RE: 5000cstq clutch replacement snag

[mccarty@med.unc.edu ("Douglas M. McCarty")]

Thanks to all who responded to my clutch slave cylinder question. I now
have the tranny  out safely on the garage floor. For better or worse, I
followed the method of hammering on the slave cylinder until I cracked
the hose and then just cut it loose.
 
For anyone still wondering about the correct orientation of the clutch
disc, it has the spring cage facing the pressure plate just like in all
of the pictures in Bently and Haynes. I tried reversing the disc just to
see if it can go that way and the spring cage does interfere against the
flywheel. This might not be true though with a new clutch which has 0.05
inches more lining on each side than my worn one (nearly to the rivets).
I will check that after I clean everything up. I took the trouble to
keep a can of spray paint with me under the car to mark the positions of
  all the major components.

R.E. the earlier clutch slipping discussion: I did notice a small
caution in Bently last night which said that the new pressure plate will
have a corrosion resistant coating which should be cleaned only off of
the friction surface.  I am wondering if Gisli's clutch slippage could
caused by not cleaning off this coating.

Surprisingly, the clutch failure in my case was caused by one of the tab
ends breaking off the release bearing. The metal fragments were very
blue from heat, which might have come from bearing failure or from
running into the pressure plate after the fact. 

Does anyone know if a new set of clips and retaining springs comes with
the new release bearing? Mine were pretty badly ground up.

Thanks again to all.
Doug  1988 5000cstq

P.S. I am taking some advantage of the clutch situation by replacing my
split CV boots. Getting the axel shafts out without the tranny in there
is a breeze.