I'm sure you are aware of this, so it's just a reminder. Make sure to clean and then lubricate the trans. input shaft at the base, where the release bearing resides and the inside of the new release bearing. The
Helms states to use super high temp urea grease. There are alternatives on the link below.

https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forum...Number=2473058

You'll want 'smooth as butter' shifts and no 'hang-ups' when pulling on those Hemi's and LSA's. Now's the time to reckon with that.

 

Comptech exhaust?

 

Justin, where you at!?!?

@gerzand

 

I love the Deloreans!

 

Old flywheel

Cleaned the inside of the tranny with brake cleaner.

Old throw out bearing

Cleaned engine side with brake cleaner. Rear main seal is in great shape. Looks fresh. I added a bit of the Honda lube to keep it that way.

Clean the throw out rod with brake cleaner and use the Honda lube to grease all the connection points.


Grease the spine shaft base and splines, don’t grease the tip.

Fly wheel is on the engine and waiting for bolts to come on!

 

Great pics!
Impressive. The two above pictures really show just how much room there is to work.



That sounds like 'words of wisdom' Majofo would say.

Nice job so far!

 

<3 Jofo

 

Honda High Temp Urea Grease...that shit has saved me many times.
You'll be ready to fly down and help me do the S2000 after this! My throwout bearing is making noise in first and second...
you can kinda hear it at idle and when you press clutch it goes silent.

 

Fellas, I’m not able to get the last 3/4” of the transmission onto the block. Could I have misaligned it?

 

 

 

It could be that the male splines on the input shaft are not aligned with the receiving female splines at the end of the clutch disc? Or maybe it's hanging up in pilot bearing in the flywheel? Do the diameters look the same from the new FW to the OEM FW? the alignment tool should fit in both. Maybe try using your flywheel turner tool and slightly turn the FW and try again?

 

Looking at this picture, I'm thinking that its just a matter of getting the end of the input shaft into the pilot bearing. You can see a slight misalignment in the tranny case, in relation to the engine block. You may have to, somehow, grasp the rear of the tranny case, as you apply forward pressure, and slightly move it around to get that male end of the input shaft into the female pilot bearing? It's gonna be hard on your (lumbar) back if done from the top; however, not sure if you can do it on your back underneath.

 

Is there only one pilot bearing? Seems my clutch kit came with two.

There was already a bearing in the flywheel. Not sure why they gave a bearing of the exact same size unattached.

 

As far as I know, there should be one bearing that fits the end of the input shaft of the trans. That's the one that should be installed in the new single mass FW.

Take that bearing and slide it on the end of the input shaft, if it fits and it is the same size as the one in the new flywheel then your 'alignment issue' is just a matter of 'blindly threading that needle' inside your clutch case.

Not sure; but that pilot bearing in the new FW may be smaller? It may be that the picture of the FW is farther away then the one above, though.

 

After comparing, It was the same size as the other bearing.

 

If the pilot bearing in the new FW is the same, then the issue has been deduced down to my underlined response above.

here's to your success!

 

After removing the PP and clutch disk to check the FW alignment, all is well.

when bolting doesn’t the pp to the clutch disk, and your alignment tool upwards to make easing the transmission into the engine be easier.

 

Saving4aTL, earlier when I asked you if the new Spec clutch had springs on it was because when the change is made from a 'spring dampened' steel OEM dual-mass flywheel to a single-mass FW, the new clutch disc usually has springs on them to help dampen drive train shock, which yours does.

The OEM clutch disc is solid and has no springs; therefore, drive train shock is spring dampened by the OEM dual-mass flywheel, that's why they are so heavy.

So, just to clarify. You have a light weight single-mass aluminum flywheel; Part #:SA40A-2:

https://www.specclutches.com/705651/

OMG, that thing is going to 'spin-up' so quick, with that Rotrex, compared to the dual-mass steel OEM FW!

After you get the car all buttoned-up, it will be interesting to hear where the engagement point (close to the floor, middle pedal or higher up) of the clutch now falls with the new non adjusting pressure plate?

 

The short cut is always the long way. That point has been proven repeatedly in this thread.
Could it be done, yes...should it, debatable...

with the headaches and doubt was it worth the time saved over dropping the whole thing?
Serious question...would you recommend this way to another person that hasn't done it before?

That's all I was getting at with the axle comment...
No, I don't have a TL anymore nor have I changed my own clutch.
Not sure how that affects my ability to use logic or credibility when questioning your approach.

I hope it's all back together and doesn't give you any shit after all the effort you have put in.

 

ASPEC 04-06 base?

Removed the Pressure plate and clutch disk to assess any mistakes.

After assessment came back with no issues, I rouletted the spine shaft like a russian and hoped for the best.

“La-hike a glove!”

Beauty

 

The Thank you for the clarification! Yes that is the setup.

After turning it on, runs perfect. Smooth engagement, Smooth shifts.

Pedal engagement is between mid and distal points.

Judging by how soft it rides, hard to believe this clutch can handle 1000hp.

 

One of the reasons Gerzand recommends it. OEM feel and operations with the ability to handle 670 ft/lbs of torque. After that, you have to go to a twin disk set up

 

Going out street cruising to break in the clutch!

