MCleod RST, RXT clutch

[07 procharger]

I had to bolt my "gold ring" to my flywheel when it showed up. The flywheel came in an seperate box under the cutch.

 

[DiMora]

Not worried about the tranny...worried about the motor. lol

I am going to jinx myself, but if I blow up my motor, I get to build that forged setup I've been wanting - or better yet - sell my TVS and throw in a full Five-Ohhhh Coyote setup and then look into adding a blower to the Coyote.

RXT has shipped. The shipping was NOT included in my rebuild / setup...so another fiddy-eight down the drain. Total now up to $608.88 to change a used RST to an RXT with two new 26 spline discs, a new pressure plate, floater, and factory setup. This thing better be like eating fine chocolate covered strawberries off of a supermodel with hand-whipped whipped cream.

 

[AutoXRacer]

I am going to jinx myself, but if I blow up my motor, I get to build that forged setup I've been wanting - or better yet - sell my TVS and throw in a full Five-Ohhhh Coyote setup and then look into adding a blower to the Coyote.

RXT has shipped. The shipping was NOT included in my rebuild / setup...so another fiddy-eight down the drain. Total now up to $608.88 to change a used RST to an RXT with two new 26 spline discs, a new pressure plate, floater, and factory setup. This thing better be like eating fine chocolate covered strawberries off of a supermodel with hand-whipped whipped cream.

Maybe not a supermodel, but an above average girl next door. lol

 

[BruceH]

I am going to jinx myself, but if I blow up my motor, I get to build that forged setup I've been wanting - or better yet - sell my TVS and throw in a full Five-Ohhhh Coyote setup and then look into adding a blower to the Coyote.

RXT has shipped. The shipping was NOT included in my rebuild / setup...so another fiddy-eight down the drain. Total now up to $608.88 to change a used RST to an RXT with two new 26 spline discs, a new pressure plate, floater, and factory setup. This thing better be like eating fine chocolate covered strawberries off of a supermodel with hand-whipped whipped cream.

All of those new parts sound like a completely new rxt unless I'm missing something.

Why did you decide on a new one instead of just rehubbing the disks? I'm just curious, not throwing rocks.

 

[DiMora]

All of those new parts sound like a completely new rxt unless I'm missing something.

Why did you decide on a new one instead of just rehubbing the disks? I'm just curious, not throwing rocks.

I wanted a full factory conversion and setup to prevent issues. They did not ask what I wanted, but the whole banana is what they did. A complete new one is $940 (without flywheel).

 

[AutoXRacer]

Were the friction discs worn or something?

Thats what I did to mine, I just had McLeod swap the hubs. It was a lot cheaper than buying new discs.

 

[BruceH]

I wanted a full factory conversion and setup to prevent issues. They did not ask what I wanted, but the whole banana is what they did. A complete new one is $940 (without flywheel).

You did pretty well then I'd say.

 

[DiMora]

Were the friction discs worn or something?

Thats what I did to mine, I just had McLeod swap the hubs. It was a lot cheaper than buying new discs.

Yes...worn to match Skwerls 8 bolt flywheel. There was a 1/8" ridge where the clutch friction material had a smaller diameter than the flywheel inner diameter. I suppose I could have ground off the ridge, but it was an RST and I wanted an RXT.

 

[rzaenglein]

Yes the gold ring, the adapter ring not the floater ring. I talked to Lee. He said everything was setup and ready to go in even though the adapter ring was not on the flywheel. He said put every thing on and torque to spec and I'm set. Sound right to you guys?

 

[rzaenglein]

I was under the impression they put the gold ring on the flywheel and set it up for appropriate clearance. I'm guessing they get it spaced correctly and ship it with out it on the flywheel so all you have to do it assemble it?

 

[AlbertD]

Yes the gold ring, the adapter ring not the floater ring. I talked to Lee. He said everything was setup and ready to go in even though the adapter ring was not on the flywheel. He said put every thing on and torque to spec and I'm set. Sound right to you guys?

