Take a look at this Clutch Disc.
 

I removed this disc today, look what I found. One spring was out and the plate mangled.

Re: Take a look at this Clutch Disc.
 

So, what is supposed to keep the damper springs in their place in the hub ?

Re: Take a look at this Clutch Disc.
 

Get the disc that Bratton's sells with the 'caged' springs and this will never happen again.

Re: Take a look at this Clutch Disc.
 

X 2

Re: Take a look at this Clutch Disc.
 

X 3. the uncaged type discs are junk. there are supposed to be cages there

Re: Take a look at this Clutch Disc.
 

Not only do I have a hard time believing someone would sell a product that bad, I also have a hard time believing anyone would look at, see it for what it is, and still put it in a vehicle.

Re: Take a look at this Clutch Disc.
 

Brattons has the best one on the market, the description mentions it..
Snyder's is junk with no spring gussets . They should not be selling those

Re: Take a look at this Clutch Disc.
 

I believe the contributing factor may be that the new V8 pressure plate was not adjusted correctly, the 3 screws on the 3 legs are not at the same height, and wear is not evenly visible.

Re: Take a look at this Clutch Disc.
 

We are having the same disc quality issues in the military jeep sector. Who needs this grief???

Re: Take a look at this Clutch Disc.
 

Have u read the reports of the v-8 pressure plate finger pivot pins falling out??? You may want to tack yours in or drill and pin it while its apart

Re: Take a look at this Clutch Disc.
 

These clutch disks with the springs that are not held in with support gussets have been around for ten years or more and there have been numerous failures. A company called Nova produced a quality clutch with spring support gussets for the military used in the WW2 jeeps. They also worked in a Model A and to the best of my knowledge this is what was used for many years. About the time Nova went out of business the poor quality clutch disks appeared on the market.

A friend who owns a Model A restoration shop saw many of the poor quality disks fail. I also saw a number of club member failures. As a result I began looking for Nova clutch disks at swap meets that were still serviceable. I picked up several of them and bead blasted them and that is what is installed in several engines I have.

A couple years ago Bratton's contracted to have quality disks made that are similar to the Nova with support gussets around the springs. They sell for about $35 and look to be quality. Other suppliers may have done the same by now.

I would never install the disks with out spring support gussets, and they are still being marketed.

Tom Endy

Re: Take a look at this Clutch Disc.
 

I have never seen a quality clutch plate (Borg & Beck, Long, Inland, etc.) with damper springs that did NOT have the "gussets" / "cages" to positively contain the damper springs.

Re: Take a look at this Clutch Disc.
 

The good part is you knew what was wrong right away.

Re: Take a look at this Clutch Disc.
 

Re: Take a look at this Clutch Disc.
 

Tom-In the military circles, the disc that is marked "seal-tested" on it seems to be a problem. Springs popping out, metal reinforcement under the woven material breaking are a few we are hearing about. Gee, now I have a Model A & a WWII jeep that if I new a plate for either, I have to be super careful!!!

By the way, sooner or later you'll see me at the Santa Anita Model A's meetings. Shame on me, I should of joined sooner. :)

Re: Take a look at this Clutch Disc.
 

I recently drove out for the National in Loveland with a group of 9 Model A's on the road. One car developed a very raucous sound from the clutch area. It would come and go mostly related to engine rpm and somewhat on loading conditions. I did not think the car would make it to the convention site much less make the return drive…which it did.

This past weekend, I opened it up to discover a very new clutch disc that has the splined hub very loose in the body of the disc. It had free forward to rear movement of about .018”. The fit of the splined hub to a new main drive gear I have on the shelf was very sloppy. I am convinced this faulty disc was the cause of the noise. It appears the three main rivets that hold the disc together are somewhat loose or opened up from the vibration or maybe it made it through factory inspection with loose rivets. All other discs I have on the shelf, new or used, are constructed so the center hub assembly is snug within the disc housing.

The disc looks like the one being supplied by Bratton’s except the color of the springs are different. Bratton’s disc has green springs; the springs in the defective disc were close to gunmetal blue/black. I printed a picture from Bratton’s website and placed the defective disc next to it for comparison. I am not saying this disc is from Bratton’s and not casting doubt on the quality disc they produce. Just beware...Check that the centers are snug in the assembly before you install one.
Good Day!

Re: Take a look at this Clutch Disc.
 

About a month ago, I had a telephone conversation with a technical advisor from Snyder's. He estimated that they had sold somewhere in the order of 500 approx. around the world, and to that date of our conversation, there had been only 2% failure. He did admit that the discs were of foreign manufacture. From that I determined the reason for the offshore manufacturing, was to keep the bottom price down, and the profit margin up.

With our in-depth examination into the product we determined that the inferior clutch disc will fail.......When ? that is anyone's guess. A heavy vehicle such as the 4 door sedans or even with the 2 door sedans, the clutch will fail much earlier that a lighter Model A, like a roadster or coupe. But they will fail also. The poor design is just that way. I informed our local dealer to junk what discs he had in stock, or send them back to his supplier for credit. That action might be cost prohibitive.

Along with Brattons as previously mentioned, Bert's is another good choice for supply.

Re: Take a look at this Clutch Disc.
 

With 500 sold and 2% failure that's 10 Model A owners that are not happy.

Re: Take a look at this Clutch Disc.
 

i don't believe him on that low rate
a responsible vendor would never sell such junk, given that you have to remove the car from the clutch in order to repair it

Re: Take a look at this Clutch Disc.
 

I am still using original type disks with no little springs to bugger things up; is there a source for those today?