Last weeks post, this week. Kind of.

This week saw the return of Game of Thrones, and with it winter was no longer coming. It came. It came all over the hills where I live. And then it was gone again. And back. And gone. And back.... you get the picture. You can really tell the British summer is coming when the weather only lasts 10 minutes before changing.

So the first meme was aimed at falling in line with my opening paragraph, but I simply couldn't resist putting the second one in as well. It appealed to my inner geek too much.

It has again been a couple of weeks since  my last post again, not good enough I know, but with these wintery showers and summery blizzards the changing of the seasons hopefully marks a change in my ability to get stuck in to the project!

Speaking of which, I currently have a GTO shaped hole in my garage as she has finally been taken away today, through the blizzards, to have her stage 3 Competition Clutch fitted.

GTO shaped hole... just a said tyre impression left in the dust...

This post in truth was intended to be posted last week, she was supposed to be collected last week and I should really have had her back and running by now... sadly the same thing happened with the recovery vehicle as last time and the first one they sent was unable to tow her. Never mind. Fingers crossed I will get her back by Saturday lunchtime ready for the next e85 car meet at the weekend.

So her getting taken away meant I had to bolt in the Sparco wheel Mrs 3oD got me for xmas, here's what it looks like:

I think it is a big improvement over the ripspeed that was in when I got the car.

Before, ugly old Ripspeed wheel

After with the Sparco wheel,

So what's gonna happen when I get her back? Hopefully I should be posting from the next meet in a couple of days. Then the GTO will need a 500 mile break in for the new clutch. I already have my next mod sat waiting for an install however:

57i awaiting install

So all going well with the clutch, this should be happening in the next couple of weeks. I have the cold air kit, not just the filter, I know it wont change the BHP, I just wonna make it sound good for now! When the 500 miles are up I will do another 0-60 test to see what she she can do without bald tyres and without a slipping clutch, and then who knows from there!

If you would like to laugh at my lack of progress in real time you can follow me on social sites by clicking the links below or search the @s :

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Clutching at Straws... or rather an invoice for a new clutch (finally)

If you follow my posts regularly you may have realised I missed a week last week. It was one of those weeks where life got in the way of cars sadly... Much to the dismay of Mrs 3ofdiamonds I was having to work down south living out of hotels #firstworldproblems

Sadly this has meant that I have not had much chance to do anything with the GTO, I have however used this time to finally shop for a new clutch which is now ordered and should be here by the end of the month!

I did a bit of research into performance clutches and still probably couldn't explain it very well, so instead here's a handy tutorial I watched on youtube:

From local suppliers I could only find an OEM replacement which meant that from the get-go that option was out of the question. It would have allowed me to get the car on the road faster, however I didn't see the point of buying a clutch now only to buy another in just a couple of months. 

This meant I was going to be shopping online. I found a wealth of OEM replacements available on various sites. When I got the GTO I read on many a forum that parts would be hard to find and really expensive, so was pleasantly surprised at the choice. The more I looked at performance clutches however, the more I was getting messages back saying that I couldn't order them, or that they weren't in stock with no indication they would be restocked.

Just as I was about to resort to importing from the other side of the Atlantic or trying to learn Japanese to order a JDM replacement clutch, I did find a couple of sites which stocked them and ended up torn between a kit on each, the first was h-tune.co.uk and was an Action Clutch kit. Beyond stage 1 however there was no organic option and I had decided against a metallic kit moving forward for trying to preserve the feel of driving under normal driving conditions.

Stage 2 Action Clutch - Kevlar with 70% increased capacity over OEM and looks like a piece of art!

So from my available choices I came to realise that the best option would likely be a stage 2 clutch to give the best balance between drive-ability and potential for increase in performance. Which is why I ultimately opted for a stage 3..... Typical bloke, what I need and then some! This is why I am not allowed to do the weekly shop...

The clutch is a Competition Clutch kit from demon-tweeks.co.uk and will be good for a torque increase of 150%. This will be more than I could ever possibly need and gives plenty of room to grow the power figures over the next couple of years. Luckily its not going in a daily driver otherwise everyday would be leg day! The clutch is ceramic, so although it will lose some drive-ability going for a stage 3, it hopefully wont lose too much. It was described by Competition Clutch on Demon Tweeks as "Ultimate 'Street and Strip' Kit" and as "Ideal for enthusiastic fast road driving". The latter of the two statements shall put that to test on the mountain roads in the summer.

Stage 3 Competition Clutch - Ceramic

Following installation there will be a 500 mile break in period and then it will be back to business as usual. I still have a couple of parts to install from January I have been waiting to get the car rolling again before installing (such as the 57i induction kit) so will hopefully be busy with her again soon!

I have also been trying the new Amino Garage app. First thoughts are that it is a bit like google+ or facebook but just for cars. No random pictures of food. No shots of legs in the bath or on a beach. Just cars! (Well, and the odd bike). Check out the app. You can follow my profile here.

If you would like to laugh at my lack of progress in real time you can follow me on social sites by clicking the links below or search the @s :

Instagram   @3ofdiamonds_GTO

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Twitter   @3ofdiamonds_GTO

Facebook   @3ofdiamondsGTO