How To: Free Clutch Spring Removal in 15 Minutes - A must do for manual trans!

[BRO8A86]

Would you guys consider this a good mod for someone driving manual car for the first time? Purchased FRS about three weeks ago and only stall about once a week now. (Mostly going into first gear going up a hill)

[akiranakayama]

I'd say it is. This car was the only car that I haven't been able to drive smoothly (mostly between 1st and 2nd gear) no matter how hard I tried. I've been driving manuals across all types of cars for the better part of two decades now and never got it down in my BRZ. That is until I removed the helper spring.

Still doesn't feel exactly like a normal clutch for some reason... But I get enough feedback now to be able to feel the engagement point.

[Manic]

While I had originally though this was an amazing cure-all mod, it's really not all that hard to adjust to the clutch on this car. I ran the car without the spring for about 6 months, and I eventually decided to put it back in. It is definitely a more muted feeling pedal, but after a couple thousand miles, finding the engagement point should be muscle memory. Having a more pronounced feel would be beneficial when you start learning the car, sure, but if you have to feel for the engagement every time you have to shift or launch, aren't you taking more time and being less smooth than just having the friction point down with muscle memory? After the first 5k miles, I never even thought about struggling to find the proper engagement point and was thankful for the relatively light clutch anytime I found myself stuck in traffic.

If anything, I think the drive-by-wire throttle poses more issues in the 'feel' department. It's great that people are finding this mod helpful, but it almost seems like some of you are mistaking 'heavy/more difficult' with 'better'.

Originally Posted by BRO8A86

Would you guys consider this a good mod for someone driving manual car for the first time? Purchased FRS about three weeks ago and only stall about once a week now. (Mostly going into first gear going up a hill)

Honestly, learning with the clutch stock will save you a ton of heartache. As most would agree, it's definitely a weird clutch but not at all impossible to learn. The engagement point is fairly forgiving, so you mostly need to train your throttle control. From what I've seen, most people who started with automatic transmission and then switched to manual tend to have poor throttle control because they're so used to just pressing the pedal down and moving off. Once you get accustomed to making fine adjustments with your right foot, launching/not stalling will be a breeze.

[Curtski96]

Just did this yesterday and personally I love it. I like its a bit stiffer also the travel has been greatly reduced. I'll be testing it more tomorrow on a longer road trip so we will
See if I like it in long run.

[jeffchap]

Just got back from a test drive after doing this, and ask I can say is, wow, WTH were they thinking when they put that spring in there? I can actually tell what the clutch is doing now. I should have done this 3 years ago.

[Pointmutation]

Originally Posted by VeloxEric

Twist the E-clip so that the opening faces down. Using the needle nose pliers, one tong on each side of the clip, gently push up or hit the handle with your hand. Be careful not to lose this clip.

Fracking e-clip. Gently my ass! Lol. Took me forever trying to remove that stupid e-clip gently trying not to lose it in the process. Finally said screw it, I don't care if I loose it and whacked it off sending it flying away. Finished up the rest of the procedure and at the end the e-clip came falling down from who knows where landing next to the rest of the parts on the floor mat. That "e" stands for "evil." Lol.

[Sosa]

Originally Posted by Pointmutation

That "e" stands for "evil." Lol.

Hahaha! Sooo true!!

[jeffchap]

My e-clip vanished, but I can safely say I won't be needing it again. Good riddance.

[SLVRSRFR]

For me, it was the clevis itself that went flying and then completely disappeared. Had to use A LOT of force to get it off. Ended up taking a sizable chunk of my thumb knuckle with it too.

About an hour later, it fell out of the abyss onto the floor mat while driving.

[Tvars]

So i just removed the the clutch spring but now there is some play when you first engage the clutch. I think someone further back in the thread referred to it as "slop on the top". Will lowering the clutch pedal using the other DIY - Easy clutch grab adjustment (~10 mins) solve this?

[JSanders]

Short answer is yes. I did both and have just a very small amount of play at the top of the pedal travel. MAYBE 1/8"

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[Curtski96]

^^^ yep I would agree with that. It's not much at all.

[akiranakayama]

Originally Posted by SLVRSRFR

For me, it was the clevis itself that went flying and then completely disappeared. Had to use A LOT of force to get it off. Ended up taking a sizable chunk of my thumb knuckle with it too.

About an hour later, it fell out of the abyss onto the floor mat while driving.

What really helped me while removing it was to have the clutch pedal depressed all the way, this takes the pressure off the clevis and makes it WAY easier to remove. I banged on it for a while with the clutch pedal all the way up in the resting position and it wasn't budging. With the pedal depressed, you can pretty much just push it off with a flathead in your other hand without much effort.

[mixtape]

"Clevis" sounds like a dirty word