With many classic cars due to receive some care and maintenance at this time of year, Borg & Beck is offering owners the opportunity to respect the originality of the vehicle with its range of classic car clutches. The company can also assist independent garages working on classics with expert information.

Although similar in operation to current clutches, when the clutch itself needs replacement on an older vehicle, many mechanics will not have worked with these early designs. However, the Borg & Beck in-house Classic Clutch engineer provides advice when carrying out replacement of an ‘A’ or ‘AS’ type Borg & Beck clutch.

The ‘A’ and ‘A2’ types are usually of a single dry plate design comprising a cover assembly, driven plate assembly and release bearing, which utilises a pressure plate that is driven by the pressed steel cover via machined pressure plate lugs engaging into slots.

In the original Borg & Beck clutch service manuals it was advised to carry out a full inspection of the clutch system as part of the vehicle’s maintenance schedule. The complete dismantling of the clutch was also advised in the original service schedule, however this is not advised today. It is more viable to replace the whole unit rather than dismantle the ‘A’ and ‘A2’ type assemblies to service the individual components, as this can be both time consuming and dangerous if a technician has not opened one up before, as it is fully loaded with springs.

When fitting the clutch back onto the vehicle the principles employed in the past still resonate today such as using a driven plate alignment shaft, as misalignment is responsible for almost every case of rapid spline wear, broken drive plates, damaged transmission bearings and gears.

Installers should ensure the gearbox is adequately supported and not permitted to hang on the clutch, as serious damage may result. When guiding the gearbox into the assembly position, a mechanic should get the first motion shaft in true alignment with the driven plate hub and turn the main output shaft each way slightly, with gearbox in gear, to ensure smooth engagement of the splined parts. A light smear of grease should be placed on the shaft prior to installation of the gearbox. Once installed the mechanic should installed check the clutch pedal adjustment in accordance with the vehicle manufacturers instructions.

Borg & Beck’s Classic Clutch range provides the solution for more than 200 classic applications, including such icons as the Aston Martin DB4, Jaguar E Type, Morris Minor and Triumph TR range.