so, i finally got a chance to poke in the new spring centered clutch disk in my own car - after having these things out and about for a few months now, and me not having one in my own car, i finally said "enough is enough"
first impressions, after a VERY short drive around the block are:
rattle diminished at least half at idle
rattle essentially gone altogether while driving above second gear
rattle diminished at least half in second, shortened in rev range, and goes away completely with any change in throttle
much smoother engagement of clutch - actually a little weird at first, as it is so smooth
while i was doing the clutch, i also decided to wrap the header with a fiberglass copper inlaid thermal wrap, and then coated it with an aluminum thermal coating - this was to reduce under hood temps, and to reduce the "ricer" sound the header made when it was cold
first impressions (after the initial smoking of the wrap baking in stopped):
much quieter under the hood
definitely cooler under the hood (no measurements yet)
all but eliminated the ricer sound - very happy about this
i also finally got a chance to install the thermal barrier on the underside of my header heat shield (this unit will be available soon)
while it was up in the air, i also took this opportunity to add some strap location points for when i put the car in the trailer - i used the KLA rear cubby plates in the rear, and some single hole units from paragon up front, on one of the bolts for the lower suspension brace - should make for much easier attachment of the tie down straps
i also installed an adjustable voltage regulator - this was to resolve the low idle voltage issue i had as a result of the power pulleys - first impressions - VERY cool - i now have 12.5 at idle, as opposed to 11.8
all in all, a good day
tomorrow i get to drive the car and see how she does - WOOHOO!