New stuff on my bird and soon it will look different...

[Flamin' bird]

As I said in Norman's thread we had to put a new differential in as the old one wasnt engaging properly and it'd been that way for quite awhile . I replaced it with an auburn and thought my troubles were over but...no....the Spec Stage 3 started slipping at just 10k miles (1.5 yrs old) so I found an LS6 clutch for $25 . Tim and his brother installed it last week and that Spec was surely toast. It was so bad that the pressure plate had chewed the flywheel all up from the rivets and the disk of course was paper thin. I asked Tim to hollow out the cats while he was working on the car and guess what? My two year old cats had hollowed out themselves....not a remnant of any ceramic parts at all. He also installed a Hotchkis panhard rod that I painted purple to go along with the scheme . And one more thing that was installed was a new tranny mount from Energy Suspension

Next the power steering pump went last weekend also!! I'll be replacing that this coming weekend and adding a B&M Trans Cooler. Also this coming Saturday we're driving to WV to get a T/A hatch to replace my Formula one. I got a great deal on that as well and have two great offers for painting (the hatch is currently NBM).

All in all my car is riding and driving 100% better now. I got the clunking gone when I put it in gear, high revving and the thumping in the back. Car rides like a dream .

Anyway just sharing. Here's a pic of the purple panhard rod

[sneitzel]

....the Spec Stage 3 started slipping at just 10k miles (1.5 yrs old) .......... that Spec was surely toast. It was so bad that the pressure plate had chewed the flywheel all up from the rivets and the disk of course was paper thin.

I had a very similar experience with my SPEC Stage 2. Started to hear noise and noticed slippage. Took it in and my 13 month old, less than 10K miles Spec clutch, PPlate and Al Flywheel were all toast. Same symptom as you. Disk worn down to the rivets on both sides and had chewed up the PPlate and flywheel.

I returned them to SPEC for review and when they called me back the guy said they didn't find anything wrong. The clutch disk was worn evenly, not warped, not damaged it was just at the end of its life. When I told him the parts had less than 10K on a stock drivetrain he said oh, that's not right, something must have happened. They did replace everything with new parts for $100 but since I needed my car immediately I had to have different parts installed and now have a nice new Stage II kit sitting on the garage floor.

Anyone else have problems with SPEC?

[Flamin' bird]

Thats amazing that they replaced it. I will send mine off to them too. I heard that most people can't get a refund for theirs. I'm amazed that they said there was nothing wrong with it!! I have heard nothing but bad crap about Spec Stage 3 and know of two friends with LT1's that had the same problem .

Oh....about when did you install this? Mine was installed March 05. Also what noises were you hearing? I started getting the thumping October 2005. The thumping I had would only happen when started from a stop and hitting it slightly. The slipping started about 4 weeks ago.

[sneitzel]

Gee, you're gonna make me think.....

I had the Stage II installed in September '04 I believe. I don't remember when I first noticed the noise but it was similar to that of the TO bearing going out. I'd get a low pitched rattle in N with my foor off of the clutch. If I depressed the pedal it would stop mostly but I could still hear it a little. I noticed the slippage mainly when I was at speed trying to accelerate. ie. going 35 in 3rd, foot off the clutch and when I'd step on the gas to merge or pass the engine would rev a little and eventually the clutch would kick in. I took it in to be looked at in October 05 and got the bad news.

As far as my dealings with SPEC go, I guess I was lucky. They offered a warranty replacement which was a brand new clutch and PPlate and new inserts in my rebalanced Al flywheel.

[Performin Norman]

Wow, that is a whole lot of things you had to replace. Before long, everything will be new.

Glad you got it all ironed out.

[wolfdogs]

Wow, that is a whole lot of things you had to replace. Before long, everything will be new.

Glad you got it all ironed out.

and women should iron......thats one of thier jobs...........










hee heee





d&R!!!

[Performin Norman]

and women should iron......thats one of thier jobs...........

hee heee





d&R!!!

I agree. There are a few other things they should do, but this is a PG rated site.

[Kevin - Blown 95 TA]

hee heee

You sound like a tough guy! At least Flaminbird works on her car. Maybe you should go iron your skivvies or something.

[Flamin' bird]

You sound like a tough guy! At least Flaminbird works on her car. Maybe you should go iron your skivvies or something.

HA HA HA HA!! Good one Kevin .

[Flamin' bird]

d&R!!!

well with as old as your are you wont be able to do either of those very well

[Steel2686]

I agree. There are a few other things they should do, but this is a PG rated site.

Women can do plenty of things, Norm!

Like wash dishes, make the bed, cook dinner...

Of course, I'm posting this at work. If I posted this at home, there's a chance my wife would see it.