What ever you do don't use it as it is!!! The next problem you will have is the clutch fork will slip of one side of the release bearing then the clutch will really turn to crap. This advice not so much for you Steve as I am sure you intend to get it all bang on, it's for anyone else searching and finding the thread
You need to know what the "installed' thikness of the clutch disk is and the thickness requirement of the pressureplate. Shimming the clutch plate up and down to get correct installed height is acceptable practise but having to do this with a new combo is totally unacceptable. They have supplied you with the wrong pressure plate/clutch disk combination or there has been a manufacturing error which happens. The "professionals" who installed it should have checked things out a lot more closely than they did but not much comeback there if you supplied the parts. Depending on the diaphragm, the installed height is crucial to getting correct clamping pressure and even a poofteenth of "overcenter" of the diaphragm, from a too thick disk can result in a huge loss of clamping pressure. L8r E
Thanks for all the comments. It seems someone else has run into this problem a number of months prior to the purchasing of my equipment last year. It seems that Southbend failed to acknowledge or resolve the situation At this stage it seems there is 2 options. ONE is to wait for the Americians to figure out whats going on and send me the correct assembly. Coz has said he will speak to SB and get a resolution. I emailed 2 address I have for Southbend also with all the info attached. TWO is to start machining. It seems the most suitable option would be to take 1mm off the flywheel, on the clutch plate side, inside of the pressure plate bolt holes. This would allow the clutch plate to sit deeper and allow clearance. This 'May' be the failure that SB has not recognised. There is another thing I have found. In the step up on the Southbend Range, they use a modified Cover plate. This may have an increased depth. I believe there is also various SB flywheels... So there may have been a fkup in Cozs infantry and distribution with poor info coming out of Southbend about the matchup of parts.
Well the Southbend response was less than useless. Take note; the assessment was concluded that the clutch assembly was at fault with the Clutch Slave Cylinder disconnected, and applying the clutch manually whilst observing the physical movement. Southbends Response. Southbend considered it was a pedal issue and suggested putting it all back together and just using it as is. Observing what we had seen it would only lead to catastrophic failure. So that concluded my dealings with Southbend. I was of to fix the problem at hand. I have a feeling I know what happened. The pressure plate and clutch plate are both Exedy factory units coded for the TT. These work in everyones car all day long and have no issues. The only real custom part was the Flywheel. The Southbend Code for this flywheel is 'SBCNIS-1', now to me the -1 of that code could only really indicate a 1mm recess or step on the gearbox side of the flywheel which would bring it to stock like specs. The southbend flywheel I was issued had that code but no step or recess. So it was then up to me to go and put one in. This was ezzupturbos recommendation from the beginning that he had found the same fault previously. So now we end up with this; This is all my guess.... Lets hope it works out!! ..
Well underwhelming reply Steve. Cured me from buying any South bend product. Hope it all works out. I probably wouldnt let them off quite as easy, Asswipes
Yep. I'd post it to the ttnet forums also if I were you. What was Coz' response? Is that their quote verbatim? Or is that given by your workshop?
Verbatim? The only thing that makes sense to us is the pedal adjustment is too high, causing the bearing to push too far and into the clutch disc. "He's gonna hate hearing this, but If the car were here, I would reinstall the clutch and trans and adjust the pedal down. Actually, I would have never pulled the clutch and started with the pedal, but we're already past that point." So basically they thought it was part of the pedal even though the pedal, through the slave cylinder, wasnt even part of the deal and a totally unrelated issue. We are looking at the compressed and uncompressed assembly through the window and seeing its not whats ment to be going on. we were justing using a breaker bar to assess the clutch operation to figure out why it wasnt working as it should. Hearing them say that was like telling them the suspension is squeaky so they recommend cleaning the windscreen. Bolt it all back together and soldier on they rekon? Coz is forwarding on my information to SB. i gave him this info today and can expect a response first thing in the morning our time.
Clutch From here, I would take the flywheel and clutch kit to a clutch rebuilder/reconditioner. They can set it up in minutes and tell you what the problem is. Any machining work required would not be guess work. I had to do this a fair bit (back in the day) for modified engine/gearbox combinations.
What awefull customer service you got there . If the clutch and pressure plate are all standard specs why you need to machine ? The TT factory flywheel is not recessed ?
Stock TT flywheel should have a raised .008" step which is what the southbend flywheels have for the TT. You just ruined the flywheel by putting a recessed step in it. Are you using stock clutch hydraulics? Do you have a TT clutch booster still? Fingers on the pressure plate should be fairly flat with a new clutch once everything is bolted down.
And the SBCNIS-1 on the flywheel is simply a part number, Has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with the step.
Nah M8, His clutch driven plate is too thick for the job. He has to raise the pressure plate by the difference between the current disk thickness and whatever thickness plate that pressure plate is designed for. This can be done easily by shimming the pressure plate away from the flywheel or in a far less ghetto method by recessing the friction face. By having a raised step, or lowering the pressure plate further, the problem is compounded. L8r E
I really doubt the clutch plate was too thick, The TT pressure plate he has is designed to be used with a tt flywheel which has a factory .008" upwards step. The OEM TT flywheel has a .008" step also. Where was the fork position in the bellhousing opening when installed at rest?
Dude, You are missing the point. Without the gear box on the back of the engine. Looking at the distance between the fingers and the clutch plate when the cover is all bolted down on the flywheel. The fingers TOUCH the clutch plate spring surround before the pressure is off the clutch plate. THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PEDAL OR THE SLAVE. The box isnt even in place. This is why the response from South bend is DUMB.
ive had the same problem with the southbound clutch, when its all bolted up the pressure plate fingers were not flat they were facing towards the sprung center which is not right. i had to shimm it out to get the fingers flat then i had the same issue with it rubbing on the sprung center and yes the clutch pedal was properly adjusted. Why is it when i buy exedy hd ceramic,brass or organic clutches they bolt straight up with no problems at all.
They are not touching here Is this bolted down? Kinda hard to tell the distance by this pic though. Nobody ever said this was touching the disk when just bolted down, It looks to me like it was running and when the pedal was pushed it was hitting the disk, I have installed 100's of these kits and have never seen this issue. If it was touching why was it even installed? Obviously something was wrong. The flywheel should not have been cut, The kit should have been sent in for inspection, Cutting the flywheel will not fix the issue correctly, If it is over centering that bad something is messed up.
The actual OEM flywheel step is 8thou. The SB flywheel I received had a step of zero. Through trial and error we are at 20thou with the equipment reassembled again. This time hoping it works. I think the problem was slightly compounded by the 'finish on the clutch disc. The finish is pretty rough and we think smashing a hard run in may help.
Steve Be wary of working that clutch real hard. Uneven contact on the friction faces can generate localised intense heat and scorching/glazing of smaller areas of the disk and clutch/flywheel faces. This can make it a nightmare to get a decent bedding in as the glazed areas will take quite some time before thay wear off and the clutch, "comes back" to you and further bedding in of the friction material takes place. By all means work it well but try to avoid ANY hard and high rpm launches for a good 1000k's judging at the look of that friction material. I would have expected to see significantly more friction material contact after 400 odd K's. Bugger all contact area to speak of on the side of the disk in the pix. For mine, id look at having that disk whisked flat by a clutch mob. Im suspecting that the friction material is just too thick on that plate due to a manufacturing stuffup and so licking it flat would be acceptable. Above all, DO NOT let it slip at full clamp load....... it will take tens of thousands of K's to come back to you........eeeek! good luck. E
