Can you help identify my clutch ?
Turbo Mini Forums

To cut a long story short, I had this clutch/flywheel assembled for me YEARS ago for my metro turbo engine build but I cant for the life of me remember what parts the guy said he used at the time!

The flywheel is from my metro turbo engine I'm building.

From the look of it the flywheel is standard except maybe a new gear ring fitted?

Also the flywheel boss looks like the standard item and a bit worse for wear! I take it I should buy a new one as they are only around £40?

Could this be the 'GCK371AF - CLUTCH KIT TURBO AP WITH 180mm PLATE' kit from minispares? looks very similar.

This leads me to my final questions. if it is the above clutch, would this be man enough for a 150hp fast road engine that I'm hoping to achieve or will I get slippage?

And should I get the flywheel lightened at all before I give it to my local engine machine shop to balance along with the crank etc.?



PICS:























Thanks

ARGE

Will my project ever be finished !!? hopefully you guys can help !
Its only been like 10 years in the making and I'm only just assembling my engine!

could be,

blue dot is either uprated, or metro turbo, it looks like a 180mm plate to me too, the normal 190mm verto ones are normally sprung ( yuck!)

http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=515491

Thanks for the reply Joe,

So it could be just a new standard metro turbo clutch ? bummer

don't think that's really what i'll be wanting with the power I'm after.

ARGE

Will my project ever be finished !!? hopefully you guys can help !
Its only been like 10 years in the making and I'm only just assembling my engine!

well, the metro one is fairly strong, probably ok for 150 hp with a decent plate,

or, its an AP clutch, ideal for using as an RTS.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

that looks very much like minispare 190mm rally plate, probably the same supplier

So assuming it's either an updated clutch like the minispares 20% one or even just a new standard turbo clutch, it should be ok ish for up to 150hp?

The clutch plate copper coloured rivits have AP stamped on them (see pic) is that a good thing?
Is AP the manufacturer then?
Uprated from standard?

The other thing is the flywheel, it's my standard turbo item with a new ring gear.
Should I get it lightened ?
Or maybe just ditch it and get a pre lightened one from MED or somewhere?

Thanks guys

ARGE

Will my project ever be finished !!? hopefully you guys can help !
Its only been like 10 years in the making and I'm only just assembling my engine!

Sorry for all the noob questions..

One more thing, I haven't measured that clutch plate but if it's 180mm then should I change it for a 190mm? (Presumably bigger is better, Ooh er!)

Can a 190mm one even be fitted to that flywheel?

ARGE

Will my project ever be finished !!? hopefully you guys can help !
Its only been like 10 years in the making and I'm only just assembling my engine!

any verto will take a 190 plate,


theoretically bigger is better, but it seems the 180 rally plate comes in a stickier material than the 190, so theres probably not a lot in it, the 180 may be better, but its about 30quid more.

What's that mark on the inside on pic 5?

Dazed and Confused....

Shame they don't do the rally plate in 190mm!

So when you say 180mm rally plate, who makes that plate and where is it available from?

Not sure about pic 5, will have a closer look tonight but think I'm just going to replace the clutch centre anyway as the old one looks worn and they are only £40ish.

ARGE

Will my project ever be finished !!? hopefully you guys can help !
Its only been like 10 years in the making and I'm only just assembling my engine!

Jeez theres two 180mm rally plates now, and arnt they getting pricy!



http://minispares.com/product/classic/C-AHT596.aspx

http://minispares.com/product/classic/C-AHT595.aspx

http://minispares.com/product/Classic/Clut...ack%20to%20shop

Seems to be some disagreement over lightened clutches on a turbo.

Some say the extra weight in the flywheel will help get you off the line better on a standing start helping overcome a turbos lag issues.. Personally i don't really agree. I dont think you use full power in the first place on a standing start unless you have some pretty big slicks.. Once your rolling the effect has gone and it works against you..

If you're having it balanced anyway then you could get a bit skimmed off but theres not so much to come off a verto. MED and Mini spares do decent light verto flywheels tho.

For what it costs id go for an RTS conversion. will solve all potential clutch issues for the price of an old AP cover, a few bolts and an hour or so's work.

Thanks everyone for the input, much appreciated!

Think I'm going to go for either the MED or minispares lightened verto flywheel, any reccomandations on which is best?

Think the MED one is slightly cheaper if I remember but the minispares one says something about it being designed to improve the clamping pressure?

Will then stick with the clutch cover and pressure plate I have for the mean time as I think it is the 20% upgraded item anyway and I won't be doing any racing starts/drag strips.

Somewhere I was reading a thread where it mentioned the thickness of the clutch cover springs and what thickness the standard vs upgraded ones are but can't find it again.

I measured the thickness of the clutch cover springs I have as about 2.7mm.

Any clues if this helps determine whether it's the uprated cover or not?

Thanks.

ARGE

Will my project ever be finished !!? hopefully you guys can help !
Its only been like 10 years in the making and I'm only just assembling my engine!

I measured my 20% uprated (blue dot) plate at 2.56mm

Thanks for that PhilR

Maybe I'll re-measure them tonight as my instinct tells me that uprated should probably be thicker than standard?

Will my project ever be finished !!? hopefully you guys can help !
Its only been like 10 years in the making and I'm only just assembling my engine!

I'm pretty sure both the MED and minispares ones have reduced height ;lugs to help with clamping,

bothare fine, but personally I'd go with the MED one as its billet