Pump and E85 tuning on June 10-15

 

Good to hear that it's 'perfect and smooth' after all that hard work. In the end, all it took was a 'little massaging' to get the proximate end of the tranny input shaft to fit in its new pilot bearing home.

As far as the pedal clutch engagement point, that sounds about right for your new single mass LW FW and non-adjusting PP. The two guys below have a similar high performance clutch set-up as yours; however, they are using the xlr8 kits. Which has the aasco LW FW with clutch and non adjusting PP combo that xlr8 put together for the CL-S6. They reflect a similar pedal engagement point as yours.


Maybe when time permits and after you've had time to reflect during the break-in period, you can put together a brief assessment / summation / list of things you would 'do differently', if you had to do it again, to close this particular clutch install?

Nevertheless, thanks for the 'excellent adventure' online and here is to many miles of reliable high performance utility to come.

 

Thanks Y’all! I’m going to give a report this week. Clutch is almost broke in!

Going back to working on the yard until then!

 

After some driving I noticed that the clutch engagement is up top, almost at the end of the range-of-motion.




The shifts feel very smooth, better than oem.




In the high gears you will need to give it a tiny bit of throttle. I’m used to shifting without needing to put my foot on the pedal until I need to.

Down from stop to start is not as easy as OEM, but I’m getting the hang of it. If the car was stock the transition would be smoother.

Downshifting to slow he car needs a little throttle during shifts. I’m accustomed to simply down shifting without applying any throttle. The higher the difference in RPM is, the more throttle must be given to balance the RPMs of the tranny and engine.

Overall it’s a great setup and upgrade. It feels like it can transfer the power without feeling jerky in the process. The car feels very controlled now that the clutch isn’t slipping every time you give it WOT.

 

It feels weird to drive in the top end on the car at the moment.

You feel a nice pull, then around 5k rpm the pull is reduced all the way to redline.

This was done on purpose by English racing to utilize the maximum amount of HP, while minimizing the slip on the OEM clutch.

Madam Blueberry is ready for 100WHP more.

Now that it doesn’t spin, its like coitus interruptus.

 

^
Interesting.
After you update the tune, during your next session, to eliminate that 'safe guard', due to the slipping clutch, you should feel a stronger 'pull' that new factored in HP will deliver.

 

^
English did a good job on the tune. Very impressed with the results and waiting with baited breath until it’s also E85 tunes.

The car goes quite quickly even with the safe guard in place!



Its official. Someday I’m going to buy an Acura TL 04-06 6MT and place all mods from the 5AT Base model onto it and revert the 5AT to stock and make it the DD. This will be in in the future.

 

@zeta is a good guy.

Gives good thorough advice, and always there when you need his help. Kind and polite.

Thanks for all your help through this build!

 

Do you still have the checkvalve in the slave?
Also, you don't normally rev match for downshifting?
Have you been driving manual a long time?

 

Checkvalve delete complete.
I have never had to rev match on downshifts because I drive gently. Learned to drive manual at 13 y/o on a teal colored Ford Festiva 1991.

Im learning to rematch now.

 

Maybe do a MT swap?
Here's a salvage 04 in Littleton Colorado:
https://erepairables.com/salvage-car...l/vid-32529410

 

I wouldn’t do the MT swap. I looked into it back on page 20, it was too much trouble. I deduced that it’s better to pay a little more for the finished product.

I chose a 04-06 6MT because the supercharger won’t be the same on a J35.

Unless I use a larger supercharger like the MP92...

 

Oops
I see what you mean. Yes it will be a salvage due to cost. But I highly prefer none salt state cars.

 

it just eases the abrupt engagement of the pressure plate...doesn't have to be hard driving, I think I just got used to doing it.
I was most impressed by the DSG in sport mode because it automatically does it so it sounds like you're driving a manual. LOL
So you've been driving manual for 2 years then?

 

^ lol

Ive never had an issue with abrupt engagement before. The revs between gears are not far enough apart (due to soft driving) for the car to jolt into gears.

This clutch hesitates during a downshift if you don't give it any throttle. I never understood why people “Heel toe” and “blipped the throttle” until this clutch. Those concepts now make sense.

 

When I learned to drive manual transmissions, back in the late 70's with the 'ole man' and his VW bugs and Porsche 912, 'blipping the throttle' more so than 'heeltoe' was the standard modus operandi.

It was fun and sounded cool to get that timing just right during a downshift.

Usually, because carburetors in those models were cable driven and 'spring' loaded, so you always wanted to give them a little tap before during a quick downshift deceleration into a corner before a long pull out of said corner or something. Good Old Days. A wonderful 'involuntary' habit that carries over to this day with may pre DBW CL-S6.

 

Hmm...
I can't remember how the spec clutch felt for me.
I know it was Andy's recommendation to Justin that put it in there in the first place.
I do think it was nothing then sudden acceleration but I don't recall if it was hard to
drive smoothly.

I arrived in Ohio and could barely get the car into first or second gear...Justin was like
yeah, that's cause of the cold...I'm like bro you're out of your fuckin mind. We went to
the guy that installed it straight away from the airport so he could adjust the clutch and
then it was fine. I was like, you crazy mofo driving it like that for so long...like press in
clutch, crunch into first and second barely sure it's even in. It was smooth during my
short ownership but I think that that abuse mixed with Austin's lack of experience when he
bought it probably is what put the tranny over the edge after I sold it.