Say I waned to swap a manual transmission from a different make and model into a car, i.e. transmission from Car B into Car A.
I've got the physical adaptation more or less worked out in my head using Car A's original bellhousing stuck on Car B's transmission.
Car B has a 225mm clutch disc, Car A has a 240mm clutch disc. Though, I've seen aftermarket 240mm clutch discs advertised for car B too.
Can I just use a clutch disc for Car B, and the pressure plate and flywheel from Car A?
Do I need to be looking at anything other than diameter and spline count for swapping sake? Summit allows you to search clutch discs by spline count and diameter, using the Application tab on the search results I've found a few more options for the same size disc to broaden my search.
I know I could call Spec, Ceterforce, South Bend, etc. and have a custom clutch made, but I'm trying to do this on a Challenge budget.
I've done something like this with my Zetec to Lotus bellhousing to Renault gearbox. Measure the friction surfaces of the flywheels, discs, and pressure plates, along with the thickness of the discs. I had to swap the Focus flywheel for an Escort ZX2 in order to get the 225 mm Renault disc to work as the Focus flywheel friction surface was ok on the OD but the ID was bigger meaning the flywheel missed half of the Renault disc. The other issue I ran into was release bearing to pressure plate distances. I had to machine up a sleeve to push the bearing closer to the pressure plate, which works fine. I don't know what you'd do if you would have to go the other way.
Thickness of clutch hub
Offset of clutch hub
both are important to ensure full engagement and full release
If it’s any help. I was able to mate my w58 to the 1uzfe using the bell adapter, a 5sfe flywheel, and pressure plate, an uprated 22re disc, and Howe ToB. But that was using mostly all Toyota parts so the clutch assembly went together pretty well because all the depths were the same across brand.
Worst case, if you can't find a clutch disk that fits, ACT will make you a custom one for not much over their regular price.
I guess I incorrectly assumed that hubs and friction material were usually similar thicknesses. Thinking about it now, I don't know why I thought that. I hadn't considered offset.
With out getting my hands on some options to put a yard stick to them, I can't make any decisions yet. I already figured I'd be doing some shenanigans with the throwout bearing like RoddyMac mentioned. Not sure if there'll be an off the shelf solution for a pilot bearing yet either?
Dr. Hess,
I can get an eBay 240mm "stage 2" clutch disc for Car B's transmission for $35. I don't have high hopes for longevity, but for Challenge budgetary constraints, it aught to survive a weekend of fun, maybe.
I haven't priced a disc through ACT, but Spec was going to be 1/4 of the entire budget, es no bueno.
I don’t know but I have a plan to run a turbo coupe flywheel and pressure plate with a ranger 3.0 disc to make it all work on a challenge budget and it will hold to 4-450hp....
pilot bearing is not an issue if you know someone with a lathe and a chunk of oil lite bronze. A few simple measurements will yield a very functional pilot bearing (OD, ID, and length, maybe a stepped OD).
What cars? Odds are somebody here has done this before. Ask me about the Rodeo clutch and pressure plate in my Trooper lol.
In reply to Tom Suddard :
Plausible, but not likely, I've done a pretty deep dive researching candidates. I started a thread here a couple years ago asking about transmissions. I've recently stumbled upon one of the unlikely candidates at an extremely reasonable price. While there's an off the shelf solution ($$$) to swap a few different transmissions into Car A, the transmission from Car B isn't one of them.
It's not top secret, but for now I'm sticking with Car A and Car B. "Ladies and gentlemen: the transmission I'm trying to swap is real. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent."
call ACT. They might have the dimensions for both applications, and could tell you if A would work with B and/or vice versa.
