Well the gearbox is out of my 65TR4A for a rebuild. I am trying hard not to
develop a really severe case of shiprights disease, but it looks like the
clutch, exhaust system, driveshaft, and differential pinion oil seal are
already on the short list.
This is an early TR4A with the early no-preload clutch set-up, and has an
"original style" Borg and Beck pressure plate ( as described by Brent Kiser in
his excellent paper)clutch disk and throwout bearing I installed new 20+ years
ago. They have performed flawlessly with excellent feel and performance.
Current condition: The pressure plate is in excellent condition...no rust, not
pits on clutch surface, very, very slight wear on the "fingers" where the
release bearing makes contact. The clutch disk shows some wear, but not that
much when compared to a new one. The good condition is likely due to the fact
that it has no more then 15K miles of leisurely motoring since installedb&all
of it in good weather.
Well before I took everything apart, I ordered a Borg and Beck clutch kit with
up rated throw out bearing from TRF (part no. RFK 1396). I expected the Koyo
bearing and thatbs what arrivedb&however its also looks like they sent b magic
clutchb components as I now have a MF 215 Sachs pressure plate and Borg&Beck
clutch disk in the garage. This makes sense after reading the articles and
noting the design change on later Borg & Beck pressure plateb& since I canbt
imagine using the Koyo bearing with the later unit.
Having read all the articles by Brent and Nelson Reidel on the TR250/6 clutch,
I am trying to relate how this affects my situation. Even though I donbt have
the 250/6 preloaded bearing issues to contend with it seems like I have several
major options
Option A: Appears that it might be reasonable to use the current pressure
plate and replace the clutch disk and throwout bearing. (The major risk with
this approach seems to be only that conventional wisdom is to replace this part
once all the work has been done to remove the gearbox.) I could use either the
original style bearing or the Koyo. Has anyone tried the Koyo bearing with the
early Borg and Beck plates on a TR4/4A. Is the RHP bearing really poor
quality? Has anyone actually had an early bearing failure with the original
RHP bearing on a 4/4A? Am I making a big mistake by using the current
pressure plate given the current condition, and avg. miles per year?
Option B: Use the b magic kitb components. Once again does anyone have
experience using this set-up on the 4/4A? It certainly appears that there
are issues on the 250/6 applications, at the same time; is that due exclusively
to the b preloadedb bearing set-up
Option C: Your thoughts??
Thanks and best regards
Mike Godley
65 TR4A
/// triumphs@autox.team.net mailing list
/// or try http://www.team.net/cgi-bin/majorcool
/// Archives at http://www.team.net/archive
|