[Tom Endy]

Clutch disks with spring centers replaced the original solid clutch disks many years ago. The original spring replacements were made by Nova and they were a good quality clutch with the six springs well secured with retainer flanges. A number of years ago the Nova Company went out of business and an inferior clutch disk appeared on the market. Most suppliers today offer a clutch disk that have the six springs poorly secured. I have seen and heard of a number of them failing when a spring became dislodged and jammed the clutch.

Recently Bratton's has been offering a clutch disk that is very good quality much like the Nova clutch. As far as I know they are the only supplier offering it. I would recommend you purchase your clutch disk from Bratton's.

The series of photos show a Nova clutch (the one with the pilot shaft inserted), a poor quality clutch (the one without retainer flanges around the springs), a Bratton clutch (the one similar to the Nova clutch), and an original Ford clutch (without springs).

Tom Endy