Take a look at this Clutch Disc.

[1929]

I removed this disc today, look what I found. One spring was out and the plate mangled.

[Special Coupe Frank]

So, what is supposed to keep the damper springs in their place in the hub ?

[Jeff/Illinois]

Get the disc that Bratton's sells with the 'caged' springs and this will never happen again.

[jax55]

X 2

[tbirdtbird]

X 3. the uncaged type discs are junk. there are supposed to be cages there

[Safewiz]

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Not only do I have a hard time believing someone would sell a product that bad, I also have a hard time believing anyone would look at, see it for what it is, and still put it in a vehicle.

[Mitch//pa]

Brattons has the best one on the market, the description mentions it..
Snyder's is junk with no spring gussets . They should not be selling those

[1929]

I believe the contributing factor may be that the new V8 pressure plate was not adjusted correctly, the 3 screws on the 3 legs are not at the same height, and wear is not evenly visible.

[Dino's A]

We are having the same disc quality issues in the military jeep sector. Who needs this grief???

[Mitch//pa]

Originally Posted by 1929

I believe the contributing factor may be that the new V8 pressure plate was not adjusted correctly, the 3 screws on the 3 legs are not at the same height, and wear is not evenly visible.

Have u read the reports of the v-8 pressure plate finger pivot pins falling out??? You may want to tack yours in or drill and pin it while its apart

[Tom Endy]

These clutch disks with the springs that are not held in with support gussets have been around for ten years or more and there have been numerous failures. A company called Nova produced a quality clutch with spring support gussets for the military used in the WW2 jeeps. They also worked in a Model A and to the best of my knowledge this is what was used for many years. About the time Nova went out of business the poor quality clutch disks appeared on the market.

A friend who owns a Model A restoration shop saw many of the poor quality disks fail. I also saw a number of club member failures. As a result I began looking for Nova clutch disks at swap meets that were still serviceable. I picked up several of them and bead blasted them and that is what is installed in several engines I have.

A couple years ago Bratton's contracted to have quality disks made that are similar to the Nova with support gussets around the springs. They sell for about $35 and look to be quality. Other suppliers may have done the same by now.

I would never install the disks with out spring support gussets, and they are still being marketed.

Tom Endy

[Special Coupe Frank]

I have never seen a quality clutch plate (Borg & Beck, Long, Inland, etc.) with damper springs that did NOT have the "gussets" / "cages" to positively contain the damper springs.

[captndan]

The good part is you knew what was wrong right away.

[mshmodela]

https://www.brattons.com/clutch-disc.html

[Dino's A]

Originally Posted by Tom Endy

These clutch disks with the springs that are not held in with support gussets have been around for ten years or more and there have been numerous failures. A company called Nova produced a quality clutch with spring support gussets for the military used in the WW2 jeeps. They also worked in a Model A and to the best of my knowledge this is what was used for many years. About the time Nova went out of business the poor quality clutch disks appeared on the market.

A friend who owns a Model A restoration shop saw many of the poor quality disks fail. I also saw a number of club member failures. As a result I began looking for Nova clutch disks at swap meets that were still serviceable. I picked up several of them and bead blasted them and that is what is installed in several engines I have.

A couple years ago Bratton's contracted to have quality disks made that are similar to the Nova with support gussets around the springs. They sell for about $35 and look to be quality. Other suppliers may have done the same by now.

I would never install the disks with out spring support gussets, and they are still being marketed.

Tom Endy

Tom-In the military circles, the disc that is marked "seal-tested" on it seems to be a problem. Springs popping out, metal reinforcement under the woven material breaking are a few we are hearing about. Gee, now I have a Model A & a WWII jeep that if I new a plate for either, I have to be super careful!!!

By the way, sooner or later you'll see me at the Santa Anita Model A's meetings. Shame on me, I should of joined sooner.

[Dave in MN]

I recently drove out for the National in Loveland with a group of 9 Model A's on the road. One car developed a very raucous sound from the clutch area. It would come and go mostly related to engine rpm and somewhat on loading conditions. I did not think the car would make it to the convention site much less make the return drive…which it did.

This past weekend, I opened it up to discover a very new clutch disc that has the splined hub very loose in the body of the disc. It had free forward to rear movement of about .018”. The fit of the splined hub to a new main drive gear I have on the shelf was very sloppy. I am convinced this faulty disc was the cause of the noise. It appears the three main rivets that hold the disc together are somewhat loose or opened up from the vibration or maybe it made it through factory inspection with loose rivets. All other discs I have on the shelf, new or used, are constructed so the center hub assembly is snug within the disc housing.

The disc looks like the one being supplied by Bratton’s except the color of the springs are different. Bratton’s disc has green springs; the springs in the defective disc were close to gunmetal blue/black. I printed a picture from Bratton’s website and placed the defective disc next to it for comparison. I am not saying this disc is from Bratton’s and not casting doubt on the quality disc they produce. Just beware...Check that the centers are snug in the assembly before you install one.
Good Day!

[Glenn C.]

About a month ago, I had a telephone conversation with a technical advisor from Snyder's. He estimated that they had sold somewhere in the order of 500 approx. around the world, and to that date of our conversation, there had been only 2% failure. He did admit that the discs were of foreign manufacture. From that I determined the reason for the offshore manufacturing, was to keep the bottom price down, and the profit margin up.

With our in-depth examination into the product we determined that the inferior clutch disc will fail.......When ? that is anyone's guess. A heavy vehicle such as the 4 door sedans or even with the 2 door sedans, the clutch will fail much earlier that a lighter Model A, like a roadster or coupe. But they will fail also. The poor design is just that way. I informed our local dealer to junk what discs he had in stock, or send them back to his supplier for credit. That action might be cost prohibitive.

Along with Brattons as previously mentioned, Bert's is another good choice for supply.

[foxfire42]

With 500 sold and 2% failure that's 10 Model A owners that are not happy.

[tbirdtbird]

i don't believe him on that low rate
a responsible vendor would never sell such junk, given that you have to remove the car from the clutch in order to repair it

[Rich in Tucson]

I am still using original type disks with no little springs to bugger things up; is there a source for those today?

[Mitch//pa]

Originally Posted by tbirdtbird

i don't believe him on that low rate
a responsible vendor would never sell such junk, given that you have to remove the car from the clutch in order to repair it

Agree fully

[Mitch//pa]

Originally Posted by Rich in Tucson

I am still using original type disks with no little springs to bugger things up; is there a source for those today?

See Toms post:::
https://fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=200321

[Glenn C.]

They would have had a fairly accurate purchase record on who and where the disc was purchased. In my mind, after they found out there was such as important defect that could cause a serious accident on a freeway of such, due to a catastrophic failure, would it not make common sense to send out an immediate notice to the customers for recall ? Is there not a moral responsibility here ?

[Glenn C.]

It looks like I forgot to include my comment with my last post. That happens as your get as old as dirt. If in actuality they did send out that number of clutch discs, they must have a record on computer of who purchased each disc and their contact info.

Do you not think a recall should have been in order by this time, to those customers, if for no other reason than to prevent a possible catastrophic failure and lock-up on a busy freeway or other high traffic situation ? I realize in most cases it amounts to "Buyer Beware". I guess that is another reason we try to inform fellow Model A'ers on this web site.