Trashed clutch - F-Body Road Racing and Autocross Forums

Went to a PCA time trial yesterday. Got a good number of time trial runs in. on my last session I noticed shifting into fourth was a bit notchy. Then later I had trouble even getting it into 4th, once I even ground the gears pretty good.
Then after my last run I pulled off to run down the road for a cool down and I heard some strange noises as I was down shifting into 2nd while having trouble w/ the shift. When I stopped and tried to go into first it wouldn't go into gear, it wasn't disengaging the clutch. 2nd wasn't much better. I could turn the car off and put it in 1st, put the clutch in, and then start it. Trying to slip the clutch made a horrible noise and the car had very little power. After much trial and tribulation I finally limped it home. 200 mile trip pulling my tire trailer from mineral wells to austin. good thing I learned clutchless shifting in my a friends POS Aspire. After this I am seriously looking into getting a tow vehicle. I was quoted $450+ tow esimates!
Anyway, the sheet metal center section of the spring hub disc hand torn. I think some debris also got between the disc and pressureplate/flywheel causing disengagement problems
see here

http://tinyurl.com/3yest

flywheel & pressure plate both quite a bit of heat spotting. 30K miles of hard auto-x and some time trials and lapping sessions thrown in.

Anyone know the minimum spec thickness for an LT1 flywheel after resurfacing?

y5e06 View Member Profile	Jun 7 2004, 01:48 AM Post #1
Advanced Member Group: Advanced Members Posts: 951 Joined: 2-January 04 From: Austin, TX Member No.: 88	Went to a PCA time trial yesterday. Got a good number of time trial runs in. on my last session I noticed shifting into fourth was a bit notchy. Then later I had trouble even getting it into 4th, once I even ground the gears pretty good. Then after my last run I pulled off to run down the road for a cool down and I heard some strange noises as I was down shifting into 2nd while having trouble w/ the shift. When I stopped and tried to go into first it wouldn't go into gear, it wasn't disengaging the clutch. 2nd wasn't much better. I could turn the car off and put it in 1st, put the clutch in, and then start it. Trying to slip the clutch made a horrible noise and the car had very little power. After much trial and tribulation I finally limped it home. 200 mile trip pulling my tire trailer from mineral wells to austin. good thing I learned clutchless shifting in my a friends POS Aspire. After this I am seriously looking into getting a tow vehicle. I was quoted $450+ tow esimates! Anyway, the sheet metal center section of the spring hub disc hand torn. I think some debris also got between the disc and pressureplate/flywheel causing disengagement problems see here http://tinyurl.com/3yest flywheel & pressure plate both quite a bit of heat spotting. 30K miles of hard auto-x and some time trials and lapping sessions thrown in. Anyone know the minimum spec thickness for an LT1 flywheel after resurfacing?

CamaroFS34 View Member Profile	Jun 7 2004, 02:28 PM Post #2
Green Terror Group: Advanced Members Posts: 612 Joined: 31-January 04 From: Western Maryland Member No.: 175	Morgan, do you know if the clutch in your car has ever been replaced? If not, there is a TSB for a piece... I think it's the pilot bearing. The original equipment one wears, and if it's not replaced, it will cause exactly what happened to you. Ask me how I know. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/dry.gif) The TSB replaces that original bearing with a different type of bearing that is not prone to allowing the clutch to wear unevenly (and ultimately break apart). I get about 70K out of a clutch. I've only replaced the flywheel once (this last time, at about 270K). Karen