Clutch rubber fitting

Previously wrote:

Previously wrote:

I believe there is a tool for forcing the clutch centre to one side so that the rubbers can be inserted more easily. I don't have one.

What I do recommend is a trip to your local plumber to find a small pot of silicone grease. This makes inserting the rubbers a lot easier. Silicone is recommended as it will not attack the rubber. Normal greases and products such as the dreaded Vaseline will slowly dissolve the rubber and denature it. That helps to produce the mess you find with old clutches where the remains of the inserts have stuck to the outer and centre. These have to be soaked in some sort of solvent to soften them and then dug out; it's a difficult job at best.

The special tool is an old clutch plate with a metal strip bolted to it to act as a lever. Makes it relatively simple to compress the rubbers - better than forcing the the spider legs apart with an assortment of screwdrivers... Gordon.

Many thanks for the advice. I used silicon grease, after mesuring the new spider I found it had 2mm thicker prongs than the original, little bit of work with the mill saw a reasonably easy assembly.

Pattern parts are very poor quality, it would'nt be so bad if they were cheap.

Thanks again Rob