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..... and on to the clutch and which release bearing?


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Decisions, decisions .....

 

Firstly a little bit of history. In the beginning I put in a B&B unrated clutch with a KYK release bearing and headed up to Pumfords for a tune on their rolling road (this was some time back). The clutch gave out almost instantly on the way there. Half the lining came away from the friction plate and wedged itself between the remaining lining and the pressure plate.

 

So Pumfords replaced the clutch with a standard Laycock, which they used even for racing. Anyway the KYK release bearing remained. All worked welll and I was most happy with the Laycock clutch.

 

Now with the box out I could see that the KYK had cut grooves in the fingers of the pressure plate. I understand that the Koyo bearings do the same (Buckeye describe this well).

 

Anyway I have had the Laycock clutch refurbished complete with a new diaphragm. With the clutch came a generic aftermarket RHP style bearing, plus I have a genuine RHP bearing of recent manufacture. So which to use?

 

The way I see it is KYK and Koyo are not suited to the Laycock pressure plate, which I intend to use.

 

There are mixed views about the quality of the RHP item, this is causing me concern.

 

This leaves the generic, unbranded bearing, which I would normally avoid but, according to the clutch refurb people, works well.

 

Anyone had recent experience with RHP or the generic items bearings?

 

Thanks,

 

John

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Hi John,

have a look at this thread https://www.moss-europe.co.uk/weather-strip-door-inner-lh-850322.html?assoc=124148

Although a TR4A it is a similar set up to the TR6.

 

The wear groove is par for the course for any bearing. It is caused by the inertia in the bearing when spinning up during engagement.

various suppliers have top quality RHP bearings - EG have a look at the Moss WebCat cheap bearing for £20 or so and a quality RHP for £50+

 

Roger

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I would not recommend anything other than a pukka RHP bearing with the Laycock cover, I've seen too many disappointments resulting from using other bearings, as in premature failure . . . . that is NOT to say that there is anything wrong with these other bearings, simply that in my experience they do not seem to match up well with the Laycock assembly, no matter how well they work with B&B or AP or QH or LUK clutches.

 

Cheers,

 

Alec

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I would not recommend anything other than a pukka RHP bearing with the Laycock cover, I've seen too many disappointments resulting from using other bearings, as in premature failure . . . . that is NOT to say that there is anything wrong with these other bearings, simply that in my experience they do not seem to match up well with the Laycock assembly, no matter how well they work with B&B or AP or QH or LUK clutches.

 

Cheers,

 

Alec

The only other point I would add to Alec's comments is: use only a phosphor bronze bearing carrier not the Moss one which is made from brass. I bought mine from Revington but its not cheap! If I could not buy a bronze one I was going to machine one from marine bronze which is extremely hard wearing. In my opinion steel upon steel is not good engineering practice and causes the ratcheting when releasing the clutch, which many people complain about, this problem has gone from my car which it suffered from for 40+ plus years.

 

Bruce.

 

 

 

 

 

Bruce.

 

Bruce.

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Decisions, decisions .....

 

Firstly a little bit of history. In the beginning I put in a B&B unrated clutch with a KYK release bearing and headed up to Pumfords for a tune on their rolling road (this was some time back). The clutch gave out almost instantly on the way there. Half the lining came away from the friction plate and wedged itself between the remaining lining and the pressure plate.

 

So Pumfords replaced the clutch with a standard Laycock, which they used even for racing. Anyway the KYK release bearing remained. All worked welll and I was most happy with the Laycock clutch.

 

Now with the box out I could see that the KYK had cut grooves in the fingers of the pressure plate. I understand that the Koyo bearings do the same (Buckeye describe this well).

 

Anyway I have had the Laycock clutch refurbished complete with a new diaphragm. With the clutch came a generic aftermarket RHP style bearing, plus I have a genuine RHP bearing of recent manufacture. So which to use?

 

The way I see it is KYK and Koyo are not suited to the Laycock pressure plate, which I intend to use.

 

There are mixed views about the quality of the RHP item, this is causing me concern.

 

This leaves the generic, unbranded bearing, which I would normally avoid but, according to the clutch refurb people, works well.

 

Anyone had recent experience with RHP or the generic items bearings?

 

Thanks,

 

John

 

Hi John! Sorry to hear about your tale of woe. But the B & B clutch that you bought I suspect was not a B & B clutch but a Firstline clutch who bought the B & B trade name which of course fools the TR Buyer into thinking he has bought an OEM product as B & B is printed all over the box and they even use their house colours. These clutches are well known for doing this as they miss out the correct number of rivets to hold the lining in place. They are now meant to have corrected this?

The other downer is: they are made in China!

 

Bruce.

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Thanks again guys!

 

I’ll be going ahead with the RHP bearing, refurb Laycock, new clutch fork, toughened fork pin (though it does look like I need to add the chamfer Tom mentioned in another post) plus adding a roll pin and extended oilite bushes. There is already a bronze carrier in place that has been great, I’ll just turn it around so the fork acts on new metal. Here’s to a productive weekend and maybe an early end to Dry January!!

 

BTW the grooves on the old diaphragm were much more excessive than I have experienced in the past. Looking at the KYK bearing (which in itself looks a most robust item) it appears to only have had a contact area of about 3mm on the inner lip of the thrust face.

Cheers,

 

John

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Decisions, decisions .....

 

Firstly a little bit of history. In the beginning I put in a B&B unrated clutch with a KYK release bearing and headed up to Pumfords for a tune on their rolling road (this was some time back). The clutch gave out almost instantly on the way there. Half the lining came away from the friction plate and wedged itself between the remaining lining and the pressure plate.

 

So Pumfords replaced the clutch with a standard Laycock, which they used even for racing. Anyway the KYK release bearing remained. All worked welll and I was most happy with the Laycock clutch.

 

Now with the box out I could see that the KYK had cut grooves in the fingers of the pressure plate. I understand that the Koyo bearings do the same (Buckeye describe this well).

 

Anyway I have had the Laycock clutch refurbished complete with a new diaphragm. With the clutch came a generic aftermarket RHP style bearing, plus I have a genuine RHP bearing of recent manufacture. So which to use?

 

The way I see it is KYK and Koyo are not suited to the Laycock pressure plate, which I intend to use.

 

There are mixed views about the quality of the RHP item, this is causing me concern.

 

This leaves the generic, unbranded bearing, which I would normally avoid but, according to the clutch refurb people, works well.

 

Anyone had recent experience with RHP or the generic items bearings?

 

Thanks,

 

John

Hi John! When you buy your RHP bearing, make sure it has not got dried up grease inside, as I have come across samples that had this problem and that the outside rim is stamped up RHP. It also s/b in a sealed plastic bag, years ago I had 3 baden'.s in a row. I was not a happy camper! I became very good at taking TR gearboxes out. Note: Bearing distributors also sell this bearing as it has other non automotive applications and you can buy it from them for less than £50.

 

Bruce.

 

Bruce,

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Apologies about chiming in so late. A quick point: the throwout bearings on our cars have a curve to them. I'm guessing that the problems with excessive wear on the diaphragm is from the use of bearings (irrespective of brand) that's flat on its face. Search the pics - you'll see what I mean.

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