The DREADED clutch slip!!!

I've got a 95 Metro (5-speed) with 122k miles on it. My clutch has been slipping more and more and I've finally decided to replace it. I have a few questions:

1. My mechanic I'm working with says he can get my fly wheel rotated for about $50 and a new clutch kit for around $140. Is that a pretty good price or could I find a better deal online from a trustworthy site (please include shipping cost if you provide a site online+price)?

2. I've noticed that in general my Metro isn't a very smooth ride in terms of the clutch. I've adujsted it like 4 times trying to get it to pick up sooner then about an inch away from fully enganged, without much luck. It also kind of shudders and bogs no matter how much gas I give it. Is the rough ride a result of my clutch slipping or will I find that after replacing my clutch I will need to do some more adjusting to gain a more smooth ride?

-Thanks

seems a little high on both, last time i had flywheel surfaced cost me $30 and a new clutch kit from local parts store cost about $90. i would make a few calls to your local parts stores and machine shops to see what they charge. can also find clutch kits on e-bay for less but not sure what they want for shipping

Well I called about 20 different places in my region. The best deal I could find was about $135. That was a stock Napa clutch kit. I'm going to try to find a Luke, the best price I've seen for one of those is about $180, but I may have a place that's $141. Anyone know anything about Luke clutch kits? I would go ebay, but I'm not a big ebay person :P.

I bought clutch kit (disk, pressure plate, bearing) for my 88 firefly from a local GM dealer. Cost me about $140CDN for the whole kit. I inspected the flywheel, but it wasn't pitted or scratched in any way, so I didn't bother getting it resurfaced. When it comes right down to it, its not like you're trying to put 300 horses to the ground through the clutch, a few very minor surface inperfections in the flywheel is NOT going to cause a noticeable effect. If it's visibly pitted or scored, definately get it refinished, otherwise, i wouldn't bother. I did the work myself in teh backyard in a weekend. Never did it before, and all I had was hand tools, WD40 and a Haynes manual. Though if you're adverse to getting dirty, sweating, or skinning your knuckles, get someone reliable to do it for you in problably a quarter the time it would take you or I to do it.

Is yours a 1.3L in your 95'? perhaps that's why your clutch is more expensive.

It's a 1.0. :P. I guess I'm going with the Napa Brand clutch cause the Luke is too expensive. I just hope it holds up and that my Metro is a smoother ride after the clutch gets replaced. It seems more like my stick and maybe tranny are iffy. :(.

It's a 1.0. :P. I guess I'm going with the Napa Brand clutch cause the Luke is too expensive. I just hope it holds up and that my Metro is a smoother ride after the clutch gets replaced. It seems more like my stick and maybe tranny are iffy. :(.

My clutch kit from O'Reilly's Auto Parts was $135 after tax but it didn't come with a pilot bearing as do some kits I've seen. I didn't resurface my flywheel either as the one I got with my JDM engine looked very smooth with no visible imperfections.

The laugh was taking off the pressure plate and the clutch disk off the old engine. There was barely any surface at all on the disk. In fact, the disk screws, brads, or whatever, dug a channel into the flywheel. I figured if that old clutch could grab, I didn't need to have my other flywheel resurfaced.

well, it's always a good idea to have your flywheel machined. Even if it looks ok. You don't want your new clutch to have the exact wear pattern as the old one. You want it to make it's own surface. That's the point of re-surfacing. At least rough the surface up a bit with the flat side of a grinding stone. Not re-surfacing a flywheel can, and will end up wearing the clutch out much earlier than expected. In a worst case scenario, it will polish the flywheel, and your clutch will slip under load, and cause your clutch to operate VERY hot. Hot clutch means a warped flywheel. IMHO, don't skimp out on the little things. You wouldn't throw new brake pads on an old rotor without having them re-surfaced, would you? Same concept.