Hi all,
I think my 127 is due for a clutch replacement.
I had a custom made 5 speed gearbox in it (direct fit box with no adjustment to the chassis needed) but have recently removed it for a very close ratio 4 speed box, the 5 speed was a good touring box but really lacked performance and made the car very sluggish (only finding this out after swapping gearboxes - I have no other 127s here to compare with).
Just fitting the 4 speed alone has been a day and night difference with acceleration.
My issue is everything has been good, gear changes good, holds in higher gear under load but this is now the issue...
The previous owner attempted to fit a DCOE carb and in doing so modified the accelerator cable, failed fitting the carb due to it being too big and reverted back but left the modified cable there in use, now I thought all was fine until I started playing around with the timing etc as I am now running 106 RON leaded fuel, and to my surprise his "mock" accelerator cable setup only opened the carb half way maybe not even to 45 degrees.
I have now modified this to open 0%-100% and wow what a difference, induction noise is much louder and the car really pulls much harder than before - I must have been cruising around with 15hp before because the difference is quite excessive, in threads on a local forum from the previous owner he was always complaining that the car felt low on power and other cars that he should have been able to overtake used to walk away from him.
The one issue that has now arised from this additional/regained power is that as soon as it gets to about 4000rpm the clutch will start to let go and it sounds as if the wheels are starting to spin.
I have adjusted the cable but it is at the point now if I adjust it any more the gears barely change properly and I have to double clutch it, if I then adjust it back the clutch doesn't hold enough.
There seems to be a small leak from the inner CV boot (the long shaft) - this was a new boot but it seems to be leaking from the driveshaft hole itself where the seal sits on the inner boot, maybe some oil has sprayed up into the flywheel area from this splattering around?
My question is, I am pretty sure it is the 160mm clutch in there at the moment, I have 2x spare clutches which are used but still ok, although I would prefer to fit a new upgraded version and looking on line there are numerous 170mm versions?
I am looking to buy a slightly heavier duty pressure plate and clutch as I am going to be giving it some abuse and will be fitting a light weight flywheel and short shifter at the same time.
Can I use one of these 170mm versions, or is there a 160mm version that has a up-rated pressure plate?