Today's Autox

[pemz0r]

68.3 - This was not a fun course, was constantly in between 2nd and 3rd, and I was having clutch issues.

Maybe someone can explain how I was having trouble getting into first but the rest of the gears no problem. I thought if a clutch goes bad, you can't shift into any gears, only 5200 miles on the clutch.

[ted]

Race seat check.
Helmet check.
Shower shoes lol

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

I heard some crunches going into second as well, thought not every time.

There's a decent chance you are hitting similar problems to 914 folks--your clutch isn't releasing all the way, so getting into 1st is a pain in the butt. In a 914, this is sometimes due to the tube for the clutch cable coming adrift from the inside of the center tunnel, which makes getting a proper clutch adjustment very difficult.

I have not heard of early 911s being prone to this cause, but it may be worth checking in the tunnel through whatever access you have when someone stomps the pedal. Look for lateral movement of the tube (or the cable housing) when the pedal moves.

Other causes could be the adjustment simply being off, the clutch pedal roll pin failing, some debris getting caught between the clutch disk and pressure plate or flywheel, or problems with the clutch disk/pressure plate/flywheel.

--DD

[pemz0r]

@ted I am 2 seconds faster barefoot
@Dave, thanks i will look into all of those. The clutch was getting softer and softer as the day went on.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

If the pedal was feeling softer through the day I would check the cable, the trunion at the transmission end, and especially the pedal. The pedal itself is held onto the cross-shaft that goes through the pedal cluster by a roll pin, and that pin can fail. Most especially if the cluster gets re-bushed and someone uses a standard roll pin like the ones that used to come with the Weltmeister kit. The proper pin is a spiral pin and is much stronger.

--DD

[pemz0r]

Thx Dave, for the help!!

There's a couple things I need to check. I run without the wooden floorboard so maybe the PP fingers are getting over extended because there's no clutch stop. I also notice that my set pin on the coupler isn't tight so there's a little play there. I replaced my gear shifter lever months ago, but when I re-installed it, I installed the the rod upside down, so that set screw faces down instead of up. Either way I need to drop my trans to rotate the shift rod. BUT I REALLY APPRECIATE THE TIME YOU HAVE SPENT WITH MEEEEEE!!!

[ted]

Originally Posted by pemz0r

@ted I am 2 seconds faster barefoot

Have you tried left foot braking?
It helped me with car control.

Shop here and try some nice driving shoes.
https://shophunziker.com/collections/casual-driving-shoes

Surprised your race group permits it?
In my old PCA AX days shoes, long pants and long sleeve shirts required unless it was very hot then short sleeves were allowed.
Blow out a shower shoe and if it were to get trapped under the brake pedal no Bueno.

We all have to make that decision on safety.
When safety equipment is costing you time how many seconds is your safety worth?
Imagine how slow you would be with a roll cage, fire system, window net and driver suit, shoes, gloves, 5 point harness, hans device, helmet containment system...


Where are my shower shoes?
My shoes are tight so I pour water in them to help them stretch a little.

[pemz0r]

@Ted I left foot brake when I need to get the car to rotate, but the course wasn't quick enough for that, plus I was busy enough downshifting and up shifting.

[pemz0r]

photos from the event