Dave's perpetual project

[Leatherneck]

Twisted your fork huh? What caused that? Bushings good, any play?

[bajaherbie]

my guess is big dave has a BIG FOOT...

[Big Dave]

Hydraulic clutch and stage 3 pressure plate. I think what did it in was the clutch slave travels a little too far and that put too much force on the shaft.
I ordered a longer release arm that should remedy that problem.

[Leatherneck]

Hydraulic clutch and stage 3 pressure plate. I think what did it in was the clutch slave travels a little too far and that put too much force on the shaft.
I ordered a longer release arm that should remedy that problem.

Hope so, going to replace anything while you have it apart?

[Big Dave]

I'm going to replace the clutch disc and thowout bearing while its apart. Other than that, I plan to change the engine oil since the skid plate is off

[Leatherneck]

Dave if you don't change the spurving bearings while you have it apart your wasting your time, also if you get a chance get the dinglearm taken care of too.

[Big Dave]

So my parts finally arrived and I spent the evening Thursday putting in the new shaft, throwout bearing and disc. I played with the pressure plate and it seemed fine. I put it all back together, and fired it up....and it acted exactly the same
So today I ordered a new KEP stage three pressure plate from the local bug store. They said it will be here Wednesday. Now I get to pull the engine again so its ready to go back together when I get the new plate.
Pulling the engine isn't that hard, I just hate having to drain the radiator and remove it, then remove the 24 bolts that hold the cage on.
At least I got some practice recently.

[Leatherneck]

Just out of curiosity Dave how come a Stage 3? I mean can't hurt just wondering.

[Steve Arndt]

Stage 3? I hope you have a hydraulic clutch. my stage two with long clutch arm has messed up my knee.

[Big Dave]

Yep, its hydraulic. This time I went with the long arm and it made it easier. It never really bothered me before this though. I have driven it in a couple parades, and while my knee was a little sore by the end, it feels the same as when I ran a stage 1 PP with the stock cable setup. I think the longer clutch pedal really helps. With the new long arm release lever, it feels like a stock clutch setup.

While a stage 2 would probably work just fine, I do eventually want to turbo this thing I find that a heavy pressure plate and a stock-ish clutch disc works well in a baja where you need to be able to slip the clutch vs. using a light PP and puck style disc that will hold the same power, but is a little less forgiving when you need to "slip" it.

[Leatherneck]

Well going turbo you will for sure need it. Can't wait to see that come about. Always good to have some slip or weak link built in.

[Big Dave]

As of 9PM last night, it is alive

I took off the supertrapp too. It seems a lot zippier. Tonight I will load it up for the weekend.

[TimS]

Congrats!

[JUSSUMGUY]

How is the clutch acting now? New pressure plate solve the problem?

[Big Dave]

New PP fixed it. It turns out there is a steel ring that sits under some big rivet things, and the weld that held the ends of that ring failed and allowed the ring to come out from it place.
It acts fine now, but the new Sachs throwout bearing doesn't sound happy. It grumbles a bit. Im hoping it settles down.