I'm obviously not in the shape you are. Have spinal cord injury and stuff. I did the bbi and the Sachs 2.5 and immediately regretted it. My buddy who's shop I was at doing all of this. Said that the clutch feels great and he drives a lot of performance and modified cars all day. He said to drive it for 1000k and see how I feel about it before we rip it out or change anything.

After 24hrs I was totally fine with it. I've let a few P car guys drive it and none have stalled it and after 20-30mins of driving forgot all about it.

It's not leg day , it's muscle memory and your reflex.

I was in great shape then got rear ended on the highway, sometimes need to walk with a cane and I'm only in my mid 40s. Point is even with nerve damage etc I have no trouble just was a matter of getting used to it for a day and I've been stuck in stop and go traffic

 

I don't stall my friends cars. I just don't like the much heavier pedal effort their setups have.

 

@awdmig
I've dropped the engine ~1.5" before for service, didn't realize it will go approximately 3". Is this approximately correct? Any quick way to watch for the limiting factor as the engine is dropped? I realize the more drop the better access so this is important!

 

It's been several months but since you will have the basics covered like air box and the hoses at the y pipe disconnected I can't really think of anything else I had to worry about. TBH I had dropped it even more using a motorcycle /atv stand to set the engine on and lower.

I did it single handed from behind the car and just watched as it went down.

 

Hey I didn't mean the problem was stalling for you, you made it very clear it was the effort and as you called it "leg day" I'm trying to tell you its not once you drive the car for a few days, I'm not in good shape at all physically and it's not a concern for me.

I get why a driver used to the oem would call the accumulator delete "leg day".

Like I said I had oem, put the bbi, felt exactly like you said but then a week later was nothing.

 

@DaveSen YW and GL with the clutch swap. btw the way the jump the switch thing is a 2 minute deal you're basically twisting two wires at the pedal but I agree if selling I too would swap it back!

I never went for either that BBI slave delete thingamabob or the GT2 conversion and now running what is collquially referred to as the Sachs 2.5 ( it's really just an 098 X a 764 - no? ) the only discernible difference is it's much "grabbier" until bedded in a cpl k miles and engagement a bit more "off/on" that the stock Sachs or even running a GT2 unsprung disc. In a way I do wish I finally had gone LWFW but stayed with the DMFW but love the feel of the somewhat upgraded disc and PP I went with recently. It is my "final" clutch swap but after putting 150k miles on this car. I definitely got my moneys worth of fun!

 

That's right it's the colloquial name for the Sachs Racing /Performance division clutch kit part number 999764.001098

https://www.sachsperformance.com/en/clutch-kit/performance-clutch-sachs/perfomeance-clutch-kit-999764-001098https://www.sachsperformance.com/en/clutch-kit/performance-clutch-sachs/performance-clutch-kit-999764-001098

The main difference is that this kit has a solid disc vs sprung disc in the oem.

There is another listed on the site which is the sprung disc version and that's reqd for the single mass flywheel aka LWFW.

I too kept it DMFW for street friendly driving, there is a small chance I can be in congestion so it's nice to have the DMFW to creep in 1st without the clutch even with the brakes and no throttle input.

As for the driving characteristics, I can't really comment about the difference between the Sachs pro street (2.5) and the OEM as my accumulator was acting up after I acquired the car and the engagement point was a dice roll so I was always stalling or bunny hopping starting from 1 or R.

Not knowing what oem should feel like if I had to jump into a car with the 2.5 clutch kit I would think it's OEM, to me

 

No need to cut and twist wires. Just plug in a 5 amp fuse to the the terminals on the harness. Now it's jumped and you're good to go.

 

Good to know. I did it so long ago hard to remember details but I am no tech or DIY'r per se, but had a master tech pal back then and all I remember is in about five minutes under the pedals he had it sorted. I'd never revert back to pushing the clutch in to start. Hated it!

@awdmig I agree completely. If I had not run for some many years with the only add on part being the GT2 disc I would never have known the difference either. Beyond the initial and mostly "temporary" grabbiness of the upgraded parts. It's funny in a way, as this clutch swap I had to do at an indie shop in a new state ( last one did in 2015 on a lift DIY with my aforementioned tech pal in a very long day! ) and I asked the shop owner to take the car home overnight after the installation to ensure "all was as it should be" and first thing he said when I picked up the car was "it's a bit grabby but all is perfect" and he was correct and I have no complaints.

