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2K views 17 replies 6 participants last post by  Bomb Squad 
#1 ·
Haven't posted on here in a while so I figured I'd let peeps know what's going on with me and the car.

A few months ago my ACT street clutch kit started slipping (had probably 70k miles on it with +40 drag passes and 31 laps at the 'Ring) so I'm just finishing up replacing it with an ACT HDG6 clutch kit (sprung 6 puck). After I get that all buttoned up and broken in, I'll be replacing the timing belt, water pump, idler pulley, tensioner and accessory belts as part of some normal preventative maintenance.

I've been thinking about doing a track day at Snetterton as it's only about 15-20 minutes from my house; the problem is it's so damn expensive. 200 pounds for a track day plus 100 for track insurance. That's damn near $500 just for one day. I can take that money and put it toward the trip to the 'Ring and have a fantastic time, so we'll see.

Honestly though, I've been slowly not giving a shit about the Neon lately. It's a fun car and performs fantasticly but it just doesn't mean a lot to me. There are cars that speak to the soul and cars that are strictly functional; my car is the latter. It gives me an outlet to work on cars without being too expensive but honestly I just couldn't care less about the car itself. I've been going back and forth on whether or not to sell it/part it out and get myself something before I leave the UK but who knows. Financially it makes sense to keep it but I really wouldn't mind selling it/parting it out and putting that money toward something that is a bit more sporty and an investment. Who knows.
 
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#2 ·
I know how you feel ...
never had this feeling before though, but now my ce is letting me down, im not sure anymore.

money wise, selling is not going to get you very far I think, but getting a nice European car just before you head back to the states would probably be a nice move.

I have a last request, but i'll send you a PM for that ;)

whatever you decide, I'm sure it's the right one!
 
#3 · (Edited)
I agree with Dutchkingkong about the resell value. You won't get much for it. The resell value in the states is looking about $5-6k now, so not much more than £3-4k. From the interactions I have had with people they don't even want to spend that on something they will struggle to get spares for. (and pay a 30% premium on!)

That 6 puck doesn't really require much breaking in, a few hard launches and your done. Goodluck with changing the belts, I found the timing belt a PITA while the engine was still in, just not enough room. It can be done, but it wasn't fun.


ACTMan
The goal behind breaking in a clutch is different for a puck disc versus a street disc.

Street disc - Break in helps lap the surfaces smooth and the wear rate decreases after break in. This has to be done over time (200-500 miles for instance) for best results. City driving is best and full throttle, high rpm, etc doesn't matter. What matters is that you don't allow the clutch to get hot from excessive slippage, so don't apply full throttle unless the clutch is fully engaged. If the clutch is ran hard right away, more material will wear off before it properly laps in. In this case, proper break in = longer clutch life.

Puck disc - Break in allows the surfaces to get full contact by wearing off the high spots, etc. Once full contact has been achieved, the coefficient of friction is higher and it has more area to distribute the heat. It is not as important to break it in slowly, like the street disc. Some racers just slip the clutch several times pretty hard before taking it to the track. Since there is no real precise method for us to recommend doing this without damaging the clutch by going too far, it is far easier to just tell customers to put a couple hundred miles to break it in. In this case, proper break in = better performance

I hope that clears things up a bit. If you have any further questions, feel free to contact me.
Trackdays are crazy expensive, and that's just for the costs to get onto the track, nevermind paying for consumables. But still cheap as far as racing goes.

My buddy was looking at running the AirAsia clio cup, the car is £20k, which he has, but the registration fee was £15k plus event entry fee's, fuel, tires, his budget was well over £50k and that was for a car slower than ours, but Door-to-door racing showed on telly.

I agree too that the SRT isn't exactly something that oozes appeal when thinking about tracking. It's cheap and poorly balanced. MX5 is a better option, but I don't know how you feel about hairdresser cars, but it's cheap, easy on consumables and well balanced.

Let me know if you decide to part out, might be interested in some parts :)
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the info on the break-in. I just got done reading on ACT's website on what they recommend and I'll do some hard pulls on my way home from work today. Just finished everything up last night and it went surprisingly smooth. By far the hardest part was getting the transmission back in and lined up. Didn't have a transmission jack so between two floor jacks, a rachet strap on my strut bar and two guys muscleing it around, we eventually got it installed.

