Pretty sure I melted my throw-out bearing support. Lets talk about my options...

[acammer]

So, went drag racing this weekend. Had a great time. Had one missed 1-2 shift, which I followed up by stuffing it into 4th instead of 2nd, and let the clutch out with lots of rpm and power, thinking I was going into second. Basically slipped the clutch pretty hard for a second or so. Got the low pedal, and then squeal from the throw-out bearing when fully released. I let it cool and it felt fine, but the throw-out continued to make noise when fully released - a tiny bit of pressure would stop the noise.

Fast forward another day or two and just during some normal driving the pedal was not coming back, and I lost the ability to disengage the clutch. I'm pretty sure that was the throw-out bearing support coming apart the rest of the way. Drove it home clutchless, and was able to get enough action from the clutch to back it into the garage - pedal actually got some feel back, I assume that was probably the slave extending way out to still get it to release - the fluid being 20% low in my remote reservoir seems to support that.

So - I'm debating my options. Here are the pertinent facts. 500whp, all motor, makes passes on DRs a few times a year. 33k miles, stock clutch - still holds great. Trans has 1-2 issues, can't speed shift it or you get locked out, shifts all other gears as fast as you can. Budget already WAY overspent for 2018, option 1 is doable this year, option 2 maybe, 3 or 4 it'll have to sit 9 months and see what funds roll in.

I appreciate your thoughts as I try to wrap my head around which way I want to try to go. I love this car, but I'm getting a little sick of it being broken all the time. I don't push it that hard.

• Option 1 (~$750): replace the slave with a new OE unit from Tick Shift along with their billet bearing support and speed bleeder. ~$450 for parts + ~$300 for trans R&R. This assumes the fingers on the stock clutch aren't trashed too bad for continued service - anybody that's had a bearing support failure please comment your experience on how this did or didn't damage the clutch.
  
• Option 2 (~$2,050): Option 1 parts, plus add a Mcleod RXT twin disk and steel flywheel. $1650 or so in parts, and another ~$400 to install.
  
• Option 3 ($~3,750): clutch, slave, and have Tick-Shift rebuild the trans while it's out. $3,350 in parts/rebuild plus another ~$400 to install.
  
• Option 4 $5,000?): 4L80 swap. I really like banging gears, but I'm sick of breaking stuff in the driveline. I've had two diffs and a few axles in the last year, and the current diff is way too noisy already for only having 3k miles on it. I know it would be faster too.

[Matt@Tick]

Slave cylinders that I have seen with the support melted or distorted have not done any damage to the pressure plate itself. That is as long as you don't continue to try and drive the car.

If an auto swap is really what you want. Option one will get you going until you are ready to do the swap.

[Silver14]

Option 4 is my vote! Is 5k a big enough budget for that?

[acammer]

Originally Posted by Matt@Tick

Slave cylinders that I have seen with the support melted or distorted have not done any damage to the pressure plate itself. That is as long as you don't continue to try and drive the car.

I appreciate the input. I may just do that, see if I can bank another season on the stock clutch, and then make the more difficult and expensive decisions.

[acammer]

Originally Posted by Silver14

Option 4 is my vote! Is 5k a big enough budget for that?

Probably not - might be more like $6k. Depends on how built you want to go on the trans, how nice a converter you want, etc. I definitely don't have enough research into that to know fully what I'd be getting into.

And honestly, I really do like driving stick. I'm well aware of all the draw backs, I'm the first guy to the "automatics are faster" table. But if I bought the car for fun, and driving stick puts a smile on my face - then I have to really consider at what point a few tenths is worth trading some of that fun for.

[Matt@Tick]

If you want to keep it a stick car, you may want to check out the new master cylinder we have. http://www.tickperformance.com/presa...ontiac-g8-gxp/

[frankwjr]

were you able to get any 1/4 times at all? I am finally getting back this Friday. Was hoping to see what the new combo could do.


Oh and just stick with stock...I always reference what Billy was able to do before switchin to the dark side....


good luck man!


peace

[acammer]

Originally Posted by frankwjr

were you able to get any 1/4 times at all? I am finally getting back this Friday. Was hoping to see what the new combo could do.


Oh and just stick with stock...I always reference what Billy was able to do before switchin to the dark side....


good luck man!


peace

No times, it was a quarter mile at an airfield, just heads up arm drop stuff. Lots of fun though.

I was rained out the last three times I tried to go. I don't know if I'll make it at all at this point. Really hasn't been a good year.

[608RS]

Originally Posted by Matt@Tick

If you want to keep it a stick car, you may want to check out the new master cylinder we have. http://www.tickperformance.com/presa...ontiac-g8-gxp/

sorry to hijack, but Matt i've been eyeballing this part and i'm debating on if i should get the additional warranty coverage (since it's an additional $149 for lifetime coverage)...otherwise after a year the factory warranty is up. why is there such a jump in cost for the lifetime warranty (the extended warranty is about 35% of the initial cost)? I'd hate to have this go out on me after the 12 month mark and stuck buying/repairing this.

feel free to PM me so we don't hijack OP's thread.

[Matt@Tick]

Originally Posted by 608RS

sorry to hijack, but Matt i've been eyeballing this part and i'm debating on if i should get the additional warranty coverage (since it's an additional $149 for lifetime coverage)...otherwise after a year the factory warranty is up. why is there such a jump in cost for the lifetime warranty (the extended warranty is about 35% of the initial cost)? I'd hate to have this go out on me after the 12 month mark and stuck buying/repairing this.

feel free to PM me so we don't hijack OP's thread.

This is info that the OP may want to know also, so I'll just post it up.

The master kit for these cars is 99% made in-house. The reason for us to buy CNC equipment and start doing all of our own manufacturing here was because of this part alone. We could not have it made for us and be able to sell it at an affordable price point. So we took a leap and purchased about 300k worth of machines and tools in order to make it happen. Each kit has about 2 hours of machine time, plus assembly time. So cost to manufacture this kit is higher than any another kit we make.

While we are confident in our products, we know that we won't be selling 10 a day of these kits. So in order to help out with the cost of production, we can't offer the lifetime warranty for free on these kits. We could have maybe raised the price of the kit, but we felt that would cause people to not want one just because of sticker shock.

[acammer]

Originally Posted by Matt@Tick

This is info that the OP may want to know also, so I'll just post it up.

The master kit for these cars is 99% made in-house. The reason for us to buy CNC equipment and start doing all of our own manufacturing here was because of this part alone. We could not have it made for us and be able to sell it at an affordable price point. So we took a leap and purchased about 300k worth of machines and tools in order to make it happen. Each kit has about 2 hours of machine time, plus assembly time. So cost to manufacture this kit is higher than any another kit we make.

While we are confident in our products, we know that we won't be selling 10 a day of these kits. So in order to help out with the cost of production, we can't offer the lifetime warranty for free on these kits. We could have maybe raised the price of the kit, but we felt that would cause people to not want one just because of sticker shock.

It's good info, and this is a good place for it. I'm excited that you guys took the leap to offer this product for us, it's sorely needed on this car, IMO. I'm sure that you'll be selling these for a long, long time.

I do have the Ideal Garage Master in my car, which was a noticeable improvement over stock, and probably enough for what I need at this point. Adjustability would be nice, so maybe down the road I'll add one of these.

[acammer]

For what it's worth I went ahead and ordered a new OE Slave from Tick along with the Billet Support and speed bleeder. I'm just gonna send it on the stock clutch and see if she'll go another year or two. Hopefully by 2020 I can be in a position to build the trans and do a nice clutch with it.

[Silver14]

https://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=536887

Someone's selling HP Tuners if you're interested.