Clutch Basket springs broken

[wheatdog]

Well, I pulled the clutch basket and found the backing plate and rivets are nice and tight but two of the springs are broken. Looks like I've got to take it apart to fix.

Question: Where to find stock replacement springs? I've seen heavy duty stuff at the APE site but are these reccommended for purely street use? If it doesn't matter, I'll buy those since they're only 20 bucks or so.

Wheatdog

[Agemax]

Well, I pulled the clutch basket and found the backing plate and rivets are nice and tight but two of the springs are broken. Looks like I've got to take it apart to fix.

Question: Where to find stock replacement springs? I've seen heavy duty stuff at the APE site but are these reccommended for purely street use? If it doesn't matter, I'll buy those since they're only 20 bucks or so.

Wheatdog

you wont notice any difference using these springs on the road but they will last a lifetime. make sure they are fitted correctly, and the rivets welded, as a precaution

[gearhead13]

Probably really noisy with springs that far gone, I know mine was. As far as I know you can only order the clutch basket rebuild kit:

http://gszone.biz/clutches.html

http://www.theflyingbanana.com/clutchhub.htm

I did mine my self, took the basket apart, and had a buddy tig weld it back together.

[blowerbike]

FYI
your supposed to clamp the assembly over top of the rivets..not between them.
this guarantee's that the backing plate is solid against the rivet spacers.

[gearhead13]

FYI
your supposed to clamp the assembly over top of the rivets..not between them.
this guarantee's that the backing plate is solid against the rivet spacers.

If the clamp is on the rivet, how do you weld it?

[blowerbike]

If the clamp is on the rivet, how do you weld it?

you make/find 3 spacers that will fit over the rivet..
you then grind/machine a nice groove in each one(2 per spacer).
this lets the welder have a place to stick his torch in to tack weld.
un-clamp the assembly and fully weld.
this way you haven't flexed the backing plate and caused binding in the area's that should have some movement.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------i use aluminum spacers so they are less likely to get welded while tacking the rivets.
doing it this way over top of the rivets lets you tighten the C-clamp to the max/bottoms out because of the spacers under the backing plate and does not flex anything.

[wheatdog]

I was unsure of correctly clamping, welding, etc on the backing plate so I shipped the whole thing off to APE to make sure it was done by people who do this for a living. Normally I just weld up my own stuff but there's some important things about this job that are outside my experience. Plus, if I get it wrong, grenaded engine and perhaps total myself too. Therefore, throw down the $$$.

Wheatdog

[blowerbike]

very good move you made.
i use John Pearson myself but as long as you get it done right..
and APE will do it right.

[Turtleface]

Went the APE route myself. Peace of mine trumps temporary fiscal frugality in my book any day. I say temporary fiscal frugality because if it's not done right, it just may come back apart, resulting in a much pricier fix.

When in doubt, farm it out!

[Big Jay]

FYI
your supposed to clamp the assembly over top of the rivets..not between them.
this guarantee's that the backing plate is solid against the rivet spacers.

Actually you don't clamp on top of the rivets on the back side. It won't work that way. We have fixtures that locate on the rivet heads inside the basket, then a ring that pushes on the back plate. When tightened down, it pushes the rivets up thru the plate and locks it all together. Then the rivets are exposed to be welded.

[blowerbike]

i think we are doing the same/similar thing but with different tooling/fixtures.
i have done maybe 20 and i bet you guys have done 2000 give or take over the years.