Patrick,

Glad to hear the installation went well and you're enjoying the product
I'm glad you found the clutch rod easier to thread in on the latest kits. Since the bit of trouble that popped up with the very last batch of Rev 2.0 kits I've been running a tap through the fork on every kit before they leave to ensure the treads are perfectly clear and easy threading.

"1. How do you read the percentage marks on the rev 2.1 bracket? Do they correlate to the center of the pin? "

Yes, the scale correlates to the center of the pin. If you turn the hairpin so its straight leg is parallel to the marks on the scale it'll act as a pointer.

"2. How do I know for certain that I'm not riding the TO bearing?"

As long as the upper switch isn't forcing the pedal to stay down after having adjusted the clutch rod then there is no chance of the TOB riding constantly on the diaphragm face. There are two return springs in the system that ensures the TOB retracts away from the face... One in the Slave and One in the Master cylinder. With the pedal full up the Clutch rod should be fully extended from the MC and nothing holding the pedal partially down. The Upper Switch should be adjusted to just depress the black button till it clicks but not force the bumper hard up against the switch. If the above is followed then the TOB will be exactly the same distance from the diaphragm face as the stock pedal assembly. Also having the soft spot at the top of the stroke is a sure sign that you have clearance. If you didn't you would feel the full clutch pressure immediately right from the get go which would be bad.

Thanks for the constructive criticism on the install guide. I'll make those changes while I'm updating things for the Rev2.1
I've already done exactly what you're describing for the 370Z Pedal Assembly guide and will be updating the 350Z guide to be very similar.

Best Regards,
Ryan @ RJM Performance

 

The car was still warm when I drove it last night. When I drove it cold this morning, I noticed that my 1-2 shift clunk is gone. Leaving my house, the first upshift to 2nd would usually result in a soft clunk when disengaging the clutch, and a second louder clunk when I moved the shifter to 2nd, unless I shifted very slowly and carefully. It would improve somewhat after the transmission heated up. I found other threads that indicate the dealers consider this noise "normal", so I didn't worry about it.

Making my car not sound like a piece of junk is a nice side effect of installing your bracket.

 

Hmm shifting thumps are almost always the rear different bushing..might wana check that..easy to do..

 

after reading the last few pages, i'm sold on this kit...just ordered mine! can't wait to install!

 

just completed my installation now...i'm speechless. wow. hands down most useful mod for the Z. car feels much less like a tractor.

 

All has been well with my pedal until this morning. I cranked the car up and tried to back it out of my garage. It didn't want to go into reverse or first gear, and the clutch felt really spongy. After a couple of tries it went into reverse and then first gear with a little extra effort(no grinding). After driving for a bit the pedal firmed up and everything was back to normal, no issues with first or reverse or any other gear. I suspect a problem with the master or slave cylinder. This is a 2007, so it has the internal slave cylinder. My car seems to fall outside of the range covered by the slave TSB.

Does anyone have any idea what would cause this issue?

I'm going to keep driving it for now, and see if it does it again this afternoon when I leave work, or tomorrow morning.

 

Either you have air in the lines or a bad master/slave (most likely slave). Keep in mind these clutches will bleed the air off on their own, but ONLY if master is fully disengaged (slight play in the rod/plunger thing) when the pedal is all the way up.

 

Thanks for the info.

It still didn't feel just right on Friday morning, so I attempted to gravity bleed it that evening. Maybe one drop of fluid came out. I did find that the reservoir was at the minimum mark, so I topped it off to the maximum. It's been fine since, so I don't know if that was the problem or if I have an intermittent issue with the master or slave. I'm not going to mess with it anymore unless it starts acting up again.

Am I correct to assume this pedal works with the zspeed heavy duty slave?

How about the zspeed wilwood master cylinder? It appears to come with a fork, so I wonder if the rod length or threads are different. http://www.zspeedperformance.com/Nis...de-ZSP2011.htm

 

There's a video.in.the first pages of this thread
.proper way to add fluid to the system is w a power bleeder adding fluid from.the slave location.
.

 

Patrick, sounds like you may have a slow leak at the CSC which would explain being down on fluid. I'd keep an eye on it over the next week and see if goes down again.

The ZSpeed HD CSC you posted is 100% compatible with the RJM Pedal setup.

I've never had one of their modified master cylinders in hand to have a look at but I'm almost positive the Wilwood Master will have a standard 5/16-18 threaded rod rather then the metric M8x1.25 used on the factory rod and clevis. So while it certainly could be made to work it wouldn't be directly compatable with the metric threaded clutch fork as supplied in my kits.

