New Clutch Plate Thickness

[tlovatt]

Hi,

Hopefully someone on here more knowledgeable will come along and help me out. I am currently restoring a '68 Morris Minor Traveller and have stripped down the engine to find the good news that it must have been overhauled inc a re-bore shortly before it was taken off the road. I have taken off the clutch and the flywheel and pressure plate look good but I am after confirmation about the clutch.

The clutch plate measures about 7.2mm in total thickness across the friction material and there is just over 1.2mm of friction material before the rivets will be exposed. Is this OK for re-use, I seem to recall they will only have been about 8mm thick when new? The car will only do 3 or 4 thousand miles a year so I do not want to buy a new clutch if the current one is still good for 10 years+

Thanks

 

[Ashley Burton]

Doesn't sound terrible to me!

Never worn out a clutch in over 10 years of driving. If you wear a clutch out you can't drive is my thoughts

 

[grim_d]

Doesn't sound terrible to me!

Never worn out a clutch in over 10 years of driving. If you wear a clutch out you can't drive is my thoughts

Well.. that's a bit single minded, a clutch will wear regardless of how you drive, simply by design, it's the rate of which that changes.

O.P : how much is a clutch? Good practice is to change when the box is off but by no means Mandatory....

 

[hotponyshoes]

It's about 40% worn out then.
Personally, for the price vs labour I would put a new one in anything if i had to take the engine or gearbox out for any reason.

I appreciate in this case it is probably more of a hobby so if you have to replace the clutch in 2yrs or 8k miles (or even if it fails in a month) it's going to be annoying but not that much of a problem really.

As its not a daily drive or a works van then, if you are happy with the condition of it, and a new one is not what you would call cheap, then stick it back in.

 

[sako243]

How much of a pig is it to do? Since you have it out it might be a nice to do now?

I know when I snapped a crank in my Defender and was swapping the engine thought for the sake of £80 or whatever it was I did the clutch at the same time. When I took it out the clutch was in perfect fettle but it was a weekend's work doing the engine swap (bit quicker if I was just doing the clutch). I've kept the old one as a spare in case I need it.

 

[Ashley Burton]

Well.. that's a bit single minded, a clutch will wear regardless of how you drive, simply by design, it's the rate of which that changes.

O.P : how much is a clutch? Good practice is to change when the box is off but by no means Mandatory....

Call it what you want, But it's always the young drivers & old drivers that kill clutches. I'm obviously not saying everyone, But it's the common story I've had with many in all my years of being in the trade

 

[Wallace]

Sounds ok to me and not likely to be stressed on a Moggy if it has Borg & Beck stamped on it even better but I would price up a new plate and not some cheap eBay chaff made from compressed string.

 

[Parm]

Doesn't sound terrible to me!

Never worn out a clutch in over 10 years of driving. If you wear a clutch out you can't drive is my thoughts

clearly you haven’t done enough burnouts, wheel spins and other foolery

 

[tlovatt]

A new clutch is £65 which taken in isolation is not that much, problem is when restoring a car there are a lot of things that can be replaced for peace of mind but then the cost of the restpration goes through the roof. Assuming a clutch should last at least 100k miles, then if it still has 50k miles left in it, the clutch should be fine for 15 years. The clutch is branded as AP so should be reasonable quality.

As the engine has been bored out it does have some extra power, 49hp rather than 48 (assuming BMC told the truth about the power output in the first place, which I doubt) so it should not be under much strain and the only time I have worn out a clutch was in my first car (a Maestro) which had over 160k miles on the original clutch and I drove it like a prat (student)

Engine removal is not too bad on the MM, it is less than a day to get the engine out and less than a day to put it back in (clutch change is an hour or so with the engine out)

 

[Barking Mat]

Engine out on a Morris?

3 hours, less?

Rear wheel drive.

Disconnect prop shaft.

Might be easier to remove front grill? Can't remember?

They're not big engines, gearbox is longer if I recall.

Isn't there an issue... No it's the brake master cylinder, now I think about it.

How much?

Time and money equation.

 

[Wallace]

clearly you haven’t done enough burnouts, wheel spins and other foolery

He ain't from Hounslow init boss!

What kills clutches? Driving schools and how they teach people to drive these days.

Edit: AP I would use it.

 

[Ashley Burton]

clearly you haven’t done enough burnouts, wheel spins and other foolery

Use to drive like an idiot when I passed my test. But really don't see the appeal these days. Would rather get somewhere without incident. Maybe that's why I drive a van limited to 70?

 

[tlovatt]

Engine out on a Morris?

3 hours, less?

Rear wheel drive.

Disconnect prop shaft.

Might be easier to remove front grill? Can't remember?

They're not big engines, gearbox is longer if I recall.

Isn't there an issue... No it's the brake master cylinder, now I think about it.

How much?

Time and money equation.

Its the brake master cylinder that you need to remove the torsion bar on the drivers side to get the nuts undone that is the big problem if you ever need to do it - bigger job than getting the engine out. Removal took longer, but I stripped the engine down as I do not have a hoist.

 

[nickk]

Leave it in ,at your predictions there’s many years left in it with the predicted mileage ,at the worse it’s 2 hours to change,there’s other things that could need/want attention before that’s worn out that may necessitate removal of engine or box.

 

[Barking Mat]

Its the brake master cylinder that you need to remove the torsion bar on the drivers side to get the nuts undone that is the big problem if you ever need to do it - bigger job than getting the engine out. Removal took longer, but I stripped the engine down as I do not have a hoist.

Hmmm, I seem to remember a pry bar addresses that problem.............. Coat, door.

 

[Barking Mat]

Who drives a Morris Traveller aggressively?

I'd be more concerned about the ash frame.

What condition is that in.

We used to have mushrooms growing in ours.

Don't forget the fuel pump playing up, and the classically badly positioned coil!

 

[tlovatt]

Hmmm, I seem to remember a pry bar addresses that problem.............. Coat, door.

Some people do lever the torsion bar down and you can just get the bolts out apparently, but there is the danger that you damage the torsion bar in the process.

 

[tlovatt]

Who drives a Morris Traveller aggressively?

I'd be more concerned about the ash frame.

What condition is that in.

We used to have mushrooms growing in ours.

Don't forget the fuel pump playing up, and the classically badly positioned coil!

New wooden frame being made by my father. I have overhauled the fuel pump but it is more of a suction device than a pump as it is quite a bit higher than the fuel tank - easy to get to for maintenance though (unlike the awkwardly placed washer bottle down at the bottom of the engine bay making it more difficult to top up)

 

[mr haynes]

Just a new plate then?
Are they both spring and plate branded?

 

[Barking Mat]

Some people do lever the torsion bar down and you can just get the bolts out apparently, but there is the danger that you damage the torsion bar in the process.

Possibly.....

Not me, my brother.

That's my excuse.

We have 3 or 4 moggies as a family, ones a pick up.

One stripped to a shell, awaiting sand blasting, welding, paint and full resto.

It can wait longer, toooooo many projects, work and all that carp.