Just so you will know, you have a clutch from a MGB in your car. The early
series car use a clutch that works off of springs. They tend to be heavy as
hell. The MGB clutch (diaphragm) is a direct bolt on to the early style
flywheel which can be machined down to lose about 5 pounds easily. You can
lighten them still more, yet this gets expensive. This clutch is almost
identical to the Volvo clutch yet the MG is designed to use the carbon
bearing while the Volvo is designed to use a roller bearing. I personally
use the MGB style NOW because it is lighter, diaphragm, and with more meat,
lasts a tad longer. Not having to accelerate the early style clutch
continually has to save money in fuel. But your debate deals with using the
1725 style clutch. These are cheap enough and available. Jan Servaites said
he has machined flywheels with new ring gears. I would look into this since
this will probably be the last one you ever buy. One last thing is that you
can always rotate a worn ring gear 45 degrees since they generally only get
used in 4 spots anyway. This is a temp fix that will save you money in
flywheels, but will probably wear out starters fast enough. Lou
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jonathan Mies" <jmies@comcast.net>
To: <alpines@autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, June 01, 2004 3:27 PM
Subject: Series V, 8" clutch ?
?
> Alpine experts,
>
> I finally got around to working on my clutch over the holiday
> weekend. However, I found that the new clutch, purchased as a
> replacement for the original in my car (early Series V w/10-spline
> shaft), is different from the one that's been in the car for the past
> 20 years. The new clutch, with a 7.5" driven plate, is relatively
> small. The clutch from the car has an 8" driven plate and a larger
> clutch cover/diaphragm spring. The flywheel in the car is also
> different from one mounted on my spare engine. Since the flywheel on
> my spare engine mates correctly to the new clutch, I assume it is
> original and that the one in the car is not.
>
> I would consider swapping out flywheels, so I could use the clutch I
> already purchased, but the spare (original) flywheel has badly worn
> teeth. (I also like the idea of a larger clutch, despite the heavier
> flywheel. Please correct me if this is a bad idea.)
>
> If I can identify the 8" clutch and find a source for a new one, I
> would probably just replace it. The 8" clutch is stamped "Borg & Beck
> Co. Ltd." "England". Other than a difference of size and the related
> difference of flywheels, it is similar to the original Alpine clutch.
>
> Photos of the clutch can be seen at
>
> http://mywebpages.comcast.net/jmies/alpine/clutch/clutch.html
>
> Does anybody recognize it?
> Is it from a different Alpine or other Roots car?
> Does anybody know of a source or have other advice for me?
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