T350 clutch slave cylinder options/ alternatives

[PetrolHeadPete]

As noted in my drawing I can't take the credit... It's in Graham's Bible as a footnote in the clutch section

Jules... Remember the bit of starlock you found on the end of my crank sensor... Well 2 had broken.
Sure I've seen quite a few mentions about it too. When I replaced my clutch some 6 or so years back...it too had a broken Starlock.

You think I'm brave...saggybadger machined his butterfly springs away completely to reduce mass. Respect!

Not sure if AP know about this. Bet they do. Perhaps starlocks vary in quality but from I can see it's simply down to number of operations pressing them hard back up the pin against their tangs.

[spitfire4v8]

Very odd .. anyone who's fitted the starlocks to the pins knows that it requires and incredible amount of force to get them off again, far more than could be generated by the butterfly springs. Maybe the intermediate plate chatters and it's a fatigue failure ? It can't chatter far though, the whole point of the starlock is to limit movement to the required minimum.
Or maybe some has tried to re-use the starlocks ..

[PetrolHeadPete]

Dont 100% agree jules. I fitted some original starlock-brand ones and then tested how hard it was to pry them off...not so hard. Every time you release the clutch, the outer butterfly, which is f-ing strong, is trying to force the tangs up the shaft and the pressure they have to endure is really significant when I tested it on the bench. I reckon over the years, the tangs fatigue and you're done. It could have done with the next size up starlock imo, which is made of thicker spring steel. Ho hum Anyway, as a preventative step its pretty simple really and as long as the preload is positive then the clutch works normally and no rattles. Might prevent a repeat, who knows.

[non_linear]

A quick update. Finally got the car over to Sussex TVR who put in a new RP slave. The AP clutch was in great shape so left alone. Turns out it wasn't an RP slave that was in there, but a stainless steel bodied original design one. Unexpectedly it has transformed the car, gear change much improved now.

[Espritment]

I live in South Africa where parts are not available and I have removed the clutch and slave cylinder at 50k Kms. I found all of those butterfly springs broken between the 2 plates, while one was already cracked on the outer plate closest to the flywheel. I also found that the thrust bearing surface had worn considerably. I found a narrower thrust bearing of the same ID, and am planning to use it with a narrow spacer to raise it to the correct height. The slave cylinder was very stiff with no movement to hand pressure. Upon removal with quite a bit of force, I found a lot of black material stuck to the surface, almost as if the seal disintegrated and melted, limiting the ease of movement, and probably causing the wear on the thrust bearing due to poor movement. I took the clutch plates to a clutch repair specialist, who advised me to remove all the springs, and it should solve the problem, as he showed me that even a Ferrari clutch does not have springs between it's 2 similar design plates. The only TVR specialist in SA, advised against totally removing the springs as it may not disengage totally, so we have removed the butterfly springs and replaced with 10mm long spiral springs over a connecting bolt through the plates, separated by 8mm and nuts secured by tightning in vice first and then using red Locktite, leaving a bolt protrusion of 7mm with 10mm springs forced over nut and super glued as well. 3 idential indentations were made in the plates to take the now sunken nut. The clutch plates were still in a good condition, so we sanded the surfaces of the plates first, before above assembly. I have manged to have a new inner rectangular seal made locally for the slave cylinder, but I used the normal O ring material. After reading the above and seeing the black seal and assumed disintegration, I will have it made in High Temp material as well as the outer larger worn one mentioned above. Above mentioned comments of another manufacturer having a second seal to assist in locating and aligning the slave cylinder makes sense. I think that I should machine another identical slot for a seal on the front of the slave piston closest to the thrust bearing, and lubricate it at time of assembly. This will account for wear found on the fixed rear portion attached to the bell housing, meaning that the cylinder was moving at a slight angle to expected movement. Has anyone tried this before, and if so, what was the outcome.

[Espritment]

[Basil Brush]

If you're going to those lengths, I'd look at putting a Tilton slave in instead.

[mk1fan]

Nice mod. I'm amazed my clutch has lasted so long as a, I have horrific clutch control and b, I do track days which isn't helped by a,

I asked the TVR Tickler to check my clutch at this years service but got no negative comments.