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 :

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E85

So this post is called E85. So we'll start at the beginning.

What is E85?
At a very basic level (and I'll still probably explain this wrong), E85 is a fuel which is made up of 85% Ethanol and 15% petrol. E85 has a cooling effect on the engine, and combined with a higher octane than petrol alone, cars will often be converted to use E85 as a way to gain power. Running on this fuel is what people will be referring to when they say their cars are 'Corn fed' as corn is what is often used to produce the alcohol to make E85, although other sources are available. Don't go trying to shove this weekends left over Smirnoff into your fuel tank though, or worse still an ear of corn into your intake... That wont work quite the same, best research flex fuel sensors instead.

Sadly, here in the UK, it is not as readily available at the fuel pumps as it is large parts of the US and Australia. For this reason I haven't yet converted the GTO to run on corn (more considering meth as that's readily available in the form or certain anti-freezes/screen washes) but I did hit up a meet with the E85 Society this weekend.

Based in the North East these guys have a wide variety of car cultures attending their events, from low and slow stanced Golfs, to JDM beasts so there really was something for everyone. Check them out at  facebook.com/groups/e85society/ 

So as the GTO is off the road I was there in  the daily. We got there around an hour late because the check engine light went on in my mates Golf (just kidding). Even arriving late there was still probably around 100 or so cars there, spread out in all directions.

Stood in the middle looking forward

Stood in the middle looking back

I'm also going to own up to a car guy faux-pas before I get called out on it. When we got to the meet there were a couple of spaces next to each other near the front, so I followed my buddy round the car park in his Golf, where he threw his car into a space. I went to follow into the space next to him, and felt the burning, glaring eyes of many car guys watching to make sure I got nowhere near their rides. I choked. I bailed mid reverse park and went elsewhere (I hang my head in shame!). I parked next to the Vauxhalls instead because, lets face it, no-one cares about them anyway! Joking aside, they were at the back....

How low can you go?

So wide! this pic doesn't do it the justice it deserves!

Nicely low

I'm looking forward to lighter nights so more of my pictures will come out. My phone wasn't liking the photos by streetlight, and I didn't want to look like a complete tool carrying my bridge camera about (I'll probably save that for the shows rather than meets).

Unassuming VW pickup from the front....

VW pickup bed

 I did get a few more pics of other cool cars and stuff but was left with mainly blurs as I wasn't checking they were coming out. I think I am getting lazy with phone pics since getting used to using the proper camera... (rookie mistake I know! I wont be quitting the day job to become a car photographer just yet).

Just as the meet was starting to disperse, the car park was starting to empty and we were about to leave, having mainly seen hot hatches, there were a load of JDM muscle cars that hit the meet. Scoobies, Evos (a civic or two if they count?) and this beauty... this made the night!

Godzilla

And not forgetting one of the best things about this meet, I made it home without the assistance of a flatbed.

If you would like to follow my procrastination and avoiding working on my Mitsubishi project car, you can follow me on social sites by clicking the links below or search the @s :

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