As for initial impressions, it's definitely more grabby than my old ACT street clutch but it's nothing too unreasonable. Although, I defintely don't look forward to being stuck in traffic with this...

Knowing me I'll probably end up keeping the car for a little while longer and see where I get orders to. Honestly I'm wanting something a bit more sporty like an S2000 or even one of the new Scion FR-S. I'm also looking forward to the release of the 2014 Chevrolet SS. Had Pontiac not gone tits up, I would probably be the owner of a G8 GXP. I love the idea of an LS powered 4 door sedan. Not as sporty as some of these smaller cars but it just appeals to me.
 
#5 ·
How's the clutch feel now :) Street driving is ok once you get used to it. Wouldn't recommend for the average Joe, but it's still manageable. I found to leave gaps and pull up in one go instead of creeping along with the traffic as long as nobody pulls into the gap.

Sounds like you had your hands full lining it up. I had the same problem first time around. Second time around I used an engine hoist and it went straight in, more or less.

I like the FR-S, not a lot of power goodies out for them yet, but they will come. It's a great platform IMO. 'Sporty' is all an impression, if you like the car that's all that matters.
 
#6 ·
I like the FR-S, but will wait to see them work the bugs out for a couple of years, and hopefully a more powerful and/or turbo version will come along.
 
#7 ·
Honestly though, I've been slowly not giving a shit about the Neon lately. It's a fun car and performs fantasticly but it just doesn't mean a lot to me. There are cars that speak to the soul and cars that are strictly functional; my car is the latter. It gives me an outlet to work on cars without being too expensive but honestly I just couldn't care less about the car itself. I've been going back and forth on whether or not to sell it/part it out and get myself something before I leave the UK but who knows. Financially it makes sense to keep it but I really wouldn't mind selling it/parting it out and putting that money toward something that is a bit more sporty and an investment. Who knows.
I can completely understand & relate to that ^^^. I basically took a year break from modding the neon & focused on other hobbies & my family which is always a good investment.

I pretty much spend all my money now-a-days on trying to keep it running. As much as I love fixing up cars, I'm not too fond of fixing things that break. Maybe it's because I see it as time I could spend doing other things.

Lately I've been enjoying fixing up my wife's Jeep Wrangler JK more than my own car. I'm always back & forth on whether I want to sell it or not. I already own it so that's nice not having a payment. It's cheap & easy to work on compared to other hot rods & is pretty pimped out.

People are always asking me about the car, taking pictures with their phones, not to mention it's damn quick too. That's when I fall in love with the car again. But... Then I'll see something like an BRZ / FR-S & start thinking about selling again haha. :lol:
 
#8 ·
Clutch pedal feel was fine and I didn't have to mess with adjusting the clutch pedal one bit. It worked fine for a couple of days but yesterday as I was leaving my house, I was in first gear about to pull out onto the main road and I heard a pop. Was stuck in neutral and it won't go into any gear. When I shift I can feel/hear things moving and the clutch pedal hasn't lost any pressure so at this point it sounds like a broken shift selector. I'll be ordering an AGP one tomorrow and I'm not worried about the install. What I AM worried about is if the tab isn't on top when I look for it and I might be fishing with a magnet for a while.

Nice to see you in here John. I hear you on the priorities as well. Between the deployments I've done and work trips (TDYs), I've been trying to spend as much time with the family as possible, so obviously the car stuff had taken a back seat. I mean, I do like tinkering on the car but at the end of the day, it just doesn't mean much to me. Maybe when we get back to the states I'll end up parting it out and using that money for a down payment on something. I've got a few high dollar parts on the car that would fetch a bit. We'll see.

Yeah Chris, I know the Miata is a great and proven platform but again, that car doesn't do anything for me. I've thought about S2000s, FD RX7 with an LS swap, and some others. Depending on finances though, when I get back to the states, I really really want a Lotus Exige S240.
 
#9 ·
A lotus would be something else, they are not that expensive here really, probably more expensive stateside.

Hopefully the selector tab didn't damage anything. Might have to pull the gearset out to find it if you can't find it at the top plate.
 
#10 ·
Are you sure it is the shift selector, and it's not just the plastic clip on the clutch rod? From the noises you are describing, it sounds possible.
 
#12 ·
Figure anything out?
 
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