Thursday, June 29, 2006

A clutch in a pinch?


Now that the Gamera is ready for action, it comes time to finally install the taperlock hub, lightened flywheel, clutch, and pressure plate. So, with great enthusiasm and confidence I put on the hub and then the flywheel, being careful to properly position the hub on the shaft as close in as I dare, and to slowly tighten the allen screws in a crosswise pattern. Besides, taperlock hubs are self-centering by their very nature, right?
Beautiful as it may be, when the above assembly was test-spun, it wobbled like a wounded duck, so this midnight escapade ends with Gamera back on the bench, the Bentley shop manual open for study, and Bug Me Video awaiting a less bleary-eyed mechanic.

7/1 Update- With the sage advice of Jerry at Autosport International, (and the use of his air wrench) I was able to get the flywheel mounted true. Turns out that the winning technique involved remounting it a couple of times, rotating the hub 90 degrees each time, until I found the 'sweet spot' where the respective idiosynchracies were cancelled out (down to 0.002").

7/2 Update- But of course, solving one problem only leaves one free to find another. I've a nice stash of parts to pull from, like any aircooled enthusiast, but not the experienced eye to tell early from late clutch parts, especially with some racing and one-off versions thrown in for good measure. So, two motor installations later, I've got one mangled pressure plate, a scarred guide cone, and a non-functional clutch.. Time to go to the guru again. Besides, I need a bowden tube before that clutch will engage smoothly, even if I manage to escape without buying another throwout bearing, pressure plate, or clutch disk..

1 Comments:

At 11:14 AM, Blogger Dan said...

Your blog is the best I've seen. Is there anyway I can replicate your motor/coupler? I would rather not re-invent the wheel. Any help would be much appreciated.
I can be reached at danp001@yahoo.com

http://electric-karmann-ghia.blogspot.com/

 

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