Morris Minor Owners Club

Just descovered that i have to remove turbominor's gearbox and swap the clutch as it is constantly slipping

Whats the general consensus on the 1098 clutch lasting with the 1300 engine..

Would i be better converting to a midget diaphram clutch..

Only minor detail is i had me knee rebuilt a few years a go so keeping the clutch light is a prority!!

I'm guessing you are using the 1098 gearbox (bad memory)
If it's a Ford box you would be better going for a Ford clutch as well.
Basically a new clutch will have approx 40% safety factor on engine torque in new condition.
So as you increase the egine power you chop away at any reserve in the clutch capacity.

Also as the clutch wears the opening load increases and the torque capacity decreases (as the diaphragm spring comes further away from its ideal position). The opther factor on torque capacity is heat and glazing.
As the clutch gets hotter the friction coefficient changes. If you do hard take ups you can 'glaze' the clutch which is basically a burnishing of the surface making it slippy.

If you have a clutch which is on its limits you can make it last a whole lot longer by never doing hard take ups, never holding on hills etc.. I managed to nurse a slipping clutch for nearly 2 years on the Volvo but if I did a few boy racer starts it would slip until it had a couple of weeks of very light use until the surface had recovered. After enough light use it would be able to take full engine torque again.

For using a midget clutch I saw a pic from 1 guy who had re-drilled the clutch intermediate linkage to reduce the pedal ratio (the pedal moves too far anyway), thus making the pedal lighter and the bite point smoother.

I have a set of "Red" strength clutch springs, to replace the softer standard "Yellow" strength 1098 clutch ones if they would be any help to you?

Whats the general consensus on the 1098 clutch lasting with the 1300 engine..

Would i be better converting to a midget diaphram clutch..

Thats the combination I am using with a 1098cc box and no problems so far (1500 miles) the Midget clutch is also smaller which gives more snatch and a much heavier feel to the pedal, having tried this combination I did not like it at all, What Ray suggest may be a better solution or possibly a Hydraulic conversion, how long has the current clutch been in for ?

cheers guys. drove one this morning with a midget clutch and is soo heavy i can bearly walk now..

So Ray, there is a possibility that it may be glased, think i may run arround for a week and see if it improves..

If not box out and new 1098 clutch.. Cannot afford a midget/hydraulic converstion ( wife tied not in purse strings )

Red springs sound interesting, wander how much effect they would have on clutch pedel presure??