Honda clutch

[Dave SanF 50]

My memory is not what it use to be. Did I read somewhere that the stock clutch disc with a spring hub can be replaced with a solid center hub clutch disc for the Honda engine.
thanks

[BWC54]

Yes it's available from quicksilver.

[problemchild]

Yes.
Legal in SCCA as of Feb 1st. Legal in F1600 for a while.
QSRE has them and HPD is working on getting them.

The springs on the stock ones get loose, break, get jammed in there, until it stops disengaging properly.

[Dave SanF 50]

thanks. The memory is not as bad as I thought.

[Jon Jeffords]

Any estimate of how many hours (or weekends) the stock clutch will run before failing?

I assume the rule book allows sufficient minumum flywheel weight tolerance to accomodate resurfacing of the flywheel friction face.

[Dave SanF 50]

Mean time to failure:
I always figure it is a few laps from the end of a big, important race that I am leading.

[TimW]

Mine was stock and did about 1800 miles without any issues; I believe it is still installed with the new owner. I think it also has to do with how its used to determine how long it will live. Some (older) drivers likely easier than other (younger hungry) drivers on the clutch.

[Raceworks]

Yes.
Legal in SCCA as of Feb 1st. Legal in F1600 for a while.
QSRE has them and HPD is working on getting them.

The springs on the stock ones get loose, break, get jammed in there, until it stops disengaging properly.

Strange, I never had that problem any of the cars we ran. The only clutch-related problem was when the slave cylinder blew out in one of the Van Diemens two years ago.

We ran a stock clutch in the Prelude during the World Challenge days: double the horsepower (about 60 over stock), nearly the triple the torque (about 40 over stock), standing starts in a car that weighed 2,500 lb, and we had to use the clutch for way more than just rolling out of pit lane. We'd run a full season of racing and change the thing out at the end of the year just to be safe. In fact, the stock one was more reliable than what was available for aftermarket at the time.

What the hell are these guys doing to those things?

[DaveW]

...What the hell are these guys doing to those things?

I'd guess clutchless shifting, which in my experience, stresses things to a much higher degree than shifting with the clutch disengaged.

[CornerSpeed]

Dr. J., are you in the process of a Fit conversion for your DB1?

[efoxfield]

Neither Tim Koutz or I use the clutch for shifting and we haven't had any issues. My car has twenty three races with no issues. I know two cars that have had problems but, I don't know how they are shifting.
After saying this I'll probably break it next time out.
Ed Midgley

[DaveW]

I'd guess clutchless shifting, which in my experience, stresses things to a much higher degree than shifting with the clutch disengaged.

Neither Tim Koutz or I use the clutch for shifting and we haven't had any issues. My car has twenty three races with no issues. I know two cars that have had problems but, I don't know how they are shifting.
After saying this I'll probably break it next time out.
Ed Midgley

I'm also guessing you both are much better at that than I am. I never could do it smoothly enough to suit myself. So I always use the clutch.

[efoxfield]

I miss plenty of shifts. Fortunately I owned a transmission shop for thirty nine years. I think using the clutch is probably faster on up shifts but, downshifts feel faster without it.
Ed

[BWC54]

I took my clutch disc out to inspect it.

A new clutch measures .285" to .313 thick according to the manual. My new clutch measures .290. The service limit is .200.

New clutch rivet depth according to the manual is .039" to .059. Service limit is .010.

My old clutch after 2458 miles and 16 races measures .278 to .281". Rivet depth measures .043 to .051. So there was very little wear on it. The center looks good. No cracks and the springs are not very loose.

I shift most of the time without the clutch. So I would say the Honda clutch is a long life part as long as the center doesn't fail. I don't know how you would determine if you have one that will have the center fail prematurely.

[eospeed]

We have honda FIT disks in stock at Quicksilver 301 698 9009.




Thanks


Erik