Embarassing but true: I can't drill through the clutch fork.

I have the kit Robbie posted on my SBF/T5 swapped E30. It works just fine- I would only recommend doubling up on the nut on the rod, I had mine back off a little while driving. I also did a remote bleeder line, makes life much easier.

In reply to The_Jed:

Yeah we have one of those machines too but I don't use it, ive always done them by hand so I've gotten fairly good at it. It can be a pain to get the tip right so it don't walk. Practice practice practice

This reminds me of trying to drill near a weld in a piece of stainless steel. Destroyed every bit I threw at it, including carbide or titanium bits... Moral of the story: always drill stainless first, then weld.

Drag a file over the piece, if it leaves a mark, you should be able to run a drill through it.

In reply to DeadSkunk:

It's one of those things they taught the new guy in the machine shop back in the day. He'd try a hundred times 'til the old guy finally said "That's usable; not good, but usable". Then he'd jam it into the grinder and say "the day is young, do another hundred"

I only sharpen from about 3/8" up. Smaller is cheaper to buy. And with a machine shop I have at least 4-10 of all the sizes I use often in different materials, coatings, lengths and tip geometries.

Speeds and feeds are the name of the game here, you can put a Chinese HSS drill through a wrench if your speeds and feeds are right. GL5 gear oil makes ok cutting fluid.

Gear oil is awesome as a cutting fluid when using a burr on aluminum. Haven't had luck with it on steel though.

Nooooo, not gear oil, please! The worst smell this side of phenol.

one cannot complain about lubrication smells until you understand the horror of moly dee. the 78 year old guy in the tool room loves it.