Curiosity got the better of me today, so I dropped the gearbox out and found one of the clips on the thrust bearing part of the slave broken, and by the look of the top hat section, it would appear to have been contacting the ends of the diaphragm springs
So I unbolted the clutch from the flywheel, cleaned it thoroughly then bolted a flat bar across two opposing holes through a couple of tubular standoffs.
I then attached the magnetic base of my DTI to the outer part of the DMF, and clocked the axial play............... .005" , then moved the bar to another set of holes, and rechecked .006".
Satisfied with that, I spragged the crankshaft and checked the relative rotation between the masses, and found an 8mm anticlockwise motion before the arc springs started taking up load, and 7mm clockwise.
So, I hoofed it back home, went up into the loft and procured a new clutch, sorted out what was left of my hard surface cleaner, a couple of old paintbrushes, and spent an enjoyable hour gunking the bellhousing, allowed it to dry and fitted the new slave after careful inspection of the guide tube revealed it was fit for further service.
While the gearbox was drying off, I fitted the new driven plate and cover to the flywheel, and torqued the cover to 25 Nm
Tomorrow if the enthusiasm lasts that long, I'll refit the gearbox, and tackle the two front brake pipes, and the front to rear pipes that come from the ABS modulator down to the join under the floor........
......not nice are they?
So once those little tasks are out of the way, I can refit the shafts, refill the gearbox, and refit the subframe after a little TLC is carried out on it.
That only leaves the upper rear arms, and a bit of general preventative maintenance to the brakes, then it's just a matter of waiting for the four new tyres I ordered in anticipation of a smooth transformed car, turning up so I can get on with fitting those.
Damned car better be grateful for this care and attention being lavished upon it
Brian
