Thanks for the guide. I just got done with pretty much the same mods you made. Now I just need to wait for my little girl to go to bed so I can do some in-depth testing
In the meantime here is my initial feedback.
First I installed the brass bushings instead of the plastic ones. You were absolutely right - this was the most difficult part. The bar is a very tight fit within the new bushings so it took some very carefully applied force to get it reassembled. I also made sure to get some of included metal lubricant in there with each part as I slid them back onto the bar. As you quite rightly pointed out -
great care is well advised with the wires!!
I installed the weak clutch spring on the throttle per your suggestion and it certainly feels better. When just squeezing the springs outside of the whole assembly it felt like the weak clutch spring would be too strong for the throttle but when installed it feels lighter than I would have guessed. I suspect I'm gonna be happy with this, although I might even consider going one step stronger. Hard to tell until I've had a few good driving sessions.
I also put in the longer brake bar and stiffer brake foam. I can immediately tell that this feels far far better than stock. Much more like a racecar now. Can't wait to do some driving to see how it translates to in-game feel.
I just wanted to add for anyone else considering these mods that you can accomplish the necessary changes to springs, brake bars, foam etc when you remove the center bar to install the brass bushings. You do not need to disassemble a second time as shown in Thomas's Fanatec video (although that is certainly an option and there may be reasons to do it that way that I am not recognizing).
Anyway thanks again Delphic. I'll let you know if I discover anything else in my adventures....