Missing part on clutch hub

[sdbuchert]

Hello! I rebuilt my clutch hub last week according to the process at http://www.theflyingbanana.com/clutchhub.htm. Everything went well...until I got it back from the machine shop where I had it welded, and it was missing something. In the attached image of the back side of the clutch hub you can see the hole where the missing part was...a missing pin. Now its somewhere on the machine shop floor. I tried removing the pin before bringing the hub in to get welded, but when I shook and tapped on the hub and the pin, the pin stayed put. I guess I should have tried harder to remove it instead of taking the chance of it falling out later, but as they say...live and learn.

So, my question is what does this part do? And is it absoultely neccessary? In my non-expert opinion it doesn't look to be crucial, but then again why would Suzuki put it there if it wasn't important. I was hoping to put it back together tomorrow and go for a ride Thursday... Any help is appreciated!

Description of the pin/hole:
The pine barely stuck out above the top of the hole. The hole is probably a little over .5 cm deep and 2-3cm wide, and it's located in the notch where the drive dogs of the oil pump drive gear fit.

P.S. Something else to note--my Clymer manual doesn't mention anything about the pin in the clutch hub re-installation instructions... the only detail regarding that part of the assembly is to make sure the drive dogs fit into the notches on the hub...duh.

Thanks!

[Nessism]

It's a little rubber nub that's there (I think) to keep the oil pump gear from rattling. I'd get a new one, they are still available from Suzuki.

[sdbuchert]

Thanks Nessism for the reply. I ended up making my own replacement...I don't have a Suzuki dealer near me and I didn't want to wait for a part, so I brought the hub into a dealership that sells Honda and Yamaha and asked their mechanic if he had any ideas. It turns out he used to work at an Arctic Cat dealership and he thought of a part that would work. Apparently Arctic Cat snowmobiles use a rubber pin-like thing to align the reverse gears...and wouldn't you know it, it is the exact diameter as the hole in the clutch hub. So, I bought one for $0.42, cut it to the length I needed, put everything back together, and tested it out yesterday