ok here I go again,
when it comes to who makes clutches, I don't possibly know who all of them
are, but as far as types of clutches, I do a little better. Patrick
mentioned that some are stamped Borg & Beck but doubts that they actually
made the unit. When I first started dealing with clutches in hot rods and
race cars, what I learned that clutches were catagorized by their style: Borg
& Beck, Long, Diaphram, Borg & Beck/Long, and Centrifugal (sometimes referred
to as an RPM clutch) and most US clutch manufacturers make a variety of these
clutches depending on the application. I can't describe the differences
between the Borg & Beck and the Long styles (or the B&B/Long) off of the top
of my head but I'm sure everyone has seen a diaphram style, it looks like a
whole lot of "fingers" that the throwout bearing presses on to release
pressure off of the disc. The centrifugal clutch is the one no one hear is
familiar with, it has levers on the top side with weights connected
(sometimes they are adjustable) that increase the clamping force as engine
speed increases (and not the best thing to use on a street car unless you
have a very strong left leg) and I seem to remember that some of these were
based on the Long style clutch. Perhaps if someone is having problems with a
particular style, they should seek a source that has a style more suitable to
their use.
Michael
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