Major progress, 1st a DOH!, then a YA!!, then a Hmmm Options

[aircooledboy]

The Arctic winter broke briefly today here, with temps near 60 for the first time since late October. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/boldblue.gif) So, Stef came over and we put the new clutch and trans in. First I went to turn the lights on in the shop. . . nothin? So I open the giant double doors to the Great Midwest NARP Assembly Building, and I see something odd (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/idea.gif) Boy, I don't remember that bank of floresent lights leaning up against my tool box. . . .

[aircooledboy]

Thanks for the condolences and the flying lights guys. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/beerchug.gif) In the relative scheme of stuff that has happened to others around here lately, it is easier to put it into perspective. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/monkeydance.gif) The farmer that we bought the place from used nails to hold them up, which aint gonna cut it in a building that sees 130' temperature swings every year. The new lights will be put up with screws.

The p plate and the disk are brand new, and the fly was just resurfaced, with all being installed yesterday, so they can't be frozen/locked up. The throw out is not new, but is the correct Kennedy part with only about 3000 miles on it, and moves smoothly and quitely. The bushings are less than 2 yrs old throughout the entire trans linkage including the little one that goes in the hole where the bar goes through the bracket at the trans end.

I just spoke to Brad Mayuer, and he made a very good point. If the trans is grinding, no matter what else may or may not be wrong, the clutch is not releasing properly. If the clutch was disengaging, then nothing in the trans should be turning. Soooooo, maybe the clutch needs to be tightened a bit more. It seemed pretty darn tight to me, but I have a history of being wrong on that question. I'm going to try starting the car with the clutch in, and then see if I can get it into gear. If not, I will tighten it a bit more. It also occurred to me that when I had the fly checked for warping, they cleaned it with a scotch brite pad to remove the blueing from the fly. It left the surface with a tiny bit of texture, almost like a bead hone. I wondered at the time if that might cause the clutch to grab. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/confused24.gif)

Andrew, the Stage III p plate and stock 228mm Sachs disk from Kennedy cost me about $300. I don't recall the exact price because they gave a discount on the p plate (long and unimportant story), then nicked me $9.00 for 2 "shorter head bolts" to hold my throw out tube that appear to be identical to the bolts I can get for .19 at Farm & Fleet, and then they had a little trouble getting it out to me, so we agreed to split the cost of overnighting it. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/cool_shades.gif) So, I don't recall the specific prices with out looking at the invoice, but I would say $325 is probably the normal price for the p plate & disk.