 

It may be a really slow leak. I've had the car for 3 months, and the clutch fluid has been around the minimum mark the whole time. I'll keep an eye on it.

Good to know the ZSpeed CSC will work. If I end up having to pull the transmission, I don't want to have to do it again any time soon. It seems worth the extra money to save myself labor down the road.

The master cylinder on the other hand is easy enough to get to, so I'll just stick to the OEM version.

 

Is it even feasible to do the power bleed method on a CSC? I thought you push the fluid up thru the slave.

 

Finished my install of the RJM bracket this past Tuesday, and finished (for now) tweaking the settings on it today. I had more trouble than most with the install. The clevis on the AFP slider and the clutch rod did not want to meet at the correct angle despite much swearing and repositioning. Finally managed to get it threaded in the second day of my install. I was initially very unhappy with things as my "test and tune" time was severely limited by work. After getting back in there today and setting things methodically and correctly, I am thrilled with this modification just like everyone else. Completely worth the 2 afternoons of upside down cussing. I have the AFP set at approximately the recommended 75% and was able to thread the clutch rod in a good bit to bring the pedal down to about 1/4 inch above the brake pedal. Initial friction point is about an inch and a half off the floor, or about 1/3 or so of the pedal's travel up. Most importantly, it's wonderful to actually get feedback from the pedal that isn't completely deadened by the over-cam assist spring. I can't say for sure, but thinking back, I'm willing to bet that my friction point before was right around that spring's tipping point. It seemed almost impossible to actually feel the initial friction point because of that spring changing direction right around the same spot.

Long story short... great mod, well worth the effort. Just in case, I'd suggest allowing some extra time for the install in case your clutch rod and clevis don't want to cooperate.

On a side note, I'd like to join the ranks of those personally thanking Ryan at RJM. The story of the evolution of this part is one that warrants being told. An enthusiast like all of us recognized a problem, invented a solution, and decided to share it with everyone for what is honesly a steal of a price. Hats off to you sir.

 

After having this on my car for a couple months I still am surprised with how much I love it and how surprised I am that I got it for a relatively low price! If anyone is debating weather to get it or not please just do it. Thanks Ryan

 

I find my self readjusting everything once in a while. Amazing how many adjustments you have to play with. On the last adjustment I brought the pedal down just about in line with the brake pedal and moved the adjustment to around 50%. Whole new car again LOL.

The only thing that pisses me off is that you really need to realign the whole pedal when you make changes to the adjuster which usually ends up in a couple scrapes and bruised knuckles. Changing the adjuster also changes the angle of the clevis pin... if you don't realign everything you end up with some binding over time.

 

PlainWhite350z, Thank you, I really appreciate the kind words and appreciation for what I've tried to acheive with my small company. I'm very happy to hear that you got everthing figured out and that you're happy with the final results

AngelsVQ glad to hear you're still really enjoying the difference my product makes. It's one of those things you need to feel to believe and something you notice every time you drive... The feeling of a nice shift or perfect launch never gets old.

 

I preordered the original RJM pedal kit and i still haven't installed it yet. What do I need to know about the new revision?

 

dikspiel the biggest change came with the rev 2.0 which simply made the top mounting plate easier to torque down by incorporating a thru bolt clamping system. This allowed one to tighten the upper plate from the easily accessable RH side of the bracket with a singe bolt. The original Rev1 kits from the pre-order used 2 bolts instead, one on each side to accomplish the same clamping just harder to reach the 2nd bolt on the tight LH side.

The Rev 2.1 changes added a laser engraved scale on the AFP Slider so people can now see exactly what AFP Percentage they are set to and help eliminate confusion over where 75% mark is for intial setup.
That said all the updates from your Rev1 have been pretty minor and don't offer any additional features or adjustability over your existing kit... just easier to install.

Ryan

 

Ok good to know. Thanks!

 

After 700 or so miles of driving, the clutch went soft again when I started the car this morning. It did the same thing as before, the engagement point moved very close to the floor and it was difficult to get into reverse along with a spongy feel from the pedal. After I got off the interstate on my way to work, everything was back to normal again...

The fluid hasn't moved down at all since I topped it off.

During the time it was acting "normal" it developed a "click" or "pop" halfway down(but not on the way up) originating from the master cylinder. I sprayed some lithium grease on the rod, and it went away, but I may have the angle of the rod set wrong or the master cylinder may be bad. I'm going to adjust the angle a bit even though the grease seems to have gotten rid of the binding.

Any thought on how to sort this out? I don't want to throw parts out it, but a problem that only shows up every 1000 miles is hard to chase down.