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MG TD TF 1500 - Alpine Clutch in a T-series

Can anyone give me more information about this conversion, as I have a full-bore TC coming in for a clutch soon, and understand that the Alpine cover is a worthwhile mod for higher HP engines.

I'd like to know details of what is needed, what is changed, and how it works.

Alternatively, what are TC racers using for a strong clutch these days?

Thanks.

Tom Lange
MGT Repair
t lange

Hi Tom,

I am now a big fan of diaphragm clutches in race cars. I have had one in my s/c race TC for 20 years and the motor and gearbox have never been separated in that time! The clutch has done 96 events in that time. Some events are one-day hillclimbs (perhaps six runs) or sprints (perhaps five lots of four laps) but 23 have been full blown race meetings where there are often four races of up to eight laps of Phillip Island track for example. The mileage might not very high but the clutch "abuse" is always extreme.

Spring clutches have done a good job for me in the past but they do go out of balance after a while. In my previous motor, I had special strong springs made (and stuck with 7.25" clutch). The three lugs on the cast plate and the three square holes in the pressed steel cover wear and hammer each other. This lets the cast plate get off centre a bit and that creates imbalance and vibration. When I use spring clutches I always weld up a lot of metal on the pressed cover where the drive faces of the lugs go through, and then hand file the area. It creates a flat drive face which is more resistant to wear/hammering than the original thin cover edge cutting into the cast pressure plate.

I use a Hillman Hunter (1970s?) pressure plate in the race TC but they are now hard to get in Australia. They are 7.5" and go well with the 7.5" Holden Torana driven plate (1" 10 spline). I think I had to use a release bearing which had more "reach" than the standard TC to compensate for the release plate having less "height". I also had to redrill for three dowels instead of two.

The Sunbeam diaphragm clutch mentioned in a post a couple of weeks ago sounds interesting. If I can't find another Hillman clutch, I will be looking at Sunbeam.

Sorry I could not quote available part numbers etc. Good luck with your work on the TC.

Bob



R L Schapel

See my response on the TABC site. Several local TC owners including myself are running Alpine clutches.
Steve Simmons

I have a Ford cortina finger style pressure plate in my 1500 xpeg. It was spec'd out by Manley Ford when I built up my machine. I like it quite a bit so far. It requires some machining to install the throw out bearing in the T housing that usually holds the carbon bush. Manley would be a good contact here. Let me know if you need his information.

Alex
Alex Waugh

Tom, my TF has an MGF (no, the new one) diaphragm clutch - it was spitting out springs from the old one. From memory, all that was required was the same machining Alex mentions, to allow the new throw out bearing to be fitted.
David Provan

I gotta say, as both an Alpine and TD owner, I'd like to discourage the use of an Alpine clutch in the TD's because new pressure (cover) plates for Alpines are becoming *very* thin on the ground - they are NLA with most resellers and I had to search quite a while to find the proper one for my recent Alpine's rebuild. The MGF sounds like a much more available and preferable option. When choosing parts it's important to remember the impact you'll have on other marque collectors & restorers... we want to keep them *all* running! :)
Kevin McLemore

This thread was discussed between 10/11/2015 and 18/11/2015

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