Couple of questions about clutch removal

[az gt eater]

Hello all.

I have a couple of questions about the clutch. I replaced the clutch a few years back. It took me a little while to realize it, but I found out that I don't have full disengement of the clutch. Sometimes while I am sitting at a light, and have the clutch in, and the tranny in first, if I kick the throttle a few times, the car will start to roll. It is hard to get in gear in first unless I shift at a mile an hour or so of roll. And, the biggest indicator is that I cannot get the tranny into fourth gear on the highway at all. It just grinds. I am pretty sure that I have taken some life off the fourth gear gear, but I think it is still serviceable.

The clutch I installed was the Spec stage two. There was a spacer included that I installed behind the slave. There was only one with the kit, and I was not aware of the need for this, or how to measure which one was needed. I had the flywheel resurfaced, and reused the factory one. I also installed the Tick MC further down the road.

So, my plan is to remove the tranny, remove the clutch, measure how much spacer is needed, replace the pilot bearing(Iwasn't able to get the old one out last time, but will not give up this time).

Here come the questions. Can I re=use the entire clutch assembly?
SHould I replace the flywheel, or have it resurfaced again, or not touch it at all? IS there a way to resurface the pressure plate and just get a new friction disc? I definitely plan on staying with a steel flywheel, and don't want to drop a grand on a new clutch/flywheel/slave kit. The car can be down for a while,as I have a work truck. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[pajeff02]

Just a heads up -- the factory service manual states not to resurface the flywheel in our cars. Says something about a taper if I recall correctly.

[az gt eater]

That's interesting. Does that apply only with a factory clutch?

[pajeff02]

Not sure.

[35th-ANV-SS]

You can resurface a Spec flywheel. You have to be careful on how much you remove though. You'll also need to add another shim to compensate for the slave cylinder to ensure the clutch will disengage properly.

[az gt eater]

I just have the factory flywheel. Should I get a new flywheel? And, can I reuse the entire clutch pack w/o needing to do anything to it if I put in a new flywheel?

[35th-ANV-SS]

I don't see why not. As far as the flywheel, is yours still in good condition? You said you had the OEM flywheel resurfaced. How much material did the machine shop remove? This might be why your clutch isn't disengaging properly. The shim that comes with the Spec clutch assembly is spec'd for use with a new Spec flywheel I'm assuming. You may need a thicker shim since your flywheel isn't as thick. Assuming your throwout bearing and pressure plate look fine, I might try reassembling using a shim thickness based on the difference removed. May want to call and talk to Spec about it also.

[az gt eater]

I did talk to them. They weren't a whole lot of help. The person who was the most help so far was PaJeff. He posted in a thread just a little bit ago how to measure for shim needed. Very eye opening.

[az gt eater]

I think what I need to do is disassemble, measure, then talk to them.

- - - Updated - - -

The shim they gave me was supposed to be for a factory flywheel.

[pajeff02]

I did talk to them. They weren't a whole lot of help. The person who was the most help so far was PaJeff. He posted in a thread just a little bit ago how to measure for shim needed. Very eye opening.

Ummm. That wasn't me.