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the infamous spec

tasso said:
"I'm not trying to rub this in your face, nor tasso's. I don't think others are trying to either...it just comes off that way. No one likes to admit when they're wrong, especially on a public forum. That and it's a very expensive mistake."


The second Spec 1 clutch that failed in the first day, went in with a new (never used) Fidenza flywheel. Sorry to shoot a hole in your assumption right away but the clutch fell apart because it was defective.

"You have the answer right here. Yes, the machinist may have only taken off less than a mm, but how much was it worn down by the previous clutch? The flywheel face is a wear point while the step is not. That step HAS to be machined to specification EVERY time. Even as little as one mm of slack in that specification would cause early clutch failure...overheating causing metal fatigue, causing disentegration."

If your statement was correct and the machinest takes the same off both surfaces the result would still be different than when the flywheel was new due to the wear on the flywheel face. This small difference is not going to cause the low mileage failures experienced.
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I wasn't talking about your clutch. Either of them. This response was for 8000RPM. I don't know what happened in your cases as I have not examined any evidence.

Go back and read my post again. Did I say to take the same amount off both surfaces? No. I said machine it to specification. I thought you had all of this experience...?
 
shotwell, i agree but like Big Jim stated, we need someone to give us those specs. The exact thicknes/distance between the main contact surface and the mounting surface. If someone gives us this info, I will measure my flywheel and will post here what the difference is.
You say it is hard to admit my mistake in public...well, it is not my mistake, because i didn't resurface it. i new that 2 surfaced had to be machined, and I asked the mechanic who did the job, and he said "i have done many flywheels for many dragster and high performance cars, and i have never heard of someone to resurface another surface on the flywheel". then i explained why it was supposed to be done that way, and he said that he only took off a fraction of 1mm, and it would make absolutely no difference. yes, it is expensive mistake, but unless this "gap" between the two surfaces is really bigger than what it should be (say 2-3mm) then it makes sense for the clutch to reach high temperatures and to be slippin,g thus to wearout prematurely. nevertheless, this clutch never slipped. it always grabbed hard.

and you did not insult me. i thank you for your post. i will be glad to see that link from the 90's. eitherway, i agree that it is possible for this to be the reason for my broken clutch, but i am still a little sceptical about this theory.

can someone measure a stock new flywheel??????????????????? anyone?
 
I can get that specification. The local NAPA is closed today, but I'll catch them tomorrow. They have a machine shop attached to the store, and the two machinists that work there have a world of experience. They do most of the entire work of Island County as there is no other reputable shop still open.
 
that will be very nice. i will measure mine tonight and will post my numbers. but see if you can post the results asap because I will need to start putting the car together. i will be traveling to north carolyna on thursday, so the beast has to be running again by then.
 
Clutch disc runout (max) 0.7 MM
Clutch disc thickness(new) 7.3 MM
Min material depth to rivits 0.3 MM
Flywheel flatness 0.2 MM
Max Flywheel runout 0.2 MM
 
Make your statement accurate then Shotwell, my flywheel was new. If you read it over you will see that you clearly directed it to me also!!!
 
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Why would I post anything that was inaccurate?

All I was saying about you was that I wasn't trying to rub anything in your face, and that I really didn't think others were either.

You know, if you used a little more tact in your replies then you would get friendlier responses. You may not be a jerk in real life, but you're coming off as one here.
 
guys, i don't think that there is need for you to quarrel here. i think both of you are getting the wrong impression due to a small miscomunication.

on a side note, is there some kind of transmission/clucth removal How-To? I have a 4 page word documet with all the steps that i took to remove my tranny and clutch and I could post them for other members to get some idea of what they should do when starting on this project....just an idea.
 
Let me be as straight forward as I can be. Spec messed up with me and I got screwed. Even if you try to say there was a flywheel issue with the first clutch with a 18,000 failure the second one you cant. New everything, trans, flywheel the Spec Stage 1 clutch. The side facing away from the flywheel is what fell apart. Think about what that side is in contact with, who makes it!! So if your gonna come in and tell me im wrong and made a mistake, and need to admit I am wrong. Well guess what......I am sorry....That I ever used Spec to begin with..
 
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Big Jim, i just measured my flywheel. My upper mounting surface is not a continuous surface. there are three seprate mounting surfaces, all going around the main contact surface. is that what the stock flywheel looks like?
anyway, the "step" on my flywheel, and i am trying to be as accurate as possible, but it is hard to measure, but it seems to be exacly 12mm (1.2cm). it might be of with a .5mm but this is the best of what i saw, since the flywheel is still on the engine.
 
That's helpful. In inches that would be .4725.

Does anyone have the step measurement for a flywheel that was on one of the failed clutches?

By the way, there is far too much bickering here for the level of talent and experience here. Can we tone it down a bit?
 
this is very good info i am taking in here, i have a spec stage II sitting on my workbench in the garage getting ready to go in as soon as i find the time to take out the tranny. i planned on getting the stock flywheel resurfaced so any info we find out here with this is going to be helpful.

thanks.
 
fobCSVT said:
SVT3rivières had a similar problem last summer, he installed his spec stage 1 clutch and 300kms after all the rivets broke down causing the friction disc to separate from the center part.

Spec admitted their fault and sent him a new revised clutch. Maybe your clutch was in the same batch that had problems. I would contact spec and try to get a replacement clutch.
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yea that right got the same problem last summer, they sent me a revised model (visualy it was different than my first stage one) i shipped it to spec and they sent me a new one for free cause it was obviously a factory default

here a pic of mine.. so far no problem with the new one.. i was very satisfied by their customer service, they didnt even ask me for a receit or where i bought it from !

IMG_7555.jpg

IMG_7547.jpg

IMG_7552.jpg
 
shotwell, what happened with your numbers??
i spoke with spec today. they said that they needed me to send in my clutch, isnpect it, and then charge me for the broken parts and send them back to me. they didn't give me a good deal..only $6-7 cheaper from what SVT Cuervo charged me. So I purchased a new SVT clutch from Bill Jenkins.
with Many thanks to him....i got the following info about the pressure plate, but i don't know if it will be of any help. I am not sure what all these numbers mean:/
Maximum Runout -- 0.7mm
Maximum Depth to Rivet Heads -- 0.3mm
Nominal Thickness -- 8.84mm
Outer Diameter -- 240mm (if i read this correctly)
Maximum Diaphragm Finger Wear -- 0.0mm (or 0.5mm - i can hardly read this)
Surface Flatness -- 0.2mm
Maximum Total Flywheel Runout - 0.2mm
 
Sorry I didn't get back today with the step measurement. The machinist who knows what he's doing wasn't at work today, and the guy I had look in the book gave me a completely wrong spec. They wouldn't let me look in the book because it's "for machine shop use only." :yawn:

He's supposed to be at work tomorrow. I'll try to post it in the morning.
 
i got my flywheel to a machine shop that has a contract with a local ford dealer. he said that he believes 12mm is what the thicknes of the step should be...i will get the exact measurement tomorrow. but he said that a .5mm difference will make a huge difference...it is equivalent of the flywheel being used for about 80-90k miles
 
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