My God man!!! do i need a new clutch?

[ZcarsRock]

Heres my issue,

i try to get my car to break loose on a favorate patch of asphault near my home(farm country, little traffic) I rev the engine in 1st gear to about 5200rpms, then let out the clutch, there is no peeling out, no grab, just a slight whif of burning rubber(from the clutch?) and the car eases forward slowley at first then i feel it grab and i'm off. The car in 4th gear sometimes experiences an increase in rpm's with no increase in gas pedal pressure. Do i need a clutch? should i get a new fly wheel also? what about the dual friction clutches i hear about? Thanks for your help.

Tony

[hmsports]

First check to make sure the slave is adjusted correctly. If it has been slipping, you have have glazed the disk and it would need to be replaced.

[2ManyZs]

Besides what Rick said, be sure to check your fluid level in the clutch master cylinder. If it is OK, the first thing to check is the master cylinder/slave cylinder operation. Much easier to replsce these instead of replacing a clutch disc if there is nothing wrong with the clutch itself. It may also have contaminated fluid in the master cylinder.

If the hydraulics are OK as well as the slave cylinder adjustment, it may be time for a clutch and pressure plate.

One other item, check the adjustment on the clutch pedal itself. Check nthe height of the pedal from the floor (find the measurements in most any good repair manual) before you start tearing things apart. It may be something simple.

[smg1404]

In a word YES... And I think I know why... 5200 rpm clutch popping. I like a burn out too, but unless your objective is to maximise the length of the black marks you leave, then you should not need that much rpm to get a pretty good take off. The clutch you have will probably last for quite a while, as long as you do not continue to give a steady diet of hard starts and shifts. I'm not saying that it's all your fault, after all the clutch might be 30 years old.. and may not have had that much life left anyway. I have not had as many zcars as these other guys but , if I remember right there is very little in the line of adjestment to it. I think (at least on my 280 the clutch was essentially self adjusting). If you can cause it to slip in 4'th gear by pressing the accellerator, then I feel safe in saying that a clutch replacement is in your near future. But don't worry it's really not that hard of a job.

[Ed]

Do you know how many miles you have on the current clutch? And if you do end up replacing the clutch do yourself a favor and change the pressure plate, throw-out bearing and have the flywheel resurfaced. This job is something you really only want to do once.

[ZcarsRock]

sounds reall expensive. I have in my budget about $600.oo for a major repair. I am thinking of bidding on an aluminum fly-wheel i saw on ebay, and a dual friction clutch and associated throw-out bearing. if this requires an engine removal, then i want my pals at car quest to do it...... Do i have enough budgeted? and any suggestions on the best clutch/brg/fly-wheel?

thanks

zcarsrock!

hey i was at my neighborhood licquer store, and this hot babe age 35ish wants to talk Z's to me, wants to buy my car..., i turn her down..

[hmsports]

Maybe you could give her a ride... or should I say a lift :classic:

Dual friction clutches are quite pricy - about $450. If you aren't racing -- true racing -- I wouldn't spend the money on one. Get a CenterForce clutch pack for about $280 -- that has everything you need.

...and if you aren't rebuilding your engine at the current time -- including balancing -- I wouldn't spend the money on an aluminum flywheel. Of course, it's just my opinion.

Spend your money on something else... maybe on a nice dinner for that lady... oh, and don't forget a few dollars for a dozen horses.

[owenk]

No mater what kind of clutch you select to put in that car you should do it yourself and use the saved funds for a better clutch or on something that you can not do yourself. One of the things that I love about a rear wheel drive auto is at I have the ability to do it myself. I once had a 66 dodge with a three speed that I could remove and replace the clutch in 1/2 hr. :ninja: Not like my 93 Saturn that when you read the procedure every paragraph has a warning that if you do this step wrong you will screw things up more than you can believe! :nervous:

Oh and never buy a clutch from JC Whitney. I had one come apart at the springs :surprised: in a Cortina and boy was that exhilarating. Note: That was 30 years ago an I still do not trust thier parts.

[ZcarsRock]

thanks for the great comments! ( dozen horses? or roses? ) anyways looks like a Centerforce clutch is in my future. There is an auto skills club i belong to at Ft Riley, they have all the tools/car lift, engine hoist, etc and mechanics on staff that will help. The cost is 3 dollars an hour and that includes all the special tools and their expertise. Wonder how much time i can expect to take.

zcarsrock

[smg1404]

I would personally buy the flywheel... But it would work for my driving style. It may not fit yours... as for the clutch I have never needed anything more than the stock clutch. The important part is how do you use your car. If hole shots and drag racing is your interest, then you should probably keep your flywheel, or replace it with one from a 2+2.and get the heavier clutch. I you are into autocrossing and that more of a road racing driving style, you will love an aluminum flywheel. The accelleration in the lower gears goes from quick to fantastic. It makes less improvement in the upper gears. read some discussions on the web to get driving impressions. I drove a car that had one for a while, and it was a blast.

The important thing to remember about the clutch is that if used properly it will last almost forever, if not ... they can go out frequently. You can take off aggressively, but try not overreving the engine. The goal of a burn out is to get the engine rpm up into the power band at take off. But the trick is to not spin the wheels too much, because you loose time doing that also.

For shifts you should get off the throttle and let the clutch fully seat before reapplying power. With practice this is a quick process and you really do not lose almost any time in accelerating , but you gain a lot of time for your clutch.

Good luck

[owenk]

I have never pulled a Z trans. but the 5speed in my 620 Pickup was 3-4 hours out and in and I was learning. Now that I know what I am doing I would estimate 2 hours, 3 at the max. Most of the time is unbolting items and rebolting.

Good luck have fun, it sound like you have a great resource with the club. I yanked the truck trans. by digging a pit and driving over it. You can see my patent-pending plastic lined dirt work pit here

[ZcarsRock]

kool idea Owen! If i did not have access to the auto skills shop on post, i'd use your idea:) Hope you filled the hole back in when finished.

Tony