FM stage one clutch and Fidanza flywheel issues and solutions
04-03-2017, 08:28 PM
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FM stage one clutch and Fidanza flywheel issues and solutions
I've been running this combination for a couple of years now and I've never been completely happy with how my six speed shifted. Last fall just before I put the car away for the winter I drove a friends Mazdaspeed and realized that my clutch wasn't fully disengaging. I bleed and adjusted my clutch system until I was blue in the face , the result was always the same , drivable but not great. I've talked to a number of other people that have ran this combination with the same dissatisfaction. They have all either ended up changing the clutch or the flywheel or both to get better results .
I should mention at this point that everything was out of the car last spring for the forged build , the fly wheel had the friction surface replaced and I thought everything was good to go. Wrong.....
So the supposition I've been working on is that there is a issue with the step height with the Fidanza flywheel , not huge but enough to cause a problem with the FM clutch.
Now being the stubborn individual that I am ( and really not wanting to pull the engine / transmission again and replace new parts with more new parts ) I set out to find more travel at the clutch slave cylinder .
The factory clutch master has a 5/8" bore , so....... bigger is better . I pulled the master cylinder tore it down and had a local machine shop bore it out to 3/4 " bore. I then purchased a rebuild kit for a 3/4 " Wilwood clutch master. So far so good . Once I recievd the Wilwood kit I discover the Wilwood piston was significantly longer measuring seal to seal . I then had the piston cut in half , a small section cut out , the drilled and threaded . A bit of red locktite on a threaded rod and I now had a piston the right length . Reassembled everything , installed , had a bit of a fight to get everything bleed out again and I now have a clutch that fully disengages with lots of travel left over. Peddle is only slightly heavier than previously.
Ideally it would a whole lot easier to find a clutch rebuild kit with a piston the right length but my brother inlaw has a lathe and works cheap. I've also since learned that the clutch master from a 1986 Toyota Landcuiser is a 3/4" bore and is almost a bolt in affair ( remove a stud and oval a couple of bolt holes . Just a few options for anyone else battling clutch peddle travel / disengagement issues. Cheers Fredb
I should mention at this point that everything was out of the car last spring for the forged build , the fly wheel had the friction surface replaced and I thought everything was good to go. Wrong.....
So the supposition I've been working on is that there is a issue with the step height with the Fidanza flywheel , not huge but enough to cause a problem with the FM clutch.
Now being the stubborn individual that I am ( and really not wanting to pull the engine / transmission again and replace new parts with more new parts ) I set out to find more travel at the clutch slave cylinder .
The factory clutch master has a 5/8" bore , so....... bigger is better . I pulled the master cylinder tore it down and had a local machine shop bore it out to 3/4 " bore. I then purchased a rebuild kit for a 3/4 " Wilwood clutch master. So far so good . Once I recievd the Wilwood kit I discover the Wilwood piston was significantly longer measuring seal to seal . I then had the piston cut in half , a small section cut out , the drilled and threaded . A bit of red locktite on a threaded rod and I now had a piston the right length . Reassembled everything , installed , had a bit of a fight to get everything bleed out again and I now have a clutch that fully disengages with lots of travel left over. Peddle is only slightly heavier than previously.
Ideally it would a whole lot easier to find a clutch rebuild kit with a piston the right length but my brother inlaw has a lathe and works cheap. I've also since learned that the clutch master from a 1986 Toyota Landcuiser is a 3/4" bore and is almost a bolt in affair ( remove a stud and oval a couple of bolt holes . Just a few options for anyone else battling clutch peddle travel / disengagement issues. Cheers Fredb
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