Anyone in the bay recommend a shop for a clutch replacement?
 

Hey wassup Bay Area,

I'm looking at that car on craigslist right now that's priced at $13,700.00 but needs a clutch replacement. I'm not really sure of any specialty shops in the bay but if you know any to recommend I'm all ears.

Also since I'm already there would there be anything else under the car that needs looking out for? Aside from rust and all that since the obvious things are easy enough to catch, like drivetrain related elements that I should be concerned about when it comes to a car that needs it's clutch replaced at 66k miles?

Thanks!

66k seems a bit premature to need a clutch replaced, all depends on what the car was used for really. I'm not familiar with the bay area so I can't attest to how often you have to hill start, or if the previous driver just isn't very proficient at using a clutch. It's precautionary but look into getting the flywheel resurfaced when replacing a clutch.

I would be a bit wary of what the previous owner had done to the car tbh. Could simply be they weren't that great at driving manual. There's a couple shops around the bay that specialize in 86's (The Racer's Line, Elite Performance) but there's plenty of other shops around that do great work as well.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/cto/5833951455.html

It shouldn't need a clutch, the owner abused it (53k on mine, two seasons of autox with hundreds of hard launches and my clutch is fine). I would mostly be concerned that the owner had modifications on it that he took off and sold and isn't telling you about, i.e. a turbo kit that was pushing 300+ whp could mean the engine has already used up most of it's life. That would also explain why the clutch is shot.

These cars are easy to wrench on, slap on every aftermarket part in a weekend and put it back to stock the next weekend and if you don't know what you're looking for, you'd be none the wiser.

It might still be a good deal despite that. I don't know the best way to see if the engine is still healthy, compression test?

Highly recommend a PPI (Pre-purchase inspection), the closest shop from you would probably be Elite Performance in Burlingame. Otherwise The Racers Line is also available but in Concord.

Compression test is definitely a wise choice to tell how healthy the engine is. As stated above, coilovers, super/turbo kits, etc can all be bolted on in a weekends time.

As for clutch replacement, both of the shops can help you with that.

"Stability Control (Drift Controls)"

The fact that they put "Drift Controls" in their description is a nice clue that they've been doing some.

But he explicitly says it's never been raced or drifted!

I bet it's only been driven 'spiritedly'

:lol:

Edit: A few clutches have gone due to throw out bearing and manufacturer defect, that could be the case, hell maybe it's just squeaking/noisy and his shop quoted a whole clutch replacement, there may be a reasonable explanation and the car is perfectly ok, I don't know.

I wouldn't be surprised if I took my car for a shop due to the 'creaking' clutch and the shop said 'nope gotta replace everything, $2k please' instead of just lubricating the fork like it really needs.

But spending $14k on a car only to need $6k+ worth of new engine reinstallation would be a tough pill to swallow.

OP, up the budget to ~$18k, there's lots of 86s that look really nice with much lower mileage in that price range and no imminent expensive repairs necessary.

Damn that's a good point

I'd say bring it over to Elite performance or The Racer's Line. Both Gary and Neal are awesome guys to work with. Gary at Elite and Neal at Racer's Line