Clutch plate

[sujitroy]

My manual Stag has a Borg and Beck clutch, and Borg and Beck clutch plate in it. Operating the clutch has always been hard. I have the engine out for a bottom end rebuild. Here is a photo of the plate. I recently have obtained a Koyo bearing. Can I use this bearing with this plate? Based on the profile of the bearing, is it the bearing suitably matched with the plate. The current throw out bearing in car is a regular one from James Paddock. The odd thing I noticed with the current bearing is that it spins freely like there is no grease in there. Is this normal. The car has very little use on it with this bearing.

Sujit

[gbb483]

The cross shaft (150709) has three holes for connecting to the slave cylinder. Are you using the hole furthest from the pivot point?

[sujitroy]

Can't recall now. but the hole which is first recommended .

[mole42]

It appears that you had the wrong release bearing for the clutch cover - the wear ring is too far from the end of the fingers which will make for a heavy pedal. The correct release bearing will bear upon the outer end of the fingers and allow the use of the middle hole in the arm.

[NeilR]

The Koyo (Toyota Landcruiser) bearing is the wrong profile & will still contact too far from the end of the fingers (I have tried one), You need a N.O.S RHP from Tony White.

[Westfaling]

Hi - While I agree NOS would always be the best way to go, the Koyo RCT52S release bearing is the one sold by Paddocks and Rimmers for the Stag. I've had one in my Stag for 12 years and, while this is subjective, I've never regarded the clutch operation to be heavy.
My clutch is on the bench right now (due to an engine failure) and the pressure plate looks much the same as the photo above - with maybe half the wear but has only done about 10,000 miles. I guess I'm saying I'd look elsewhere for the heavy clutch action.

[len]

NOS is also risky. I recently had to drop my gearbox and replace my NOS rhp bearing as it was faulty....not funny

[sujitroy]

A follow up question. Are other brand clutch plates and the fingers similar to that of the Bork and Beck. In my case the clutch master cylinder is new. I have a new steel braded line. My gearbox was mated to the engine using the special alignment bolts. I have driven other manual Stags with lighter feel to the clutch.

[Chris01573]

I feel your pain Sujitroy. I am going to have to pull my gearbox again when things warm up. after fitting the clutch back that came with the car that was not good I bought a new B&B clutch from LD Parts. This is also not good and despite fitting a new (long) nose extension and the Wards updated bearing carrier I still have a heavy clutch. Mick at EJ ward said they avoid all the new clutches now and have old ones refurbished as the new clutches atend to have incorrect tension on the fingers. I have bought a NOS borg and beck clutch I found on eBay so I am going to give it another go when I can face getting the Gbox back out.

[len]

i have bought and fitted a complete recon clutch kit from e j ward and i can report the clutch action is lovely

[Lingen]

Sujit.
One of the ways of getting a problem clutch to disengage properly is to fit a slave cylinder from a 2000 saloon. It has a slightly smaller diameter, so has a longer travel, but at the expense of having to push harder. Could your car have had one fitted at some stage?
Mike.

[jbuckl]

Stag manual clutch issues do seem to be a recurring theme.

perhaps due to trusting to luck with parts ?

maybe an article from a manual transmission guru is needed?

have previously worked for oem clutch company (in design … LuK) so I have some system knowledge.

however I really only had experience of stag auto ownership.

brief experience of ownership with a manual…. Seemed to work ok with all new robsport parts…. 2021.

neutral was noisy though… probably input shaft bearing…. Maybe due to poor bearing fitting possibly.

Disliked the whole setup and feel of a manual stag.

Disliked the agricultural design of most of the transmission internals.

A ZF 4 speed really suits the car …. Just my 2p.

[sujitroy]

Sujit.
One of the ways of getting a problem clutch to disengage properly is to fit a slave cylinder from a 2000 saloon. It has a slightly smaller diameter, so has a longer travel, but at the expense of having to push harder. Could your car have had one fitted at some stage?
Mike.

Mike,
I replaced the cylinder with one from James Paddocks. They mention they have one from a Dolomite which they sell and fits a Stag. I just have a regular after market one I can only assume. I had my original Stag master cylinder re-sleeved. I could try that. The B&B clutch and plate are old. They came out of a non-running car. I too have the longer sleeve for the bearing to ride on.

[Lingen]

The master cylinder would almost certainly have been re sleeved to the original dimensions. You seem to have all the correct kit, so perhaps it ts just the make of pressure plate?
I get the impression that my clutch is slowly getting heavier and heavier, but perhaps it is just my elderly muscles getting weaker and weaker??
Mike.

[jbuckl]

Clutch load increases as the centre plate wears, unless a self adjusting pressure plate is available… which they aren’t for stags afaiaa.

The conical angle of the diaphragm spring changes with wear so the ratio becomes lower & required travel becomes longer.

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