Clutch Assembly

[settebello]

Hi all

Been busy stripping down both a 1975 Sport and 1979 Strada motors ready for rebuild and noticed that while the Sport motor has the brass dished washer behind the clutch drum that locates into the clutch housing, the Strada version has plastic job.

Is it worth updating to the later plastic version or sticking to the original?

Cheers

Mark

1974 Sport Corsa
1975 Sport
1979 Strada
1982 Camel

[George 350]

Hi,
Go plastic. No more grabby clutch. Did mine within a year of buying it and never regretted it. Same thrust bearing just gone back in even though it has done around 75000 miles.

Cheers,
George.

[settebello]

Thanks George

[trinder]

Hi George,

Thanks for the heads up on the Nylon thrust washer, I have been trying to fettle my clutch as I have found it to be quite grabby, this may be the solution. Cheers,

Neil

[EVguru]

Best advice I can give on acheiving a nice smooth clutch is IGNORE THE BLUE BOOK!

The first steel plate should be the conical one, rather than putting it in last.

I've always done this as it means all the plates get moved sideways when the clutch is released encouraging them to seperate and spreading any wear on the hub and basket dogs.

It was only when flicking through the manual for something else that I spotted that I'd been doing it 'wrong'.

Not only did my way make more sense to me, but I was sure I'd seen a drawing of it done that way.

Sure enough, it's in the later engine manual (produced in the Cagiva era).

Despite quite a bit of end-play in my clutch, it's silky smooth.

I've never had to convert an engine from the early thrust washer to the nylon one, but I recall you may need to add some shims as the washer is thicker. If you tell NLM you're converting from one thrust washer to the other, they should be able to advise.

[trinder]

[quote="EVguru"]Best advice I can give on acheiving a nice smooth clutch is IGNORE THE BLUE BOOK!

The first steel plate should be the conical one, rather than putting it in last.

I ignored the blue book like you said, and whilst I had the clutch in pieces, I changed to the newer type of thrust washer for good measure. I must admit, the clutch action has improved leaps and bounds, it seems more progressive and not so fierce. thanks

Neil

[72degrees]

Getting the clutch centre end float perfect is also worth the time in my experience. I did it years ago using the info and shim set from WeeVee. Prior to that my clutch was like an on/off switch.

Nice to see another Morini in this neck of the woods - and cohabiting with a Matchless! I switched from AMC to Morini when I PX'd my AJS 650 31 CSR and Monza outfit for my first Strada in 1975