Just an update...I had a conference call with the clutch and bushings manufacturer yesterday and the current manufacturing lead time is 90 days from me giving them the green light. That's a bit longer than I was expecting but they are a huge producer of OEM and aftermarket clutches for several manufacturers so I fully understand the scheduling challenges this production run creates.
So to reiterate, production will start only after 15 people have shown genuine interest, signed up and are committed to making the 50% deposit required to start production.
Clutch manufacturing is an extremely complicated and expensive process given that there is also chemistry involved. I've been in their facility and it's quite an impressive operation, even considering my 13 years in the automotive engineering and manufacturing industry working for the worlds largest OEMs.
I'll continue to post updates in this thread of course. Thanks for everyone's interest and patience.