Review: SPEC Stage II clutch and Fidanza FW installed

[nrcooled]

I just finished the installation of my SPEC Stage II and Fidanza Flywheel. The installation was horrible.
Day 1:
I did everything to spec. Found that I had a sprung 3puck clutch which had no friction material left on it (which explained all the chatter) but ran out of time so I had to leave the auto hobby shop w/o finishing
Day 2:
after bledding the clutch system for two hours we couldn't get the tranny to go into gear at all. Fought with it for a couple more hours and decided to buy a new Master Cyl and Slave to remedy the problem
Day 3:
Found a great deal on both the master and slave for $50 picked them up and installed them in 20 mins. Began to bleed the system again and the same results. I called SPEC to inquire but they had no good suggestions
Day 4:
Took tranny back off and inspected all work and torque specs and found nothing. Tried using the old pressure plate but the clutch disk was too thick. That is when I called Ken at Enjuku and he told me to take off the clutch dampner. Worked like a charm and I finnally had pressure in my clutch pedal. Adjusted free play and I was in business.

Review: I added Redline 75W-150 which made the tranny feel great very smooth. I reccomend it strongly! Although I can't really get on it with high boost, but the new flywheel feels great very quick revving and effortless throttle. The pressure plate is too soft so I have to get used to a touchy clutch peddal (I was spoiled by the three puck w/ stiff pressure plate) but it will be better in traffic These are just my initial impressions after only one day of driving and I will give further imput as it comes

I will do a write up w/ pics but word to the wise- If you can't pressure bleed your clutch system get rid of the dampner ASAP or you will not get all the air out. It will save you a lot of time and aggravation
Edit: to bypass the dampner follow the hard line from the master across the fire wall and down to the underside of car. Unscrew the fitting. Find the slave on the tranny and follow the soft line to the dampner box. Unscrew the fitting. Bend the hard line from master to meet slave and use the same bracket that the soft line was in. Then viola! No dampner. You can remove the dampner now.

[TheTimanator]

are you running stock boost? I was thinking about getting a spec clutch but I wasn't sure if I should get the Stage 1 or 2. If I don't go much higher than stock would there be a point of getting the stage 2? It's gonna be at least a year or more before I can do the nesecary upgrades I. intercooler, fuel upgrade etc....

[nrcooled]

You can run max boost of the t25 (14psi) w/ the SMIC and stock injectors. You won't see any problems unless you are running in extreme heat and humidity. I am running 11psi daily w/ no issues.

About the SPEC stage II I talked to Ken at Enjuku and he said that it should be more than enough for my massive 205hp 215lb/ft tq at 10psi. It's also so much more streetable than the 3 puck that was in there before

[xhdriver]

i have the stage 1, and wish i wouldve atleast gone stage2, if not three.

[adey]

nrcooled, your clutch should be broken in by now... as this is kind of an old thread. I was searching.
In any case...

Does/did your Stage II chatter at all when you first got it in? I just put mine in a few days ago (at a shop) and even pulling out of the garage, it was "shuddering" or "chattering" at low rpm (sub 1,500) when slipping. Bringing it up higher (>1500) rpms, slipping does not cause chattering though.
I realize you're using a fidanza lightened flywheel, but that shouldn't make much of a difference.

Others: are new slightly-stickier-than-OEM clutches like this supposed to chatter at low RPM slipping? Or did the shop **** up the install?

[nrcooled]

Originally posted by adey
nrcooled, your clutch should be broken in by now... as this is kind of an old thread. I was searching.
In any case...

Does/did your Stage II chatter at all when you first got it in? I just put mine in a few days ago (at a shop) and even pulling out of the garage, it was "shuddering" or "chattering" at low rpm (sub 1,500) when slipping. Bringing it up higher (>1500) rpms, slipping does not cause chattering though.
I realize you're using a fidanza lightened flywheel, but that shouldn't make much of a difference.

Others: are new slightly-stickier-than-OEM clutches like this supposed to chatter at low RPM slipping? Or did the shop **** up the install?

