epetes

Hello, I am working on a friend's 2004 Boxster. The car has 26000 miles on it and the first 20k of it's life were as a rental car. The clutch was slipping and stunk pretty bad so I pulled the transmission to look at the clutch. I was expecting a completely worn out disc and was surprised that it almost looked new with the exception of the outer third or so of the pad on both sides was a little shiney. Looking at the flywheel and pressure plate looks like it was only making contact on the outer third or half of the mating surface. If you smell the clutch it smells like it was burning. I'm assuming that it is "glazed" and this is what caused the slipping but it seems odd to me that he would just have the problem come up recently. I'm thinking the clutch wasn't ever broken in properly since it started life as a rental. I just want to make sure before I recommend a new clutch kit that this is what is actually going on. What do you think?

Second question, when I pulled the transmission I was surprised to see some leaves, twigs, dirt, etc in the bell housing of the tranny. I noticed on the right side of the transmission is an opening that allowed this stuff to come in. Please look at the picture and let me know if that opening is supposed to be covered somehow?

Third question, since the clutch has quite a bit of thickness to it, is it acceptable to scuff or sand out the glaze? I realize this would have to be done properly to avoid any chatter or jerkiness with it and most of the time I'd say just replace it but I know he is on a budget. Or should I just tell him he has to replace the clutch disc, pressure plate, and possibly even the flywheel (or have it turned at a minimum)?