[Shotimes] Lowrider's down (again) but not out....got a question....

[Donald Mallinson]

George,

I can't imagine you trying to fix that pressure plate, I know you are a 
great fix-it kind of guy, and love to find solutions, but as long as you 
have it apart anyway, just put in a new clutch and bearing.  replace the 
plastic bits in the housing and the shift fork if you haven't before, 
and you may find, like I did, that your high mile SHO drives better than 
new (or than you remember new being!).  Unless you are going to 
sell/junk the trusty SHO, I would treat it to some new stuff. 

Don

George Fourchy wrote:

>Well...
>
>Made one uneventful good trip to work and back yesterday, after getting the new fuel
>filter, but today was another story.  After about 15 minutes of driving, I started
>hearing scraping sounds over the music, and felt things in the floor and pedals,
>especially the clutch.  It sounded like a metallic whipping sound, and got worse
>when I pressed the clutch in.  After slowing down, it got better as the engine revs
>decreased.  I turned around and took Slorider to work instead.
>
>All day I was thinking about what it was, and whether Eva was finally correct in
>saying "He's tired, let him retire.....you're just greedy!!!"  LOL!!
>
>As I'm arriving home tonight, I realized what it was.  I was all ready for it to be
>the TOB....ceramic and all.  It has about 100k miles, and had started to get rough
>the last few weeks, and a bit noisy.  But I don't think that is what it is, because
>it works OK when going slow.  I think it is a strap that has come off the pressure
>plate.  (I've heard about enough of these things, but never seen one.)  At higher
>revs it sounds like it spins out and whips against the inside of the bell housing,
>but when going slow it stays away and is quiet.  The clutch engages and disengages
>fine....no chattering or other malfunctions....just the noise at high speed.  I
>actually started for work again this morning after turning around one time...it had
>quieted down on city streets.  But on the freeway it started again.  So home I came,
>and it is in the garage.
>
>So....since I spent all that money on it last year getting a new rear half, I think
>a (half) clutch change isn't beyond reason, especially if I can get a deal on the
>labor from my friendly clutch guy in town.  It doesn't need a disc, or a TOB, unless
>they are obviously damaged upon inspection.  It only has to go a few thousand more
>miles, and I have a couple of bucks.  I'd be glad to try it myself, but I just don't
>have time.
>
>So...the question....
>
>Is that pressure plate repairable, or must it be replaced.  I don't hotrod the car
>at all anymore....the most revs it sees is maybe 5500 getting ahead of some idiot on
>the freeway when I merge into traffic.  The rest of the time it cruises at 3000 or
>less.  (Not much less!!)
>
>Thoughts?     I'll be asking Josh T. about another pressure plate....I don't suppose
>this one is rebuildable.
>
>George
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