Introduction, and question about J&G floater clutch

[Island Bug]

Good day all,

First let me introduce myself, as I just signed up here.  I've been on the Samba for a long time under the same name I use here.  I live in the US Virgin Islands where you'd be surprised to know we have a lot of VW's and Manx buggies, plus my Baja and Sand Rail.  VW was actually the first car dealer on the island, and many of the old pics of the island show lots of VW's.  We do have a drag strip but it is on St. Croix and for us on St. Thomas and St. John we have to put our cars on a barge to get there. 

Anyway, I just got for free in a box of parts a J&G floater clutch (SCORE!!!) and I am considering using it on my 2387 turbo sandrail I'm building.  My question is once the flywheel is machined for the J&G clutch what is the resulting weight of the flywheel?  Am I saving any weight overall in comparison to using a 12 lb flywheel and a Kennedy pressure plate? 

I did a search before posting and didn't see anything.  Apologies is this has been discussed already. 

Thanks much,

Malcolm

[Ohio Tom (DdK)]

Nice score dude...
I think it takes about 4-5lbs off the original flywheel weight.
Yes, the J+G (single disk) is much lighter. Aluminum housing.

Tell us more about the clutch. Do you know what it was used for?
Dual disk or single?
Does it have all the studs and stand-off's?

[fiatdude]

You must know Ranney

[Island Bug]

@fiatdude- don't know him personally, but yes, I believe I do know him from the local meets.  I REALLY need to get more involved with the local VW club.  I travel a lot with my job and usually my weekends are taken up with diving, surfing, building surfboards (www.schweizersurf.com), or building bug engines.  They meet at Magen's Bay now and then.  I usually find out too late or I just can't make it.   

@OhioTom, Actually I only have the pressure plate portion and will have to order the disc, but I'm still happy.  It is unused.  I bought a guy's stock of stuff and sold what I didn't need and recouped my money.  It is the same one Jaycee sells.  I don't have the standoffs, but luckily Jaycee has those and the disc separately for folks like me that don't need the whole thing. 

I'm building a 2387 turbo w/CB's EFI to go in my buggy.  I like the theory behind the floater clutch but never considered it due to the cost.  When I opened the box of stuff and saw the red anodized disc I was elated.  My wife said "I don't know what it is or what it does, but it sure looks cool."  LOL 

The reason I asked about the weight is I'm just wondering if this will be lighter overall than a lightened flywheel and  "regular" clutch setup.  I know the aluminum pressure plate itself is lighter, but wasn't sure how much machining was done on the flywheel and how light it ends up afterwards.

[Tom Simon]

In short, you own a used piece of a ~$750 clutch set up.

If this is going on an 8 dowel crank, you need to start with a stock dimension, full weight forged VW flywheel, and have it machined. Or if someone still sells them, buy one and fit it to your crank.

To machine a stock VW flywheel to accept that clutch, you remove material from the inside of the flywheel, to make clearance for the floater plate diameter, mill pockets for the floater plate's ears, then drill and tap the flywheel for the 6 stand studs. After all the machine work, they wind up weighing around 12lbs.

On the other hand, lightened VW flywheels typically have material removed from the wrong place for J&G style clutch use, so you can't modify a lightened flywheel to accept a floater clutch.

Also, if all you have is the 'hat' (pressure plate, aluminum cover with diaphragm-style finger spring marked "J&G" or stamped with the McCleod 3-leaf clover) you only own about 1/3 of the overall value. You'll need to know which one you have, as the springs come in different thicknesses for different applications, light, medium, and heavy I think. You'll need to buy a steel floater plate, precision studs and hardened nuts, the aluminum stands, .02" shims, and of course a clutch disc. Then you need a new or used J&G clutch style flywheel. Or get a forged VW flywheel and send it to JayCee Jack or HOP Roger, others, for the machine work.

Or just put that hat up for sale on Samba :-) 

[Island Bug]

Thank you Tom for the detailed response. I thought i was tracking this thread but wasn't and just saw this. All you said is correct as to where I am. I have the pressure plate only, but am willing to spend the $600 for all the rest. The plate is unused.  The only thing is that it is only marked "SFV" and "Canada".  Each rivet stamped with a "2" and there is a white dot of paint on one of the fingers, which I suspect may be an identifier of what strength it is??  It is red anodized. No clover emblem or other markings.