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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Advice on clutch & gearbox please.

Hi folks,
When I come to assemble my midget this summer I want to make it as trouble free as I can. I was wondering whether it would be a good idea to get from Peter May:

A roller bearing for the clutch release.

A gearbox front cover with oil seal.

What's the opinion of the jury?
Mike
Mike Howlett

Mike,

Peter does 2 roller bearing kits.

The cheaper one is designed to fit the std clutch release fork, the more expensive one replaces the fork and slave cylinder and is a 'stand alone' kit.

I'm not convinced that the former would be ideal on a road car owing to the swing arm length (and geometry) of the Spridget clutch release fork. Ideally roller release bearings should engage perpendicular to the input shaft and parallel to the clutch cover else they can cause problems (not so much a problem on a Race car since the engine is regularly removed so things can be checked over).


We have the latter system on the Racer and it works superbly. It also makes bleeding the clutch far easier!

Having said that, I am not sure whether either are suitable for the std clutch. I'd give Peter a call.

Deborah Evans

I'm with Deborah on this one... go for the centre hydraulic release bearing kit, it works very well.

I've never had trouble with leaks from the front seal, just don't over fill the box..

Mark.
M T Boldry

Why not use a good quality carbon bearing?
Dave O'Neill 2

The latter isn't for the std clutch, from memory.

Whether or not the roller release bearing engages perpendicular or not will depend in part on whether or not the flywheel has been refaced and if so by how much. If there is much of a sweeping action across the clutch fingers a failure ensures.

Having said that I think I'm one of only 2 people who've experienced a failure so you should be ok.
Daniel Thirteen-Twelve

This thread was discussed on 03/05/2011

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