Clutch Question
 

I just bought an 84 GSL-SE. I've had 5 Rx7s before this but the last was a gen 2 traded in 2009. The clutch on this one seems really long and requires more gas to engage and let go. I don't remember them coming out so far. Does that indicate a new clutch is needed? I found quite a range in price from $150 to $500+ for a new clutch. Can anyone recommend a good reliable clutch? The car will be a daily driver normal use. Back in 81, a race shop put an Rx2 clutch in my 79 Rx7. It was stiffer and I kind of liked it better. If anyone can recommend a good clutch (throw out bearing etc), let me know the website as well. On one forum a poster said these were fairly easy to change in a driveway. Hamm. Would that, in general, be true, for someone who has never done it before? Thanks.

not sure of the terminology but check/adjust the rod connected to the pedal. sounds like there's no free play. should start engaging about 3-4" off the floor.

Moved this to the tech section. Build Threads are for those who want to create a log of their work :)

Like he said, check/adjust the clutch adjustment rod, on the pedal, to see if that gets it feeling the way you want it.

a new clutch will be soft and take up near the floor, as it wears the take up point gets smaller and moves to the top, effort goes up as well.

it never hurts to check the adjustments on anything either, it is a 30 year old car.

as far as a new clutch the stock is an exedy, and it is all you need unless you go turbo

Thanks everyone
 

My apologies for posting in the wrong section, I should have read a little closer. This is all great information. It is a stock 13B and will probably stay that way so the Exedy clutch will save the day. It is way cheaper than some others I saw. Whew. sigh of relief

I just did a clutch job in my GSL-SE. I did go turbo so I needed something stronger than stock. Here is what I used:

Racing Beat street strip pressure plate
ACT modified street disc (similar to RB's HD disc) but based on an Exedy design (not a clutchnet like RB sells)
RB's street strip pressure plate which is 13lbs + a rear counterweight at 4lbs = 17 pounds

Here are my results:

I haven't driven it yet because I'm in the middle of a fuel system redo but I can tell you how the pedal changed. The effort is now slightly easier due to the thicker newer disc, even though the effort from the SS p-plate is somewhat high. If this setup had gone into an 83 or older chassis, the effort would have been higher. Because the 84-85 chassis have a helper spring, it makes effort easier than all 83 and older, and Mazda went with a longer travel in the 84-85 for some reason, which actually helps me here with the limited marcel of the ACT disc. It makes the on/off effect wider and should make the HD type clutch easier to drive.

I can tell you this. From having test driven a stock pressure plate with a stock disc on a stock 26 pound flywheel in an 84-85 before, it feels kinda gross. Very long pedal travel, very soft effort, mushy wide engagement, kinda heavy feeling rotating assembly. Oh and the motor mounts were stock and squishy and the trans mount had separated. I didn't like it. It was quite difficult to feel anything and there was like this rubber band effect where all the engergy would go into lifting one side of the engine, and then if you didn't rev and engage the clutch pedal just right, it would either chirp the tires or stall the engine. My brother's GSL-SE back in the day. :)

So far one of the best driving clutches I've tested was a centerforce pressure plate on a stock disc and an RB light steel flywheel in my GSL-SE. Hockey puck motor mounts and a competition trans mount. It was just about perfect for NA but I worried about it with the turbo so it had to go. Basically it felt like it wanted to slip for a bit when you'd shift fast into 3rd gear. 1st and 2nd were fine. I hope the new setup takes care of all of that.

Jeff20B
 

Thanks, that is really good info. I am copying it for instructions to follow. Good stuff and a huge help for me. Someday, I'd like to put a 20B in a gen 1 or 2 car.

Sorry I meant to say RB's light steel flywheel, which is 13lbs.

I just put a new stock clutch in my 85 SE and it still requires more gas to engage and let go than your average car. Part of this just might be the Rotaries lack of low end torque.

Maybe it's just the way your car is. You're in LA so you probably don't have RB's long primary exhaust. I've found this exhaust enhances low end torque. My brother's GSL-SE had a stock exhaust and he'd often have to rev it quite a bit to take off, even on level ground. It would also sometimes just stall form not pedal/clutching it just right (bad trans mount and soft motor mounts as mentioned before, and that it was a very stock EFI over 200k with who knows how much service it's had).

This is a stark contrast to a friend's 84 GS with an S4 NA engine and an RB 6 port intake manifold with an Edelbrock on it. This thing only needed to be reved to 1k for it to take off. The big carb helps low end torque. It had a custom built long primary, which also enhanced low end torque. The only thing it had which might have hurt low RPM launches was an aluminum flywheel. It used to have a stock S4 NA flywheel at 24 pounds, and while it could lauch just fine, once you're moving it took longer to accelerate than the aluminum.

That is why I recommend a light steel flywheel in a 1st gen. That's why my car has one. I just swapped out an early 215mm-only version for a more modern 225mm. The 215mm was so good I could rev to 2k and dump the clutch. It would lauch very well. :) Much better than any other 1st gen I've driven in recent memory.