running the leanest and is bleach white, the other 2 are normal to slightly rich.

Last pics were my answer to the bad dist shaft.  Took a spare old one out of my dist shafts bin, ground the body smooth, then polished it wit the wire wheel, and wiped it down with degrease.  Turned out pretty good.  I sat down with Brian and showed him how to rebuild the dist shafts so he was pleased that he will be able to do that in the future without having to come and pay someone to do it for him.  It now has a new Delco Module, and new Pickup Coil.

All is well wit the car and I hope he will be happy with it for a good time to come.

I just got a email reply from Frank at drivers Edge...for those with GA brakes and would like performance rotors & pads, he can get in:

DBA brake rotors, which are available for the Beretta in the slotted 4000 series: $131 per rotor: http://www.dbadirect.com.au/6x6-wiper-slot - http://www.dbadirect.com.au/6x6-wiper-slot

And Hawk HPS Pads for $56 per axle set: http://www.hawkperformance.com/performance/hps.php - http://www.hawkperformance.com/performance/hps.php

I am VERY happy with the feel with the ATE fluid and so looking forward to this weekend, Saturday - Monday I'll be autox & track on Monday...Monday will be the test:)...I will upgrade to these next year:).

Thanks Dawg, MSD does not make them anymore anyways...and no heat sink, PCA post from the organizer:

Just setup today's course. It's simple to run for novices, but challenging to find the right line for experienced drivers. It's definitely a 2nd gear course. It's starting to get extremely difficult to come up with new ideas!!!

Sunday's course will be a bit faster and more like a road course.

see ya'll tomorrow.

remember to bring sunscreen!!!

Then Mission on Monday, that's where I will push it with all the work, new clutch, brakes and tread plus much more, different car, have to get the launch from dead start dialed in:)...night all