Merry Clutchmas

[zberz]

JDL kit arrived today ("Turbo Tuesday"). In preparation for more power, I replaced my clutch and did some brake upgrades over this past holiday season. This isn't a guide, but I'll highlight any big issues I had. Feel free to PM if you have any technical questions.

Parts list:
ACT clutch
ACT pressure plate
ACT flywheel
ACT release bearing
ARP flywheel bolts
White line transmission bushing
Perrin shift bushing
Mtech shifter springs
Velox clutch fork
Velox clutch fork pivot
StopTech slotted rotors
StopTech SS brake lines
EBC Red Stuff
Subaru brake fluid
Toyota spark plugs (not installed yet)
Invidia front pipe (not pictured)

Pro Tips (Full disclosure, I am not a pro):

1) Once you find the balance point on the transmission,sharpie it on there. I unfortunately did not take a picture of my sharpie mark. If you really want to know, PM me and I'll take one for you.

2) Those brake line fittings are a bitch and a half. Do yourself a favor and get some flared wrenches to remove them. Do yourself another favor and buy the $20 one from sears and don't opt for the $14 kit from Pep Boys. The Pep Boys wrenches are bullshit and nearly stripped my hard brake line fitting. Nothing a torch and my craftsman box wrench couldn't fix, but that's some BS you don't want to deal with.

2.1) First blood was due to the clamshell packaging of said BS wrenches. I should have known.

2.5) WD-40/PB Blaster EVERYTHING that even looks tight. It will save your hands and possibly your parts.

3) Was my first time bleeding brakes. I tried *a lot* with the vacuum pump, but it kept sucking in air from behind the bleed valve. Pepsi bottle worked great. Thank you ChrisFix. I took videos while I bled just to be sure that all of the air was out. Worked out great.

4) Replace the transmission bearing cover. It's what the release (throwout) bearing rides along. Mine was super scarred, as is evident in the pictures. If you can feel bumps or ridges on it, so can your throwout bearing. I spent an extra week waiting on this to get delivered and wish I would have just ordered one in the first place.

5) Everything bolted up great and seemed to work well while driving. It's slightly heavier, and the engagement point changed, but overall is very nice. After a couple of weeks I noticed some noise and am pretty sure that it's because I didn't adjust the clutch after the install. Noise goes away when I give it half of the clutch pedal, so I'm pretty sure it just needs some adjustment. Planning to get at it this weekend.