RS Motorsport :: Classic Speed Restored

Hi, I bought an HD clutch cover the same as this but it came with an unsprung 4 paddle plate as seen below.

Is the cover any good and will it work well with this type of clutch plate? The car will be making 130~140 RWHP and used mainly on the road for weekend drives. Will I be better with an organic clutch plate as in Exedy FMK 6075HD?

Call Jim

Hi Scott

I did a search on the site earlier and got Jim's number but it's after business hours. I was hoping for just a few clues from the forum.
Some say this type of plate is terrible in a road car, others say they're OK?

Also, I don't want to part with cash (Jim) if I don't have to. I'm hoping this combination might be ok

The problem with that clutch plate is you have no springs, so it will be either in or out. I don't think the pressure plate will be an issue.

The sudden bite of the clutch is ok to live with as long as you do very little stop - start driving. Normal gear changes will be fine but its how quick you can get the car rolling and keep it going when starting from lights etc. That's when it will become a real pain and you'll wish you didn't use it.

If changing clutches doesn't bother you give it a go and see if you like it.

Perfect, thanks Neville. I will be chasing a sprung organic plate now. Problem is (in the case of Exedy) they are only sold as a part of the complete kit. I'll call Jim tomorrow and see if he can sell me a plate only

That cover looks like a Borg & Beck.

Thanks John. I know it's an English cover for two reasons. It has Britain stamped on the edge and has raised fingers in the centre. I have read that having the raised fingers means less pedal pressure when engaging the clutch so I'm hoping I can use the cover and find a suitable plate. I already have a standard English clutch in my car so I can reuse the throw out bearing which is only a year or two old

Nev, my clutch is a 3 paddle solid centre, without any springs and I could drive it all day every day without a problem. It's the pressure plate that makes the difference. My other half drove dad's 2.0 with a solid centre clutch (from Jim Berry) at Morgan park a couple of years ago without any major issues. It was the first manual car she had ever driven.

Yeah I had a b&b cover on a pinto for many years. organic plate with supra spline. Pedal effort was reduced and clutch performance maintained, compared to previoius clutches.

It will need a flat face bearing.

Haydn those covers are ok but they don't have a lot of clamping force so need the increased grip from the from the paddle centre to get by with increased grunt.
A solid centre button type clutch plate will not make it something that is either in or out, the pressure plate is what makes that decision as a lot of companies to increase clamping force increase the thickness of the diaphragm spring which intern increases the pedal pressure, others like Sachs alter the leverage ratio by changing the fulcrum point on the diaphragm and base plate and this is how Jim Berry does it.
With a correctly set up pressure plate with a decent amount of clamp you can run what ever clutch friction plate you like with the best street plate being a solid centre full face organic plate with no springs as all the springs do it fatigue and shoot out with hard launches. A solid centre brass button will be fine but you need to remember that when doing hill starts etc as they are not as forgiving as an organic plate and again no they are not in out as I have run them for twenty years and my clutch pedal is softer than standard

Thanks for all the info. I visited Jim this afternoon and what a helpful and knowledgeable man he is. He really took his time with my cover and it tested 160lb (about 10lb higher than standard) We had a dig through his container and found a few good plates but only one fitted the bill which is a 215 x 8.45 "LUK".
Danny, Jim was very informative and you've reiterated exactly what he told me. He did say that my 4 puck was about as rough as clutch plates get though because of the compound so I'm very very pleased to have a new one. The motor has already been fitted with the clutch so now I can get this swap underway.

I should also add that the brass button plate was 8mm thick so wouldn't work with my pressure plate. 8.45mm is what Jim calculated to work best.