Stag Clutch

Best bet is a new flywheel. All clutches AFAIK are located by dowels which are a press fit into the flywheel, they are essential to avoid out of balance clutch cover. Most threads go right through the flywheel. It is not practical to put helicoils into a short blind hole. I can see no reason not to drill the holes through and tap for a helicoil. Although this may be very difficult if the holes have already been butchered.

However for all the messing about you might as well put a new flywheel on which will come with the right holes and dowels.

I like the bother typo BTW

mrcheerful

This is bad news. Given the speed that the flywheel spins at, different sized and missing screws are likely to set up vibration because they are out of balance. Not good for the rear main bearing.

It is a long time since I saw a clutch - I have had automatics for the last

12 years. But I don't remember any consistent pattern. I have seen blind holes and holes that go right through.

Again, it was a long time ago, but I think dowels were normally part of the clutch cover rather than the flywheel.

Which suggests that they are part of the clutch cover rather than a separate part.

Whatever you do, I would try to get them all the same to maintain balance. Only someone on the spot can decide whether it is best to make them all oversize (with or without helicoils) or whether to replace the flywheel with one that hasn't been butchered.

Jim

Freudian slip? :-) Actually, he's a great bloke. Dunno where he got it from.

This blinking car came with full photographic record of a 'comprehensive' nut and bolt re-build. Unfortunately, it appears to have been rebuilt by a nut using the wrong bolts.

I'd suggest he visits a small engineering Co. By small I mean 2 or 3 guys in a few hundred square foot of w/shop. Providing they have the facilities, machinery etc, they should do the job at a reasonable price. Either drilling all the holes to the same size and Helicoiling or tapping and drilling for larger bolts. Helicoiling might not be an option though. It might be too thin to accept a

1.5 x dia Helicoil in a blind hole. Not forgetting that two or three complete threads will be lost on depth due to the lead on the tap. Presumably the existing holes tapped oversize are 10mm. Assuming they are all redrilled and Helicoiled to 10mm, the blind tapping holes would have to have to be at least 17mm of full diameter deep, and unless the holes were flat bottomed, you'd have to add the drill point to that, so 18mm at least. More than the flywheel thickness I suspect. You can shorten Helicoils, but then you'd lose the optimum minimum thread length of 1.5 times the thread dia.

I suggest drilling all the holes to the same diameter and depth, so they are all cleaned up and the flywhheel is theoretically in balance, then drilling and tapping a new set of holes between the old ones. New dowels as well if necessary. Any competent small w/shop should be able to do that relatively easily. If he wasn't so far away I'd volunteer to do it myself. I'd charge less than £130 to do the whole job. Pressure plate housing and flywheel. And make a profit. Mike.

From what he says, such places are rare in Aberdeen, and likely to charge through the nose.

My first thought was to drill right through the flywheel using the existing holes to the size that cleaned up the re-tapped ones. Then tap to the next nearest size. Of course the cover would need doing too.

Not compared to most garage rates. Such shops wont be as common as they are in the south, that's for certain, but I doubt they'd charge rip-off prices. I'd guess 2-3 hrs work with the right equipment, and their hourly rate will be considerably less than that of a garage.

If it can be drilled right through, it might be better to Helicoil, if only to reduce the diameter of the bolts. Mike.

Can't help thinking this sounds a lot of effort to save at best 20 or 30 quid and still end up with a less than ideal job (compared to the correct replacement part).

But then I've reached the point where little local garage does brake work, etc for me. I figure the £30 - £40 of labour is money well spent compared to the risks (small I know - if your sensible) of jacking the car up on the limited confines of my (gravel) front drive, avoiding the pain of lying on the drive for a couple of hours in various contorted positions, and avoiding the general barked knuckles and minor losses of blood that seem to occur EVERY time I work on the car. They take an hour at most, can work in comfort on a car at the right height in the warm - no contest :o)

I'm talking about the finished job. Pressure plate fitted as well. Providing the flywheel is sound, redrilling and fitting Helicoils would give a finished job, apart from any existing wear, equally as good as a new flywheel. Just drilling through and fitting Helicoils should be less than half the £130 quoted price of a new flywheel. A worthwhile saving IMO.

Fitting Helicoils is not a bodge. Quite the reverse in fact. They're often fitted to machine parts that need to be frequently dismantled, as being harder than mild steel, cast iron, or ally etc, the threads will last longer, and can easily be replaced if they do eventually wear out. Mike.

The replacement part won't be new, though, but reconditioned. Probably mainly a new starter ring. And if it's common for these threads to be stripped - as seems likely - they might also be repaired in some way.

But running a 'classic' is often more about fixing things yourself. Not just the 'pleasure' of driving it.

Dave, these guys may help -

Precision Engine Services

2 Whitemyres Business Centre Whitemyres Avenue, Mastrick Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire AB16 6HQ 01224 789777

Dunno what their current hourly rate is though, it's been a while...