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Hi, I’m restoring a 28 Roadster. It’s still in a million pieces and a long way off driving it. I’m wondering about the condition of my pressure plate. I have two, both look okay, but apart from obvious cracking or a broken spring, is there any way to tell if they’re actually any good, before I install one?
Thankyou
Bob (Tasmania, Australia)
Hi Bob,
I don't know how to determine the 'goodness' of a pressure plate, but while you have them on the bench, one way to go is to disassemble both and choose the best parts out of the pile to make one that might be better than either alone.
The last time I had the pressure plate out of my truck Lurch ('27 1 ton), I decided to refurbish it before reinstalling it. Here's a post that describes what I did: https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1509104/re-lurch-is-squealing-gotta-fix-him#Post1509104
BTW, if you want an overview of rebuilding the engine, here's a thread that describes what I did in 2017 when I rebuilt Lurch's 1928 engine: https://vccachat.org/ubbthreads.php/topics/386451/resurrecting-a-28-4-banger.html#Post386451
Hope this helps! Dean
Dean "Rustoholic" Meltz
San Leandro, CA
3511 posts on vccachat.org
Lurch -1927 LM one ton truck - tinyurl.com/Lurch-VCCACHAT-Gallery
Justin - 1928 AB Canopy Express (1/2 ton truck) - tinyurl.com/Justin-Stovebolt-Gallery
Hi Bob
If it's not cracked, warped, or badly scored, it's probably alright.
We actually had a pressure plate in a combine that showed a little bluing and very fine cracking.
We put that old pressure plate back in, installed new plates (it was a dual plate clutch), and it worked perfectly fine for decades after. (we thrashed 39 crops with that combine)
Ole S Olson
Saskatoon, Sask, Canada
1946 DR 3/4 ton stake
1139 old site posts
@rustoholic thanks Dean. I don’t think I need to disassemble the pressure plate. It looks okay so I think I’ll just run with it.
I will have to disassemble the engine though. It looks good and turns over easily but I have no idea about its history so I plan to pull it apart and check everything. I’ve started reading your post about your Lurch and I’m sure it will be very helpful.
@ole-olson thanks Ole. It looks okay so I think I’ll just go with it.