[350TSS]

Clutch holding tool made today out of 4 old (2 driven and 2 fibre coated plates). It took a lot longer than anticipated (as always) because the alignment of the 4 plates altered slightly as I drilled them and when I tried to insert them into the basket they would not slide in nicely. About half an hour with a crisp file got them to work.

I attached them to the same handle I used for the flywheel holding tool. I wanted to use 8 mm bolts (the clutch centre nut is c 150 Nm torque setting and I was worried that 2 x 6mm bolts would just bend) but there was just not quite the room for an 8 mm bolt head to sit between the clutch centre and the outer basket. (Pictures to follow).

On the other 4 x 6 mm bolts, I used 50 mm bolts spaced back to the base of the basket so that the holding tool would not twist as the full torque was applied.

The clutch plates were then fitted.

Each driven plate needed to be rubbed down to get rid of surface corrosion, which took the best part of 2 hours.

In the spare parts I got with a scrap S4 I bought, I got a clutch spring centre "spider" which does away with the individual spring caps and logically should provide a more even release of spring tension as the clutch is engaged. I will post a picture tomorrow. The problem I have is that with the spider fitted, it is possible to continue to wind the clutch springs in until they are coil bound which is obviously not right as when you pull the clutch it will not move ( the spring coils will hit each other and the clutch will not disengage).
In theory the spider should be better (as the engagement of the clutch should be smoother and more even because the spring pressure across all parts of the biting face should be even) than separate spring collets but it appears to be impossible to work out when the springs are sufficiently tightened to stop them undoing without being in danger of being coil bound.