No it shouldn't chatter at all. My 3-puck that I had before chattered like a cold school girl. Sounds like they didn't clean and resurface your flywheel propperly so the disk isn't grabbing hard. I would give it some time then give them a call if the problem persists

-sorry it took so long to reply

[Roly]

I'll post a second opinion in a couple of weeks when my OEM flywheel gets lightened and I slap on the Stage II.

[driftk2000]

I threw my SPEC II on with a JUN flywheel on my S13.. The bastard chattered at low rpms. It was hard shifting into gears so I adjusted the clutch pedal height. If you don't then you'll probably damage your tranny gears like I did with mines..

I don't know about SPEC clutches man.. Someone tell me..

[TheTimanator]

I my hope clutch doesn't chatter when I get the car running. I'll be sure and post when I get evertyhing going. Anyway,

Did you guys use the throw out bearing that SPEC sent with the clutches? I put my clutch on with it, and the bearing was kinda weird. I spun and it kinda walbled (sp?) I'm hoping it will correct itself when the car is running.....

[silnv]

I dont have any problems with my stage II, but I just put a new slave cylinder and I am gonna have to remove the dampening box cause bleeding it sucks.

As of right now I like my clutch, I have only been cruzing at stock boost and have had no problems as of yet. Although I am kinda worried about it, my friend had a stage III and the pressure plate lost all pressure and fried his clutch in less than six months. I just hope this doesnt happen to me.

[adey]

just to review/recap now that it's been a while... my stage II only chatters at ~1,200 rpm when starting from a stop. (happens whether I start in 1st or 2nd.) above that, and after the clutch has fully engaged (after I've taken my foot off the pedal) then there are no problems. Upshifts and downshifts (1-2, 2-3, 3-2, 4-3, etc) are all smooth and I feel nothing out of the ordinary.

AFAIK the clutch was installed using the TO bearing supplied by SPEC, but there's still that annoying noise (sounds exactly the same) when I'm at a stop (idle) and the clutch is in (engaged) in neutral. It goes away when I push in the clutch, JUST like before, so I'm somewhat unsure of whether the new throwout bearing was installed with the clutch or not. That, or there's something awry somewhere else in the tranny/clutch area!

[Roly]

Did all of you either replace the flywheel or atleast get it resurfaced?

[silnv]

Originally posted by Roly
Did all of you either replace the flywheel or atleast get it resurfaced?

I had mine resurfaced, but I am pretty sure most others just went with an aftermarket flywheel.

[M.Piedlourde]

Originally posted by nrcooled
If you can't pressure bleed your clutch system get rid of the dampner ASAP or you will not get all the air out. It will save you a lot of time and aggravation

What exactly does the dampener do? I imagine if Enjuku told you to junk it, it's not a required piece of the system. If a person is going to be replacing the clutch and flywheel anyway, would you recommend just tossing it, regardless, to avoid any potential bleeding problems?

[AKADriver]

It does what it says - it damps the vibration/shock from the clutch and slave cylinder from the master cylinder and clutch pedal. Mostly to make the pedal feel smoother, and possibly to protect the master cylinder... but those master cylinders fail all the time for other reasons anyway.

[adey]

I supposedly had mine resurfaced, but I don't know if the shop actually resurfaced it or not.

[nrcooled]

I used the SPEC T/O bearing and installed everything according to the Chiltons manual. Took my time to make sure everything was done correctly. I have had no noise (or maybe I can't hear it over my chattering OBX SS or exhaust) and no chattering. The only way to be completely sure is to do it yourself I guess to make sure everything was done propperly. I have become very anal about doing work myself.

Shops make mistakes and don't tell you or don't know they did. If I make a mistake I know exactly what/ what not I did.

What exactly does the dampener do? I imagine if Enjuku told you to junk it, it's not a required piece of the system. If a person is going to be replacing the clutch and flywheel anyway, would you recommend just tossing it, regardless, to avoid any potential bleeding problems?

It's up to you. Just do the whole install and if you can't bleed it then just remove it then try to bleed again. You don't have to take the tranny off to remove the dampner so no sweat just leaving it until you can't bleed it.
Ken @ enjuku said that they could get pressure but after they took their project car out the clutch pedal would just sink to the floor again. I couldn't get pressure at all. I bled and bled but the da_mn pedal wouldn't get any pressure