Clutch replacement recomendations

[JohnBM]

I’m about to have my clutch replaced, and I’m a little unsure as to what is the best way to go . Workshop doing the job have fobbed it off to me ,for some reason the brand name .EXEDY , is not popular with them . The old clutch from Clutch Pro . SA lasted 14 months . Someone mentioned the. HR Holden (early clutch) will fit straight in . Anyone been down this path ? And what you did to sort it . Thanks

[ardiesse]

John,

It's a bit of a lottery with a red motor clutch and pressure plate.  They bolt up to a grey motor flywheel fine, but only fit in the bellhousing with a few thousandths of an inch to spare.  If the casting isn't perfectly centred, or if there's casting flash, your new pressure plate will machine all the high spots off the inside of the bellhousing.  I found this out the hard way when I put an X2 motor in the ex-family EK.

Clutch Industries (PBR in the days of yore) make a 220 mm clutch and pressure plate kit that they say fits grey as well as red Holdens.  The design of the pressure plate is slightly different from the Holden red motor pressure plate - probably so it will fit in the grey bellhousing.  There'll be quite a few people who run these clutches behind a grey motor with no problems.

Me - I prefer the original equipment.  You can still get 8" clutch plates from Clutch Industries (actually, they've been metrified to 200 mm), but reconditioned pressure plates are a little harder to come by.  Usually you have to send your own away, and it comes back rebuilt.

If you stick with a reputable manufacturer, you'll be OK.

Rob

[mcl1959]

14 months is not a long time to get from a clutch!
Do you do a lot of city driving in it?
If this was going to be typical going forward then I think I would go down the path of installing a red clutch.
I agree with everything Rob says about clearance, but if you clean inside the bell housing and do an inspection of the internal surface and grind down anything that looks like a casting excess you will be pretty right.
Ken

[JohnBM]

Thanks Very much Rob , I’m finding it hard to get body parts for myself , let alone the old FE , & Ken.😀

[Fraze]

I have a "red motor" clutch in my FC. I was warned that there might be clearance issues with the Grey bellhousing but it didn't happen, all good out of the box. Cheers, Fraze

[JohnBM]

Thanks Fraze , makes me happier