VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 1931 Clutch Concern

Called for Tom Priz at his shop this morning. Told he is currently in the hospital. They ask I check back in 30 to 45 days. Also during his absence they are short on staff.

Hope all will be well with Tom. He is a great guy. Did they recommend anyone else?

They suggested I check back with them in 30 to 45 days. No alternative recommendation.

In all honesty, the original quote of 40-50 hours is absurd. That’s over one full work week to pull a tranny/clutch, and replace! It takes me less than two hours to pull a tranny and clutch out. If it’s just replacing parts on hand, total time is 3.5-4 hours from start to finish. With the car idling, and the pedal depressed, is there noise. Make sure the transmission main shaft is not turning at all while you hold the pedal depressed. Is there any noise? I’ve seen bad transmission main shaft bearings get mistaken for clutch/pressure plate issues.

The same noise when the clutch is depressed. The volume of the clicking is then greatly reduced but still there. Appreciate the main shaft bearing suggestion. I will make mention of that should I find a provider for the repair work. Earlier today I climbed under the car while idling and looked for the source of the clacking. It emits from the bell housing area. The noise persists and is loud when the car is in motion.

Hello TG1931,

So what Chistech is asking you with the car idling push down the clutch pedal and pull the transmission into gear. That will stop everything in the transmission from spinning. Does the sound stop? That would eliminate the clutch shaft transmission bearing. The other thing we were asking is when the engine is revved up does the sound speed up with the engine, or just get louder while staying the same speed?

One of the crazy noise sources on a engine I saw was that one of the connecting rod bolt heads was just clipping the cam shaft. It did not break anything but just showed up as a little polished section.

Art

Update - Pulled the transmission with assist from a friend. Surprised in that it only took a few hours. The throw out bearing has a depression on one end of it. The clutch plate has rub marks on the backside which appears to be the reason for the clicking noise when the clutch is engaged. The raised area protecting the smaller springs all appear to be hitting something inside the bell housing. Assume it mighty be a bolt head. Going back in again this Thursday. Will report back the findings.

Check to be sure the clutch disc is not in backwards as the dampening springs are not centered in the disc. The offset needs to face the transmission or the flywheel bolt heads will hit the dampening spring cage.

I installed a new clutch that was said to fit a 30’ and it had springs as steve described. I put the disk in the correct way but the hub of the disk was hitting on the inside of the pressure plate. It caused me all kinds of grief. I ordered another disk but from the filling station and all was good.

We noted the new disk doesn't have the damper springs visible. It also appears to be more shallow then the old part which should alleviate the friction potential with the bolts. Believe it to be a correct replacement part. I sourced it from Gary Wallace Inc.

Resolution: Found a retired gentlemen with previous transmission experience that was receptive to a home garage repair project. Up high on jack stands, found that the transmission was removed easier then initially thought. Only took a total of 3 hours! The ticking noise was the buffer springs on the clutch disk rattling against a bell housing bolt. Replaced the disk and throw-out bearing and prior to install ground down the bell housing bolt heads and secured them with red loctite. Some difficulty getting the transition to align correctly. Balancing it on our knees while shining a light up into the cavity. Today's activity took an additional 5 hours total. Tomorrow - Hope to reconnect the brake rods and centralize the mechanism. No more ticking! Thanks again for all of the assistance. Shared commentary was very helpful!