Setanta's DC2R

[Setanta]

Two little updates:

#1 Finally got rid of the generic black on yellows for....





.... yellow on blacks. I could swear that they used PY for the yellow I originally mounted them on the lower holes as the old plate had rubbed against the bumps and it would have left ugly grey spots where the paint wore away. Since this shot I re-drilled the upper holes so that the plate sits higher but just covers the worn paint. I hated re-drilling, I was scared rotten of taking too much so took it slow and aligned it up. My 4 1/2 yo daughter laughed at me for OCD then told me she wanted shiney new plates for "her" E30.

[Setanta]

#2 I got a call saying a box had arrived for me so off I went to Smithfield. My one bugbear was my sump as Dean had drilled and piped it for a turbo return. Great when a turbo is attached but the cap and clamp blanking had started to weap a fine amount of oil. Time for a new sump and I decided I might as well get a baffled one:



Cost was a reasonable amount more than getting the baffle and welding it to the sump - this way it was all done for me.





I got the car up on ramps today, worked out just how much effort, busted knuckles etc it will take to remove the headers and do the swap - think I'll farm this one out in the next week.

[ievaq8]

Awsome work man...
How much u want for the old sump???

Pm me...

[Timmy_B]

Such a clean DC2R

[fd2r]

Such a clean DC2R

Yes its good to see that a very immaculate dc2 is in good hands with a mature enthusiast who appreciates it and will look after it....judging by the amount of books he reads and his high attention to detail :P

[vishes]

Very tidy DC2 man, love seeing these kept in such neat condition!

[fr4n]

Setanta's DC2R

Wow

Makes me wanna garage queen my car even more

Especially when there's people as dedicated as you.

Shit good job and nice dc2 man

[Setanta]

So leaving work a week ago proved to be eventful. Clutch hit the floor and I could feel the hydraulic pressure drop every time I used it. Through the various Hills suburbs I went, babying the clutch, driving slowly in second-third and rev matching trying to catch lights just right.

Looking at the clutch master cylinder, it was both empty and filthy - what looked like carbon build up inside. I checked the lines, then pulled off the slave/clutch rubber cover only to see fluid weeping from the piston end of the slave.



Yonas at JDMYard hooked me up with a new slave and I got my tools out today.

Only to realise that the last time I did a brake/clutch line it was my '64 EH Holden and my spanners were all imperial.

Off to supercheap for proper line spanners (I've learned the hard way not to use regular spanners on lines) and fresh fluid and a one-man bleed unit.The E30 bonnet as a tool bench was optional.



First step was to undo the pipe into the slave. Fortunately my spanner's length just fit into the fan shroud and turned without hitting the radiator. Easier than I guessed it would be. Next the two bolts holding the slave in needed a 12mm spanner on them as a ratchet would foul on the fan shroud. There are two ways of doing this, from the top (hard) from the bottom (easy). I of course didn't think to try it from the bottom. Off it came and promptly fell into the oil pan I had under the car.



Lots of fluid on the gearbox and a little inside the dust cover. Gave it a clean up (and the OCD kicked in, I cleaned the bolts as well ) Got out the cue-tips and daughter's old toothbrush and cleaned the master cylinder cap that had carbon/grit inside it.



Paper towel and cue-tips also took care of the master cylinder (couldn't get into the corners though - doesn't matter, it flushed out later on).



Putting the slave back in was fiddly as the dust cover goes onto the slave, then you bolt it to the gearbox but first making sure the piston is seated in the clutch arm and that the line is seated. A few tries and it was all in. Putting the two bolts back required a bit of a jiggle to line the bolts up. As always, I couln't get the bolts to line up with the hole. Remembering what a mechanic mate had told me "Imagine it's your girlfriend" (innuendo implied) got both holes lined up easily enough (no inuendo implied!) and tightened it up. Dust jacket took a little finessing and then it was on to the bit I hate, bleeding the system.

Actually, now I'm starting to wonder if I'm talking about the car or not



The one-man system is great, fill the master cylinder, half-fill the bottle attach small probe to the hose on the bleed-bottle and twist it into the bleed-nozzle. Back the nozzle off half a turn and put the bottle up higher than the slave (it has a nice magnet built into the bottle).



Pump the clutch, top the master up, pump the clutch more, empty the bottle when full, rinse and repeat then snick the bleed closed. I went through just over a litre of fluid as I was flushing out all the crap that had been sitting in the system. By the end I finished with the lines clear This was the last of the crap:



Master cylinder looking clean and clear:



I then went back over everything to make sure I hadn't missed anything (or left tools in the engine bay), in the process realising that it would have been easier to get to the bolts from beneath. Clutch works nicely, engages smoothly and all is right in the world again. Not a bad effort for 3 hours work. It was possibly one of the easiest mechanical jobs I've done in a long time... so I've probably done something wrong

[erazer]

NIce dc2... very Clean and very detail on the update ..

[Shakeel]

Nice work Pete!

[ievaq8]

nice work man...
just another ask...

pm me if ur willing to sell the sump...

cheers
tom

[KEVSY]

Great write up on clutch slave cylinder , job I've been putting off for a while maybe this weekend. Great car . I got a set of English oem type r mats and it came with a metal clip. What exhaust manifold are you running? Nuts on heat shield look different.

[Setanta]

KEVSY: Stock manifold but the car was brought back to dtock NA so the heatshield bolts may be new/non-OEM
ievaq8: I will sell it off, once I get around to fitting the Mugen, I want to do it when I switch to aftermarket headers.

New clutch in thanks to JDMYard - Exedy HD SO to replace the 6 puck Stage 4 competition. I took the car for a run to Katoomba and it was much nicer to drive, the Stage 4 was damn aggressive.

Unfortunately I have a rattle/buzz in the gearshift at some revs - if it's anything like every other Honda I've owned bar the S800 then it's the tube/bushes in the shifter base itself. I'll have a look-see.

[ievaq8]

hurry up then...lol
Im keen on the sump

[Shakeel]

Wow Pete!

Never knew you had a 6 puck Stage 4 in the DC2, I shouldn't be surprised though as it was once boosted.

Hopefully the DC2 will be driven more now?