[DeTomaso] clutch and pressure plate rebuilding?

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

Certainly. Depending entirely on the skills of the shop involved, rebuilt 
pressure plates and even relined clutch discs can be made better than new. 
Top class drag racers routinely rebuild their clutches in the pits between 
runs. The popular 'Velvetouch' sintered-metallic clutch was designed to be 
rebuilt several times by licensed shops (although I think their patent has 
expired). 

Look for a shop that specializes in racing; some also do street car 
clutches. For street cars, pressure plates are disassembled & cleaned and broken or 
worn pieces are replaced, springs are replaced with whatever strength is 
requested and the friction surfaces are ground flat again. Some shops will 
even convert a Long-type clutch to a Long/Borg & Beck style. B&B   clutches use 
12 weaker springs in place of the Long's 9 stiff springs for better 
pressure distribution, rollers on stamped steel levers instead of forged sliders 
and a few other friction & weight cutting tricks. B&B do not use centrifugal 
weights to assist holding power; it comes from the internal design. They're 
also more compact.

When we lived in the 'People's Republic of Kalifornia', I dealt with a shop 
in San Jose that not only rebuilt clutches, they relined unavailable 
cast-aluminum drum-brake shoes on some of my Euro motorcycles with fresh friction 
material. "Friction-Phil' was my contact at the time. Dunno if they're still 
in business, though- we've been gone nearly 13 yrs. Good luck- J Deryke