[jaap]

Hi Johann,

I actually had planned to do the job early December but my brother in law, who has a small garage didn't have space available for me to work on the car until this week. Working indoors in a heated garage with the car on a lift is quite different from the way you had to do the clutch replacement. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]

Will not go to Zandvoort because of Christmas / family activities but we will probably meet again at one of Dimma's saterdays.

Jaap

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[dkdm]

Jaap,
I just replace my clutch as well (due to a less than comfortable effort peddle).

The thing I noticed was the pressure plate I removed had a blue stripe which the parts manual describes as 964 C2/4. The one I got from Sunset had a green stripe listed for 968.

What a difference! I was getting worried I was going to have some firewall issues. I also replaced the fork needles and shaft but I think the problem was the pressure plate.

Cheers,

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[jaap]

Hi dkdm,

The one I removed two years ago had a green stripe and was most likely the original one. The one that came with the clutch kit had a blue stripe and required a lot of effort from the start eventhough I replaced all other components (including the hydraulics and bearings etc). I have just gone back to the original (green striped) pressure plate and now all is fine. So I think the difference is indeed the pressure plate which also according to the sachs web site is now shared between the 968 and 964 (but actually has the 964 specs [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif[/img] ). Did you also buy a complete sachs clutch kit or did you buy separate parts?

Jaap

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[Johannvb]

I also have the blue striped pressure plate(came with the kit from Sachs), but I don't find the pedal effort too bad. In the back of my mind I am worried about the firewall, but I have the Design 1 strut brace + firewall brace on my wishlist

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[dkdm]

Jaap,
I did purchase the OEM clutch kit. It came with PP, disk, and throw out bearing.

The peddle effort was not horrible but I when I found my self in stop-n-go traffic it got bothersome. It might have also something to do with switching from our other manual car that has an easy peddle.

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[jaap]

The firewall was also one of my concerns but it was mainly the difference between my other car and the 968 that spoiled the drive. When I compared yours at the 968 meet it seemed mine was even heavier although I am not sure why.

Jaap

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[flash]

funny how people differ on this

i find that the soft stock clutch spoils the drive - its lack of positive feel makes for slow and sloppy shifting - i deliberately installed the stiffer plate, partly for improved clamping force (an therefore faster shifting) and partly because i wanted to feel the clutch through my shoe

every time i get in a car with a stock clutch i feel completely lost, and sometimes stall the car because i can't feel where it is grabbing

the 325 was the same way - being a performance car, the M3 has an appropriately much stiffer clutch, and resultantly better feel and grab

but there is the firewall issue to contend with, and a stiff pedal can be a drag in traffic

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[jaap]

If it was only (slightly) heavier than stock it would not be such a problem but I think Pete also mentioned that the geometry is also different which means it only releases close to the floor and you don't get the feeling you reach a point were keeping it pressed down requires less effort.

Flash, I thought you had gone back to the OEM pressure plate because this was the only one allowing the use of the clutch plate with springs and SMF?

Jaap

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[flash]

the oddball pressure plate that a lot of the "cheaper" sources sell does indeed have different geometry that makes it like you depict

the 3200# plate i have in my car is the same geometry as stock

i went back to the stock clutch disk, but not the stock pressure plate - i had done that for a while though, trying to figure out a problem with the disk design when used with the 12lb flywheel, which it did not have when used with the 17lb flywheel - i didn't want to change the flywheel, as i wanted every last bit of advantage - i hated it though, and went back to the 3200# plate, stock clutch disk, and 12lb flywheel, which is what i have had for the last 5 years

sooner or later i will revisit this issue, but will likely just end up with a kevlar OEM style disk

lol - of course now that i am doing the supercharger, this all seems moot, and i could probably run anything i wanted and be happy

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