So my whole driveline is out because of getting my rear diff rebuilt... Also had the torque tube rebuilt while it was out.

This is what I am looking at...



Im honestly not sure if the rusty pressure plate means anything since I believe these are uncoated from GM hence they will rust.

Ive got zero evidence while driving the car of slippage, pedal issues, noise, smell, etc... that there is a single thing WRONG with the clutch.

I dont REALLY want to disassemble the clutch any further to inspect more although thats likely the "proper" thing to do. I suspect if I did I would see evidence to point me to replacing the clutch, but thats probably the case on just about every clutch in every car.

I THOUGHT I had a rear main seal leak, but after pulling the inspection cover off the bottom and looking as far as I can see, there is no real main leak. My oil leak is, as I suspected, from the pan to block and batwing gaskets leaking(im doing the batwing gasket while I have the car in the air, but not doing the upper pan to block gasket as its more work than I want to get into right now). Above the oil pan to block joint everything looks dry, back of the flywheel looks dry, etc... so I believe my rear main is good to go(for now, will probably start spewing oil 3 minutes after i get the car back on the road LOL).

I guess my main reason I dont want to is this project already got away from me financially and if I can avoid spending 800-1400 bucks on a new clutch setup, I would like to.

So any thoughts based on my description and 1 picture???

 

I have done my own research and I came up with 800-1400 depending on what clutch I go with.

LS7 clutch kit with RAM light weight flywheel(so the overall weight is about equal to the stock c5 setup), slave, etc... is on the lower end at 800(670+130 for a slave). Doing a LUK HD kit from rock auto(the LUK HD kit is the LS7 clutch) plus a lightweight flywheel, etc... is roughly the same cost. Im not going back with a stock LS6 setup when an upgrade to an LS7 setup is within probably $100 of the LS6 setup.

BUT if I am going there($800), I also looked at the Monster organic single disc, Mantic ER2 single disc, and the Monster organic twin disc(c7 clutch with their custom flywheel). The Monster organic twin is on the high end of $1400. The Monster single and the Mantic single are both in the 11-12 hundred range.

So that is where my dilemma is, is I have already blown way past my initial budget on this rear end gear project, I have zero evidence of anything wrong with my factory clutch(68k miles) outside of a rusty pressure plate(which may mean nothing more than GM doesnt coat their pressure plates with anything and its almost 20 year old bare steel)... so does it make SENSE to spend $800 to $1400 to replace an otherwise functional clutch?

The labor to pull everything wasnt bad, probably took me 4 hours start to finish and now that I have had it out I bet i could get it all pulled out in way less time if I need to go back in in the future. So i am leaning towards not spending more money right now, but I am willing to listen to arguments that arent "you are most of the way there already" because thats where I am at in my own head, but I need other arguments for or against.

 

Just a "heads up", if you decide to replace the clutch....check out the topic in this section of CF, regarding the "match balancing" of the flywheel and pressure plate to the original pieces....

 

This and if it's working good I would leave just because of budget sake. I know it's alot of work and obviously u can handle it if down the road it goes out.
just b careful not to damage pilot bearing installing back in.

 

Even if you decide to not do the clutch I would go ahead an install a remote bleeder while you have everything apart.

 

Thats why I am LEANING towards a Monster clutch of some kind because they are local and I "assume" that they can match balance.

68k miles, I assume its the factory clutch.

Yea I already talked to my buddy and he said try to get a little grease down in there and grease the tip of the prop shaft.

I thought about that, but I REALLY dont want to touch the factory slave cylinder for fear that I will **** it up or it will leak... Im leaning into the "leave it alone" camp.


Thanks for the thoughts. Im under no illusion that at some point(probably sooner than later) I will be back in here to do a clutch, but just choking at spending an extra 1000 bucks give or take right now when im a lot deeper in this project than I wanted to be... and seeing that im 99% sure I need to do the oil pan to block gasket which wont be fun...

 

Im 99% certain its the original clutch...

My reading comprehension isnt running up to snuff right now...

So you are saying you WOULD replace it or you WOULD NOT replace it?

 

I would swap it with the remote bleeder. The way prices are going up on everything, you might save money by doing it now.

 

Just buy a LuK brand clutch kit (it is OEM) and change it while there. WHY would you do all that work just to do it again. And buy a remote bleeder! I have a LuK LS7 clutch and cant tell a difference and neither would you. All that lightweight flywheel crap is just stupid unless you are racing and need every bit of HP. The slightly heavier FW helps in feel and pull of car while cruising if anything in my opinion.

 

Suggest remote bleeder & replace slave.
Yes I know you are on a budget, we all are... The slaves are *known* to fail for seemingly no good reason right after a clutch change. Mine did, and I am a *very* careful mechanic, on a low-mileage slave. whole drivetrain came back out... Ensure the stack height of old & new slave is identical so the clutch will operate the same.
That said, I have no problem re-using the stock clutch if it looks good. the OE clutch is quite durable at stock power levels and driven reasonably. good luck!

 

go down to the suggested parts and it will even show you the slave cylinder and ARP bolts (which you dont really need).

 

That clutch kit, in total, is almost 10lbs heavier than stock... The heavier flywheel is only part of the equation.

There are lots of threads on it.

No way I am installing a clutch that is that much heavier than stock. I would install the standard LUK kit before I would install that kit without a lightened flywheel.

You may be ok with that, but I already feel the stock setup is to heavy, so NO WAY I am going with something FAR heavier. 10lbs might not sound like much, but thats 20% heavier than the factory setup, which itself is not a light clutch setup by any means.

 

If your car is not heavily modded go with the LUK LS6 kit. If it is not modded at all, go back to LUK original. I have around 550 fwhp so the LS7 clutch doesnt bother me and feels fine.


I have a LUK slave and did a LUK master as well but did add a speed bleeder. Tick Performance sells a LS7 kit that you can add in a lightweight flywheel but think its not worth that but if you do then yes your budget climbs.


I do wanna mention that they sell their parts as GM Performance and as much charge more. The OE brand used is LUK. RockAuto has them cheap.

 

I had the same decision about 10 years ago when the car had about 75K miles and I had to pull everything to replace a bad slave cylinder. I decided against a new clutch at that time. It would have taken a $130.00 job and made it $800.00 and another week or so.
10 years later at 148K miles I'm still happy with my decision.

Install a speed bleeder while you are in there. I use mine every few months.

Good luck with your choice.

 

well to "circle back" I stabbed everything back in today, just waiting on a replacement piece for a diff mount that was machined wrong.

But torque tube, trans and rear diff are back in.

I did not do a clutch. I coated the tip of the torque tube input shaft with some grease on the advice of my buddy to try to get some grease into the pilot bearing.

 

Oem Luk 04-173 is $300. No brainer.

 

good idea - I did the same - light coat, don't want it running into the clutch.
hope it all works out well

 

Idk if anybody has suggested it but I have the mantic single and it is like stock. It's a great clutch. Once it's up I'll look at their other clutch that ecs sells as well. Or once I'm making to much power for this clutch that is.