New Clutch

[ButtonIt]

Forgive the daft question please, I'm a newbie here :D:D

MY Herald 1200 has (as far as we can work out) only done 31000 miles.  So I'm assuming the 43 year old clutch is well past it's best, it slips going up hill with more than one person in the car :D:D:D

Where's the best place to buy a replacement clutch, and do I need to replace the whole clutch assembly or just the plate?

I'm not planning to do it myself, it's well beyond my current mechanic skills.  Luckily there's an old family run garage at the end of my road, my dad's been using them for over 25 years.  I'm hoping they'll be able to do it for me.

[valencia1]

find out if the garage would mind fitting a clutch kit you'd supply your self, idealy if you be hand's on while they fit it you may see how it all goes together. probably, somewhere like canley classic's could supply
regards,   bryan

[Bob Bowling]

Fitting a new clutch on a Herald isn't hard, I once did one on the road outside the house. You only need to get the gearbox out, and as it comes out through the passenger door it isn't too bad. Have a look in the Hayne manual and see what you think. Go and have a chat with your friendly garage, and see if they will help you out if you get stuck.

[Pete Lewis]

as previous  a clutch kit from   www.canleyclassics.com
these are new ,not remanufactured units and at approx £47 for the kit good value
steer clear of reconditioned ..peter

[malcty]

Buttonit.  I live in Hertford and have a new clutch unused. if you can get to me you could have the bits I have for a tenner. Let me know and I will sort what is in the garage. Malc.

[heraldcoupe]

Make sure the clutch you get is correct for your car. early Heralds have a coil spring clutch, later ones have a diaphragm type. You can convert, but it involves a few ancilliary bits,
Cheers,
Bill.

[Pete Lewis]

Bill I am constantly amazed how you carefully answer and never ever promote any sales pitch...brilliantly  unbiased   what pills do you take,,,  Peter

[malcty]

Pete. he does not take pills ... untainted... I imagine. super fellow and partner. Malc.

[Nick Jones]

From my experiences with coil spring clutch (early 1200) the later diaphragm one is very much preferrable........  Bill may wish to comment on this!

Nick

[heraldcoupe]

To be honest I've never had a failed coil-spring clutch. I understand they can go out of balance, but it's never happened to me on a Herald. The Vitesse 6 clutch is a different matter, it is marginal at best.
Swapping to a diaphragm clutch is worthwhile, particularly if you are uprating the engine in any way, but there are some pitfalls. The current Delphi Borg & Beck diaphragm clutch has been redesigned, it is not as tall as the original Herald unit. This makes release marginal, in an ideal world a taller bearing carrier is needed to reduce the amount of travel before disengagement. You can get around this by extending the release pin to the slave cylinder, or modifiying the cylinder itself so it will travel further into it's mounting bracket, ie closer to the clutch. None of this should be necessary if Delphi got their product right in the first place. The other option is to look for old stock,or avoid the current B&B product,
Cheers,
Bill.