When I received my RXT and flywheel, the only thing that was pre-assembled was the floater ring.

I installed everything by following the instructions to the "T" and my clutch works perfectly. It has already been driven over 1k miles since install and not one issue. You will be fine as long as you follow all the proper torque specifications.

 

[AutoXRacer]

Issues generally show up after a few thousand miles.

The first 2-3K miles are perfect. lol

 

[AlbertD]

Well... I will be crossing my fingers then, because I sure as hell don't want to drop the tranny again using my ramps and jackstands. lol

Guess we will find out, but I'm sure it will be fine. I'm extremely meticulous with how I install things. That thing went in perfect.

 

[BruceH]

Well... I will be crossing my fingers then, because I sure as hell don't want to drop the tranny again using my ramps and jackstands. lol

Guess we will find out, but I'm sure it will be fine. I'm extremely meticulous with how I install things. That thing went in perfect.

Gerald just wants to piss in your Wheaties. You will be fine and the clutch will last a long time.

 

[rzaenglein]

What are you guys torquing the "gold ring" adapter ring to the flywheel at? Directions say factory specs. I'm assuming they main factory specs for pressure plate to flywheel? Ive done research and found 33ftlbs is what other people have torqued it to. Just want to confirm and get it right

 

[AlbertD]

Yes, factory tq specs for pressure plate to flywheel. You can find everything you need here... http://iihs.net/fsm/?dir=41

 

[AutoXRacer]

According to the service manual:

Install the pressure plate and new pressure plate bolts.

-Tighten the pressure plate bolts in 2 stages in a star pattern.
-Stage 1: Tighten to 45 Nm (33 lb-ft).
-Stage 2: Tighten an additional 60 degrees.

http://iihs.net/fsm/?dir=268&viewfile=Clutch Disc and Pressure Plate - 4.6L.pdf

But not sure what McLeod specs are.

 

[BruceH]

Here's hammerons online guide and the McLeod directions:

I'm referring to the tabs that connect the floater to the adapter ring. I haven't looked at one for awhile but iirc they are shimmed with a peel shim. The Camaro directions that are floating around are very specific about getting the shims right. The problem is that the floater plate distance is set by McLeod and doesn't need adjustment. Later directions warned not to change the distance between the adapter and floater.

AFAIK nobody who followed the installation directions had an issue with the rst. I put my first one on in 2009. It came off when I installed a 6060 a year or so later. At that time a new rst with 26 spline clutch hubs went in. It was swapped to another motor and still, no issues. Some of the torques are incredibly low, it would be very easy for a shop using the goodntight method to over torque and warp.

Willie Hammeron has a nice install guide that mirrors the McLeod directions. Back then the adapter ring was blue.

http://home.comcast.net/~cookpaging/hammeron/clutch/clutch.html

These are the instructions from the McLeod website. I got them off of cjponyparts. http://www.cjponyparts.com/skin/frontend/cj-pony/default/images/install-pdf/install_mcleod3.pdf

I'm going to see if I can pull up the old directions that said to measure clearance and shim if necessary. I always thought the straps were peel shims that were set up at the factory. IIRC the different layers can be seen when looking at it from the side.

According to the service manual:



But not sure what McLeod specs are.

 

[DiMora]

Update:

Removed my TR3650 and my RST.

I cannot believe the mismatch between the RST friction material and the OEM flywheel. My guess is that the only reason they tell folks they can use their factory flywheel is because they know most won't pony up all that money for a McLeod RST or RXT setup plus a McLeod flywheel.

Anyway, I think this is the cause of my difficult shifting once the car gets hot. I think the clutch expands and binds in the grooves it cut into the flywheel:

It's a shame to waste all that friction material by using a factory flywheel:

The inner diameter of the OEM flywheel is 7 1/8".

The inner diameter of the McLeod lightened steel flywheel is 6 1/4"

That is almost a full inch of difference as evidenced by the un-worn / un-used area of the inner (bottom) disc.

 

[JeremyH]

I used an 99-04 flywheel when I had an RST to get full coverage.