if it wasn't for bad luck...
 

I'd have no luck at all.

I just had the trans out last month while I was installing a new McLeod MC, GM clutch slave and new pilot bearing from Eagle. I inspected the clutch assembly and even contimplated sending everything back to McLeod for inspection 'just in case' but everything looked fine so I cleaned it up and threw it back in there.

Everything drove great, the pedal was smooth and the shifting was better then when I originally bought the car.

I took the car to the corvette challange a couple weeks ago and made some runs. one my 3rd and final pass the car got sideways, a couple of times, before the 1/8th so I aborted the run. well, when I got back to the pits I noticed the shifter was having trouble getting into 1st gear and the clutch was grabbing very low.

originally, I thought maybe the PP had backed off the FW but after pulling the inspection plate, which is a real PITA w/long tubes, I saw this...


http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...cleodPP002.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...cleodPP003.jpg

:bang:

damn man, thats not kool... :(

Ouch baby, very ouch! Well at least you have luck? sucks bro!

did the slave break an arm off the PP?? or was it just a slave failure?...

I'm thinking its 100% PP failure. I won't know for sure until McLeod looks at it though but from what I can tell the slave was working fine, it had full travel and pushed other two PP fingers w/o a problem.

I got everything apart this afternoon and I'll be sending it away for repair/rebuild tomorrow. Hopefully they don't take too long so I can get back on the road.

Marc that blows, give me a call if you need a hand

update:

Well I got the word from McLeod last week that it was a PP failure. One of the bushings that has to do with the PP fingers disentegrated leaving what you see above in those pics.

The good news is they rebuilt it for me even though I wasn't the original owner and will now warranty their work 100% incase this happens again. Its good to know a company stands behind their product these days, that goes a long way with me.

So I had them do a full rebuild and the new unit arrived today with fresh discs, new hardware and all surfaces have been machined.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...tclutch001.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...tclutch002.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...tclutch003.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...tclutch004.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...tclutch005.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...tclutch006.jpg

I'll be throwing this thing back in Saturday afternoon and hopefully breaking it in on saturday night! :D

Youre drag racing a very high hp six speed vette and leaving the line hard on sticky rubber. This shit is going to keep happening till you swap to an auto. Even the "built" stuff fails, frequently.

lol and Autos never break riiiight? :judge:

^^ :D

I hear what you're saying about an auto but as far as I'm concerned a clutch is a wear item, just like tires or brakes, they are expendable and you have to be ready to replace them more often if you're going to race.

besides I don't plan on going in a straight line forever, this car is going to see some turns. :drive:

Hey, dont look at me, it will be a cold day in hell before I swap the 6speed out for an auto in my car, but for drag racing, its a no brainer.

Talk about no luck...
 

At least yours stayed in one piece... :( :barf:

My only symptom was a low engagement then the clutch just refused to disengage.

Dealership put my car in the air and found this:
http://www.dark-earth.net/images/dar...housing001.jpg
http://www.dark-earth.net/images/dar...housing002.jpg
http://www.dark-earth.net/images/dar...housing003.jpg

Not sure if it was the clutch or PP, although I have only seen one other like this on Z06vette.com and his was the PP coming apart. Car was not apart yet when I left it yesterday at around 3:30 pm...

Now to see if GMPP will cover it on a clutch with only 9k miles on it... Definately not a wear issue, but a parts failure. BTW my car is a totally stock 2003 Z06 with only some appearance mods (shift knob, partition, SS inserts, chrome stock wheels)... My car has not seen the track since I have owned it, and has stock F1SCs on it. I never heard anything give way, but I may have had the radio loud and thought it was gravel or something. Nothing ever to give me the idea my bellhousing had been turned into swiss cheese.

BTW I have only put 5k miles on the car, and the clutch was replaced by a Chevrolet dealership 4k miles before I bought her as a "GM Certified" used vehicle with the GMPP Major Guard.

well at least its just the inspection plate and not bounced off and could of broken your block...nice clutch setup thought hoprfully you can get that beast back on the road. :drive:

that sucks!!