[DeTomaso] Clutch Assembly Rebuilding

[cengles at cox.net]

Dear JB,

Thanks very much for another lesson on the seldom reviewed topic of clutch rebuilding. I may have to check with Fort Wayne about the economics of their services vis a vis buying the whole new "package deal".

Warmest regards, Chuck Engles


---- J B Reardon <jbreardon at yahoo.com> wrote:
>The was a question about clutch assembly rebuilding recently so I forwarded the message to the company Fort Wayne Clutch who have done probably 8 clutch assemblies for me. I have never had any problem with their work. The reply...
>
>Kim Herman" <kim at fortwayneclutch.com>Add sender to Contacts To: jbreardon at yahoo.com
>
>This is a bit confusing to people.
>
>A rebuilt clutch is only as good as the people that are rebuilding it.
>Believe it or not, I'm not giving you a sales pitch here. At Fort Wayne
>Clutch, the old pressure plate {which is called a core} is brought in
>and COMPLETELY disassembled so you have nothing but the steel casting
>left. It is cleaned. We replace everything! All new spring, levers,
>etc. even if the old ones are still "good". When we finish it is
>exactly like or better than a brand new unit. Over the years, my guys
>have seen several styles of clutches that may not have worked so great
>as they were originally engineered. So, upon rebuilding, often times we
>use better parts than the original OEM, but it is still a rebuilt unit.
>The clutch disc goes through the exact same procedure. All of our
>rebuilt kits are sold with new bearings and alignment tools.
>
>Now, there are a lot of clutch rebuilders that do not follow this same
>procedure. We have "bought-out" other rebuilders. If I told you the
>name you would definitely recognize the stores where they are sold in
>almost every town in the US. The "rebuilt units" that they call
>"finished" and ready for resale are brought into our facility and
>completely disassembled because they are inferior and not ready to sell
>to Fort Wayne Clutch customers. So, remember, a rebuilt clutch is only
>as good as the rebuilders you buy it from!!!!
>
>There are a couple of reasons why people say it is not a good idea to
>just replace the pressure plate or disc. From you, the customers point
>of view, it's pretty simple, if you have to tear apart the vehicle to
>replace the disc or pressure plate, you might as well do it all while
>your there! But, in most cases, you probably really just need a disc or
>bearings.
>
>>From the businesses that sell the clutch, our suppliers have gotten to
>the point that they would rather sell the entire clutch as a kit. A kit
>includes pressure plate, disc, throwout bearing, pilot bearing, and
>alignment tool. It really doesn't matter to us as the retail seller.
>But, the vendors, pushing the customer to buy the whole kit, have raised
>there prices so outrageously on the single piece item {just the disc, or
>just the pressure plate} that I can sell my customer a kit cheaper than
>I can sell you just the disc. I know, this makes no sense, but it's
>true! So, the retail businesses, for economic reasons, have made a
>choice to stock the kits on their shelves as opposed to individual
>components. Therefore, if you go into a store to buy a clutch disc,
>chances are the proprietor would have to take a disc out of a complete
>kit to only be able to sell you the disc. Then, they have to order a
>replacement disc for the kit which usually costs the same, if not more,
>than buying an entire kit.
>
>So....I hope this helps you guys! If you or your buddies have any
>questions, feel free to give me a call, 800-258-8243.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Kim
>Fort Wayne Clutch & Driveline
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: J B Reardon [mailto:jbreardon at yahoo.com]
>Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 10:14 AM
>To: Kim Herman
>Subject: Clutch Rebuilding
>
>I have used your rebuilt clutches and pressure plates and have never had
>any problem with them. In the past I had sent them and you could match
>the thickness of the clutch material.
>
>I recently was on a chat site and they posted a question about
>rebuilding a clutch assembly. I also would like to know.
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