I have a sneaking suspicion that he stalled it once at least, on the overnight test ride. I never did, but first few hundred miles was definitely a period of adapting to the newer engagement point and the more "on/off" characteristic of the new parts. Having to do it all over again, for even a "bolt on" modded car, I'd never go back to the OEM but would still always opt for the Sachs parts. No need for "Porsche Motorsport" stuff at my car's power level. Cheers.

 

Thanks for the info on the clutch switch and lowering. Years ago I actually replaced the F pipe without lowering the engine. What a *****! Then I found out how relatively easy it is to lower and get some room.

Anyone have good suggestions for a tranny jack? I have 2 regular jacks, but it looks like the safe method is the correct jack probably to control rolling? None of the auto parts guys have loaners. Harbor freight has a cheap 450 pound cap, I wonder what capacity is needed? Amazon has an adapter, maybe my race jack is wide enough? All suggestions appreciated.

 

Can someone confirm..the large cross brace that runs across and just in front of the sway bar comes out? Just want to make sure since it looks more structural than the other braces.
BTW seems like the clutch assembly is under 200 lbs and engine under 600 lbs.-at least that google indicated.

 

Sorry I missed your previous post, I can share my setup its put away but I don't mind taking it out for pics if you still want.

The braces and sway bar all have to come out its super easy. The brace has 4 bolts, two lower ones are fully removed and the two upper bolt only need to be loose. Then you can wedge a large flat head or small pry bar to wiggle it out.

Looking over my notes the transmission was 175-180#
Engine with clutch assembly was 580#

 

Thanks for the reply on the bracing! Good to know for sure that this larger brace comes out, as I start this job. I've lowered the engine several times with my race jack so that's not a concern. I think I will get the 450 lb tranny jack at Harbor Freight for the tranny lowering and movement. This should allow ease of rolling in/out and getting the correct support angle for moving parts back together. Since I'm retired I'll probably move slow on this job so I didn't want to rent a tranny jack for an extended time, and not wanting to spend $500+ for a one time job.
@awdmig if you have time to show your setup that would be helpful but don't spend a lot of effort, the main item I needed to confirm was the brace. Thanks again.

 

Sounds good, especially cause it's nearly 0*F here lol

I'm not getting notification from this thread I'll unsubscribe and subscribe again. I'll PM you my whatsapp number.

I did this 2x now on my car. I just undo everything, axles, bracing, starter, slave etc. Coolant hoses. Take pictures where they all clip to.

Remove all the brackets do the clips it's just a bolt each and reduces the chance of stuff to catch on.

I was able to pull the coolant hoses over the transmission by slowly straightening it. It works out just be patient.

 

Well I completed the OEM clutch and slave rebuild a couple of weeks ago. Sharing my experience-a few things that may help others in the future. First..thanks to AWDMIG for assistance and support when I was queasy! His help got me through this, and I greatly appreciate having someone to ask questions.

I will say that this is a pretty significant job. I've done quite a bit of DIY work on my 2003 TT, this was by far the most involved. I have QuickJacks, so it gives me about 20" clear to work with. That becomes pretty tight when removing the gearbox with two guys inbetween the lifts. The job is probably a lot easier if the car is up higher.

• I did not take off the crash bracket, so not sure how difficult this is to reach. Removing this bracket at the start of the process after lowering the engine would make things much easier!
• Lower engine as much as possible-this will provide more room to work.
• Strap the tranny to the jack for safety, but not too tight-it helps to have some wiggle to pull it from the engine.
• The drive shaft to the front will push forward once unbolted.
• The two coolant hoses will go around the front side of the tranny and up and over.
• You will need a impact driver to remove the guide tube on the tranny side of the clutch.
• Once the pressure plate bolts are off, gently pry the edges going around the plate to loosen and remove-mine was pretty tight.
• A press is recommended to install the new pressure plate throw out bearing spring clip. I was able to get this assembled by kneeling on the plate with all of my weight but it was difficult this way.
• My slave was leaking so I rebuilt with Rennfix.com O ring kit. I ran into to a couple of issues not on the instructions and the owner Clint Hightower provided support. The O ring kit is $100 and it seems to have worked.
• The slave is a PITA to get aligned and bolted back on. I recommend a helper for this part.
• When installing the shaft for the clutch release fork, double nut the the bolt behind the trailing bearing to keep it tight to the shaft. Otherwise it will slide back risking the needle bearing to fall out.

I got it done for a little under $1200, all OEM parts. RockAuto had a good deal on the clutch parts. I originally noticed only clutch slip at WOT 3-4 gear change. Now that I'm complete it seems the car is faster-I'm guessing there was slight slippage most of the time during hard acceleration. This DIY is awesome!