[joeh944]

I apologize in advance for the length of this post...





Like many others, the firewall on my 95 coupe flexes when the clutch pedal is depressed. It does not appear that the firewall has actually cracked...yet.



A search of the forum indicates that some have remedied this problem by welding a doubler or reinforcement plate to the firewall, while others have installed a brace between the fender well or strut tower and the firewall.



Would it be possible to bolt a reinforcement plate to the firewall?



For anyone who has done the weld repair:



Did you weld the reinforcement plate on the front (engine) side of the firewall, or the back side of the firewall?



I presume welding will damage the paint on the firewall, and that proper repair of the paint requires removal of the clutch master cylinder, brake master cylinder and vacuum booster, and all hoses, tubes, wiring etc. in the area around the clutch master cylinder – is that correct?



Would anyone be willing to send or post photographs of their weld repair?





Separately, my car requires considerable effort to disengage and engage the clutch. I test drove three other 968’s before buying mine last year, and my car seems to have a heavier clutch than the other three cars I drove.



I understand that friction in the clutch mechanism can result from problems with the release fork bearings and lack of lubrication on the splined drive shaft, and I plan to have a repair shop determine whether those might be problems on my car.



My car has ~78,000 mi. I don’t have complete maintenance records, but there is no documentation to indicate that the clutch has been replaced. Sachs manufactures pressure plates in two different ranges of clamping force: 2300-2500 lb, and 3100-3300 lb.



Is there a way to determine which pressure plate – 2xxx lb, or 3xxx lb – was installed on my car when it was manufactured?



Do any of you have a 2xxx lb pressure plate and, if so, do you find it adequate for street driving?



Thanks in advance.





Joe

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[94SilverCab]

Just a quick jump in here...give RS Barn a call about the firewall, they have done a few and , I believe have come up with a solution.



Lubricating the Bearing is incredibly easy (it is one of the few things I am entirely confident doing myself without hesitation). The clutch inspection port has a rubber plug (which is probably missing on your car as it is on everyone else's). Spray up there with some good lubricant (I believe crc) and if you can't find a replacement plug cover with the inverted top from a quart of mobil 1.



I sswear that doing this twice a year has kept me from having any clutch issues. I did replace my clutch hose last year with the stainless steel one from RSB while they were bleeding tthe brakes and installing s/s brake lines as well.



Regards,



Jay

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[Rutger Gert-jan]

Hi,



I had a crack in my firewall as well. I welded in a piece of sheet metal. On my car I had a bad clutch (broken disk) and a craked firewall, so it was time to do the complete job. I had to remove the complete brake booster and al the extra fittings, I even had to remove the inlet manifold (it makes the yob a lot easier, and it makes cleaning the manifold real easy <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> ) some told me it should be possible to remove the brake booster without removing the manifold....again it provides you with more space for the welding once it is out.



Once al the stuff is out of the way, make a model from cardboard, make sure it does not interfere with the mounting place of the brake booster; otherwise the booster will not fit correctly on the firewall.



Next start removing the paint from the surface where the sheet metal will sit. Then weld the piece in, I drilled some holes across the sheet to provide more attaching points. Be carefull as the metal on the firewall is very thin....so choose the settings on your welding machine accordingly...

I also welded little strips on the bottom of my "repair sheet" and welded them to the body for extra reinforcement.



Next up....get a can of paint and paint the repaired area!



If you are going to do the job yourself, here is little list with parts:



- Gasket between firewall and master cylinder

- Blue hose

- New gasket between brake cylinder and booster (rubber ring)

- Inlet manifold fasket

- Two rubber rings (between throttle body and manifold)

- Complete clutch set (disc, pressure plate and bearing)

- Slave & master cylinder+ hose

- All the hardware for the clutch (get a set from Pragorn, it has everything you need)

- Exhaust gasket (2)



Good luck!

Rutger

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[uscarrera]

Can anyone post some pictures of crack in firewall?

thanks

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[Rutger Gert-jan]

have a look at these pictures.....found them on the forum



http://www.968forums.com/index.php?showtop...amp;hl=firewall

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[uscarrera]

Wow, that is nasty, glad have not ever dealt with this issue,

Rich

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[FRporscheman]

My clutch is also very stiff and my firewall is not cracked. Firewall does not flex any more than the other 2 968s I've observed.



Someone told me that I need to lubricate the fork bearings... I think that's baloney because the clutch is hard to push AND hard to hold it down... if it was just friction from no lube, it would only be hard to push.



I had a thought that maybe my rubber clutch hose was bulging and thus requiring more force. Took a look yesterday and no bulge at all.



My uncle told me when I first got the car, that my PP was just old and the spring-fingers have become rigid over time and with heat. I think he was right. Either that, or I really do have the motorsport PP.

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[pipalli]

I'm also looking at curing a heavy clutch pedal. A previous owner put in a "competition" clutch. Before I change anything, I'd like to find out.. Is a stiffer PP really needed? My car is a daily driver with occasional track time. Basically stock with an authority chip. If the stiffer PP is needed, has anyone changed the clutch master or slave cylinders to get the pedal pressure back to normal? This is the best solution, but I don't know if compatible cylinders are available with different piston areas.

THanks,

John

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[flash]

the fork bearing problem is incredibly common - a quick peek to see if you have the inspection port plug will give you a clue - if it is missing, and the bearing is original, odds are you have the problem to one degree or another - factor in bad weather or a car that is driven in the wet, and it's pretty much a given



that does not mean that you might not have the heavier plate - they made at least 3 different rates



to answer the other question, a stiffer plate is not "needed", but can be helpful in performance driving, as it grabs more firmly, making shifts faster

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[pipalli]

I opened the clutch cover to check things out and get the part number of the PP(Sachs 3032 125 199). I greased the release lever bearings which were rather dry. There is little improvement if any. I checked the helper spring on the pedal and it's correct according to the manual. Besides being a pain to drive in traffic, I'm also concerned about fatigue on the firewall(I've read of those who have had the firewall fail.) And I find the heavy pedal makes quick precise shifting harder. I've driven some short tracks with alot of shifting and can't imagine liking this clutch on those.

I'm hoping that someone has some experience using a smaller diameter master or larger diameter slave?? Because there is nothing really wrong with this clutch and I may as well get more miles out of it.

If all else fails, I can put a stock PP back in.

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[cdtscout]

Just a quick addition to this thread. Swapped out my Pressure Plate this weekend with a lower clamp force...Blue Label. My 968 is again wonderful to drive. For those planning to replace the clutch....look hard for the right one for you. After repairing the fire wall flex from the heavy duty PP...I cut my losses and am really glad that I did.

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