MeTsU's 9N3 TDi - Sooty from South Africa

[GoLfMan]

Awesome! I'll be going to a single mass flywheel as soon as my clutch needs doing! Where abouts did you get that from? Got a link?

[MeTsU]

Awesome! I'll be going to a single mass flywheel as soon as my clutch needs doing! Where abouts did you get that from? Got a link?

Good call. If you want to make power and hold it reliably, you need to ditch the DMF. SPEC Clutches & Flywheels: Auto Parts, Domestic, Import, Truck, Racing, Drifting :: Home

[MeTsU]

Thanks to my team mate and good friend Darren for his help, as well as Nick, for ensuring our glasses were always kept at an adequate drinking level.

[MeTsU]

Sooty is back on the road.

We fitted the flywheel, clutch & pressure plate during the week. It was at the same time I decided to do a little cleaning up and general inspection of all the odds and ends that I have been thinking about. Had it not been so cold and pouring with rain during this past week, I would've loved to have done more in and around Sooty. Small things that were done, were like to clean the wheel arch liners and I got around to removing the left one and cleaning behind there. Touching up of marks on the subframe and frame rail from removing the gearbox. Etc.

On Friday night, a had a couple good mates help me and we got the box in and hung. They really were saviours, as the box weights in at 49kgs, it's not the easiest thing to manoeuvre around and get mated to the motor when lying on the ground. I went and bought the gearbox plug removal tool - it's available at your larger tool shops. They use a 16mm spline type plug, with a raised nipple in the middle, unlike the Citi Golfs where it's a normal 17mm plug. Although I knew the gearbox was empty after having a friend redo the syncros and check it out for maintenance purposed, I remove the drain & fill plugs. I made up a funnel and pipe to fill the box and poured in about 150ml odd to just rinse out any muck that might have not been cleaned up - no real dirt, so I was happy knowing all was clean inside. I closed up the drain plug and filled the box with 2.3L of gear oil from VW.

On Saturday we did all the final odds and ends, checked items that needed to be torqued and got the drive shafts in. Bled the clutch and got the subframe back in place - surprisingly, we got it close enough to where it used to be, so the alignment, although out, it doesn't pull the the left. We refitted the battery tray, battery and airbox etc. and fired Sooty up whilst on the trestles to ensure we had gears. Running through the gears was a little nerve racking, as the now chattery gearbox makes you second guess yourself - but we expected it and tried to not let our minds make us uneasy. We put the OZ's back on and took Sooty for a test drive.

All I can say is, wow, it's already biting like a beast - thank goodness I opted for the Stage 3+ and not the Stage 3 (6-puck) clutch. So far I've done 65km and I've started to get used to the clutch feel.

The flywheel - everyone that saw it, couldn't believe how well manufactured it is. It was so beautiful, I didn't really want to but it in the car, LOL. Immediately, I realised how much quicker Sooty revs up. Rev matching is an easy task now and I'm fast perfecting it. There is a lot of chatter, which was expected. For those of you who are wondering what I'm talking about, it sounds like a stuffed release bearing almost - here's a video of a Helix clutch & SMF setup - YouTube - ‪Fabia vRS TDI SMF Chatter‬‏ - sounds like that. I can expect it to get better as it breaks in, but it will always be there. It will just take some getting used to.

The clutch - being a full face disc, I was expecting it to be forgiving, which is it. It makes town driving a breeze. It's the material that it's made from - carbon semi-metallic friction material - that gives it a lovely bite. I can now feel that when I've engaged the clutch, it's engaged.

The pedal - it feels a little lighter than OEM, but the bite threshold and engagement are just perfect. I have to blip the throttle a little more than I used to, to ensure I don't shudder when pulling off, but I've always been a little cautious, so I'm finding it easy.

I'm going to break it in for 800km - it needs to be town driving (plenty of stop/start traffic) is necessary for the materials to bed and mate correctly.

After that, it'll be time to have soem fun.

A big thank you to Darren, Nick, Jason, all those who contributed & of course, *SamStaR*.

[GoLfMan]

nice write up mate!

my clutch isn't anywhere near gone yet (hopefully) so this will be a while off yet. Had to do solid control arm bushes the other day when the stock one's bit the dust.

Keep the updates coming, one of my favourtie Polo's

[Evaded Motorsport]

Nice, I still need to get mine in but hoping to wait until I get the turbo kit and nozzles sorted.

[MeTsU]

nice write up mate!

my clutch isn't anywhere near gone yet (hopefully) so this will be a while off yet. Had to do solid control arm bushes the other day when the stock one's bit the dust.

Keep the updates coming, one of my favourtie Polo's

Thanks GoLfMan. When I inspected my original DMF, clutch & pressure plate, I was pleasantly surprised, it really didn't look anywhere as bad as I would've though. There were about 4 high spots but generally, not enough damage to suggest bad slipping, yet it wouldn't hold a roll into boost from 2200RPM. I suspect the fact that I babied it for 2 months probably ensured it didn't look as bad. The DMF on the other hand, is shot. I can move it without much force - and the feeling that I described previously, where it feels like the rear dog bone is a little loose - a slight rocking feeling when coming on/off the throttle, has now gone, which indicated it was indeed the DMF as I previously suspected.

LCA's are well worth replacing. I noted a positive amount of feedback when I did my polybush LCA's. Thanks mate.

[MeTsU]

Nice, I still need to get mine in but hoping to wait until I get the turbo kit and nozzles sorted.

I saw your photo's from the track - nice one. I felt it was time I do the clutch & flywheel - but my next stop after all the little odds and ends, the massive cambelt service and bodywork (get the Cup Edition bumper on and other paintwork), then I will speak to Ryan in the UK again about a big turbo. I see you're speaking to him - he's a top bloke. I'm keen on the same Firad nozzles - being Italian and all.

[GoLfMan]

Thanks GoLfMan. When I inspected my original DMF, clutch & pressure plate, I was pleasantly surprised, it really didn't look anywhere as bad as I would've though. There were about 4 high spots but generally, not enough damage to suggest bad slipping, yet it wouldn't hold a roll into boost from 2200RPM. I suspect the fact that I babied it for 2 months probably ensured it didn't look as bad. The DMF on the other hand, is shot. I can move it without much force - and the feeling that I described previously, where it feels like the rear dog bone is a little loose - a slight rocking feeling when coming on/off the throttle, has now gone, which indicated it was indeed the DMF as I previously suspected.

LCA's are well worth replacing. I noted a positive amount of feedback when I did my polybush LCA's. Thanks mate.

i have the feeling the next couple of years of sooty ownership will be quite expensive for me

[Evaded Motorsport]

i have the feeling the next couple of years of sooty ownership will be quite expensive for me

Mine have already started