i've had an act street/strip clutch in my car with a racing beat aluminum flywheel for about 12k miles. i don't generally abuse it, i match revs when down shifting and have done maybe 3 or 4 hard street launches on it (never raced it). now it's making noise when i have the pedal pushed in and it's getting progressively harder to put in gear. anyone have this problem? i figure it's either the clutch slowly coming apart or the pilot bearing failing (was replaced w/clutch). i know i'm going to have to drop the tranny, so my overall question is for those of you who have gone through an act clutch. what do you think the useful life of it will be based on the above driving habits? i really don't want to cough up another $400-$500 in parts again. thanks for any input.
oh yeah, is there anything i can spray onto the bearing through the inspection window to try and clean it out without damaging the clutch surface to see if that helps lessen the noise? i was thinking about brake cleaner. thanks again.

 

basically the ACT clutch is a stock factory set up painted yellow.the disk is Basically stock. one side of the disk is stock material and the otherside is metallic pads.(if that's the disk you have).the other disk that doesn't have the metal pads on one side, that's a stock factory disk.
The factory use Daikan clutch pressure plate and disk. if you look closely to the ACT clutch set, you will see the name and trade mark wing sanded off on the pressure plate then, painted yellow. and on some of the disk also.

 

about the "noise"when pedal pushed, it's from the Throwout bearing.and difficulty in shifting is usually something falling apart on the clutch.
does it shift into gear easy when engine is off?

 

hey. i had the same symptoms just before my clutch fork broke and left me stranded. get it checked out. search for clutch fork for more info.

 

I have the ACT S/S clutch (for 8k miles) and have launched it HARD from 5500 rpms more that 2 dozen times with no problems. I've never even smelled the clutch after launching to be honest. I too have a noise from the throwout bearing. I have found in several cars that the ACT throwout, combined with a differential brace, adds up to noise very quickly.

I'd check your throwout bearing. Spin it, and if it spins completely freely and for a few seconds, or it makes any grinding noise when turning by hand, replace it. It should have enough resistance to spin only very slightly and silently after letting go of it. Clean thoroughly, and check your shift fork for any cracks. Also check your pilot bearing for loose pins.