MY98 GF8 classic clutch problems

[ales]

Hi all

Very fresh Impreza owner here in need of help.

I bought a 1997 (MY98) Impreza wagon turbo to be used as a weekend/track car and the first thing that is preventing me from enjoying it is the clutch.

It wouldn't disengage properly, it seems, so getting the thing into gears is quite hard and is accompanied with some sound effects when I try to get it into reverse.

Can't really decide where to start with this. There is no slipping of the clutch or anything once the car is moving but the pedal does seem somewhat harder than what I expect it to be.

One rather puzzling thing is that with the engine in idle once I depress the clutch the revs drop quite noticeably - not quite to the point of stalling but not far from that. Hope it's not the sign of some larger problems.

So what are your thoughts? Pressure plate? Hydraulics? If it's the latter, how can I tell if it's the master or the slave cylinder? All help will be greatly appreciated.

Should I go ahead and replace the clutch, what's the most suitable option for my application? I'm thinking organic Exedy but no idea which one. I don't know what the car has now but the engine is not totally stock - it's definitely making more power than stock.

Thanks,
Alex

[ales]

Hi all

Yesterday I had a bit of time to look at the hydraulic side of things. Haven't noticed much out of the ordinary, there are no obvious leaks and everything seems to be moving smoothly.

Here are two pictures of the lever on the outside of the bell housing. With the pedal released



and with the pedal pressed to the floor



I tried to move the lever further towards the engine using a pipe and it would not move. With the pedal released the slave sylinder rod is in contact with the lever but there is no tension there.

One thing that was a bit odd was how much brake fluid was in the master cylinder reservoir - it was full to the brim. Not sure if it was done by mistake, if the previous owner tried to solve/mask the problem this way or if there's some other reason for it.



So it's time to take the gearbox off to see the condition of the clutch, right? Any and all thoughts are much appreciated.