D Appleby Flywheel & Sintered Twin Plate Clutch exp.

[boxercupdave]

I typically don't reply to these types of threads but after observing this for a few days...


First off the company fitting the parts responded to the customers concerns and addressed it the way he wanted. I see this as good customer service especially when you consider the time and expense to remove and refit another bearing.

What I find troubling is the use of the term "wrong part". I do not believe it was the wrong part and as with any aftermarket replacement there can be differences in how each company solves a problem. The critical point is clutch free play and amount of release. I was working on my own clutch assemblies way before there was a huge selection of parts to choose from. Now most of my work was on American V8's but I had a car that required a single and smaller disc because of space constraints of the bell housing. I always measure the free play and amount of release with a feeling gauge during setup and with a variety of bearing faces from different sources I never had a issue with leverage changes. It made no difference or if it did it was so minor it didn't matter. Looks like both bearings are quality parts.

To me this got all blown out of proportion. The vendor did right by the original poster and from what I can tell they are happy with the result. Not sure why a vendor has to be blasted in public for working with a customer.

I have no favorite vendor but if DAE stepped up like they did just to please the customer (most vendors would have said it will work as is and it would have been left as is)I'd have no problem getting my parts from them and if I were in the UK having them do the work.

Cheers

[Speculatore]

boxercupdave said:

Not sure why a vendor has to be blasted in public for working with a customer.

Not really sure where the vendor has been 'Blasted'. More a case of a company fitting the wrong part to a car and then making the statement that the clutch and bearing they had fitted and run for many years on race cars which is complete misinformation. The race cars never had the V12 clutch fitted which means that no race car has ever been run on the configuration with a flat bearing which they initially tried to justify.

There is a reason why the factory introduced the different bearings where having one bearing with a one size seats all would have been a cheaper option.

Please get away from the DAE/BR issue, this simply boils down to an independent fitting the wrong part, being recognised on the forum, trying to justify it by making incorrect statement regarding the use on race cars and then rectifying the fault to the satisfaction of the owner.

With regards to the comments by Mr Dickinson. As you supply and purchase parts from DAE your comments are hardly neutral so please don't pretend to be offended.

[W1111AM]

Oh This is why we all love this forum...

[Stuart Dickinson]

Speculatore said:

With regards to the comments by Mr Dickinson. As you supply and purchase parts from DAE your comments are hardly neutral so please don't pretend to be offended.

Who said anything about being offended? I'm not offended. And I'm not neutral at all, but then my username is my real name for exactly that reason - total transparency. I'm not hiding behind a screen name and pretending to be unbiased. Or hiding under a screen name and pretending to be someone else entirely.

I only commented because what I saw didn't appear to be very balanced commentary (you may disagree, fair enough) and because as far as I can see isn't neutral either, there seems to be a very definite agenda which as a small business owner and a friend of the company in question does upset me. I don't think it is right to put a business in the crosshairs. Sure, there's always competition but let everyone put their best foot forward and let the chips fall where they may.

[Leroy007]

x31james said:

Guess it depends where you drive as well, i live in london so probably use the clutch a lot more creeping a long in traffic than someone who lived out in the countryside.

I’m at 76k miles original clutch. Just ready to change now at Appleby. I wouldn’t pay BR prices. Appleby’s twin plate light fly wheel kit installed. £2500 vat included.

[EVR]

DAE mentioned back in September 2021 that in January they would have had their 2.0 version of the clutch kit. Any news on that?

[TR-Spider]

Leroy007 said:

I’m at 76k miles original clutch. Just ready to change now at Appleby. I wouldn’t pay BR prices. Appleby’s twin plate light fly wheel kit installed. £2500 vat included.

Surprized to see such a low prize - DAE asks £3595 inc VAT on their webside.
Would be great though...

[EVR]

JA.Aston said:

Expected next month…..as with everything in the world at the moment supply chains are on a go slow/struggling to meet demand

Makes sense. I am pretty curious to see this product, they mentioned it would even be less expensive than the first version.

[GingerMunky]

x31james said:

Judging by the smell and far left pedal not working as well as it used to i think im in need of a new clutch so dropped it off at HWM this morning to see if i have the correct diagnosis. I know this is a regular topic for astons! My 09 4.7 V8 has done 21k so i guess i didnt do to badly. I was wondering if any of you have had David Appleby Clutch and Flywheel installed or similar and would you recommend it over just putting a standard clutch back in at similar cost. (David Appleby Clutch 3k installed Inc. VAT) Dont particularly like the pick up of the current clutch seems a bit clumsy and doesnt bite like you think it would.

I had the DA twin plate clutch and lightened flywheel, it totally transformed the car. Much cheaper than three same thing from BR and they quick to respond with great customer service 👍

[spainconection]

After reading the 10 pages, I am still not clear, in the end the bearing to install if you put the double clutch in a 4.3 engine is the same as for a simple plate clutch

[LTP]

spainconection said:

After reading the 10 pages, I am still not clear, in the end the bearing to install if you put the double clutch in a 4.3 engine is the same as for a simple plate clutch

My reading of the same 10 pages (prompted by your resurrectional) seems to be "It depends", where the dependant factor is the profile of the "fingers" in the clutch assembly used, as it appears they need to be matched to the profile of the release bearing. The key posts are:

• It all starts on Page 6 with JohnG1's comment.
• Continues on Page 6 with AMDBSNick's comment
• Concluded on Page 7 with BamfordMike's (Mike Beake of Bamford Rose and ex-AML powertrain engineer) first comment and summary.

(ignore the comments in between these three posts)

and it seems that if the clutch has "profiled" fingers (apparently as per V8 single plate) then you use the flat thrust bearing, whereas if the clutch has flat fingers (as per the AML clutch in the V12 Vantage) then you need the more rounded thrust bearing, as used, unsurprisingly, in the V12 Vantage. This is supported by the fact that DAE apparently changed the thrust bearing used in x31james' installation FOC.

But bear in mind the original thread is now 7 years old and things (and designs) may have changed in the interim.

edit to clarify which BamfordMike's comment

Edited by LTP on Thursday 25th August 19:10

[Buster73]

LTP said:

My reading of the same 10 pages (prompted by your resurrectional) seems to be "It depends", where the dependant factor is the profile of the "fingers" in the clutch assembly used, as it appears they need to be matched to the profile of the release bearing. The key posts are:

• It all starts on Page 6 with JohnG1's comment.
• Continues on Page 6 with AMDBSNick's comment
• Concluded on Page 7 with BamfordMike's (Mike Beake of Bamford Rose and ex-AML powertrain engineer) first comment and summary.

(ignore the comments in between these three posts)

and it seems that if the clutch has "profiled" fingers (apparently as per V8 single plate) then you use the flat thrust bearing, whereas if the clutch has flat fingers (as per the AML clutch in the V12 Vantage) then you need the more rounded thrust bearing, as used, unsurprisingly, in the V12 Vantage. This is supported by the fact that DAE apparently changed the thrust bearing used in x31james' installation FOC.

But bear in mind the original thread is now 7 years old and things (and designs) may have changed in the interim.

edit to clarify which BamfordMike's comment

Edited by LTP on Thursday 25th August 19:10

I always thought his name was Mike Bamford …..you learn something new everyday.

[EVR]

I posted it as well in the other thread but this one is a bit more official.

DAE announced the 2.0 version of his clutch kit, in collaboration with Velocity AP. Just for manual cars for now.