Complete
Vespa smallframe engine stripdown and rebuild.
13. Rebuilding the clutch
The clutch on a smallframe vespa is an elegantly simple design
consisiting of steel plates, some with cork and some without, sandwiched
together
by a bloody great spring. Later PKXL2 models have a PX style of
clutch with several smaller springs, but the concept is the similar.
There will either be 3 cork plates on a standard clutch, or 4 on
an aftermarket
racing clutch. As long as it puts power down without slipping and
disengages smoothly enough to change gear then whichever type you
choose is up to you. Just remember to order a complete rebuild
kit with steel plates and cork ones. In a 3 plate clutch the plates
are thicker than in a 4 plate, both steel and cork, and you can't
mix the two.
To
dismantle and rebuild the clutch you need a clutch compressing
tool. You cannot do it without it, but you can make your own for
a fraction of the cost of the factory item. All it is is a hefty
and long bolt and two chunky washers and a nut. One washer must
be small enough to slip inside the clutch bell, but big enough
that it does not go through the hole in the middle of the clutch.
The other washer can be as big as you like. If fact I use a steel
mirror mounting bar instead (like you bolt under the handlebars)
because you can grip it and a spanner at the same time to make
the job easier. Remember this stuff has to compress the clutch
spring, so overengineered is best. You can see one in the second
picture below. All these pictures come from Robin Sanderson who
is undertaking
the
rebuild
of a Piaggio
Ape,
powered by a version of the Vespa 50 engine.
Once you have removed the clutch from the
bike you will have in your hand (assuming it was in one piece)
something like this:

To dismantle this you need your clutch compressor
tool. Put the bolt through the middle of this assembly such that
a large washer sits on the underside preventing the bolt head from
coming through the centre, and the slightly smaller washer slips
inside the aluminium retainer ring, but not inside the centre of
the clutch baseplate. Now carefully tighten the nut on the bolt
until it can tighten no more, compressing the
spring
and
enabling
the
removal
of all
the parts of the clutch. When dismantling, first remove the circlip,
then the thin aluminium retainer ring will come away, along with
the top plate and all the clutch plates. Now gradually undo
the nut, releasing tension on the spring. When the assembly is
loose remove the nut and you can separate the clutch baseplate,
spring and inner clutch bell. When you have dismantled everything
you should have this in front of you:

1. Baseplate. This sits on top of the spring.
2. Clutch steels - in a 3 plate clutch there will be 2 of
these, or 3 in a 4 plate clutch.
3. Top plate. This sits on top of the last cork plate and prevents
the inner basket from spreading.
4. Clutch (cork) plates - In a 3 plate clutch such
as this both these and the cork plates will be thicker than in
a
4 plate clutch.
5. Inner basket - this is the part that sits on the driveshaft,
and contains the woodruff key.
6. Clutch spring - this sits on the inner basket, pushing against
the baseplate.
7. Retaining ring, keeps oil where it should be.
8. The circlip - this tiny bit is the thing that stops your clutch
exploding when you apply power. It keeps everything else in place.
9. Our clutch compressing tool - as you can see, a nut, bolt
and 2 washers.
Now
to reassemble the clutch. The following pictures were taken with
spare parts, but you should be using brand new clutch plates
and
steels which
have been soaking in gearbox oil for 24 hours (unless
you really want to burn out your new clutch plates). You
don't need a vice for this (in fact I've had to do this at the
roadside)
but it makes things easier. First put the inner basket on the bolt
shaft and place the spring in it. New springs are dirt cheap so
you may as well use a new one. They are avaliable in different
degrees of stiffness for tuned engines:

Now put the baseplate on top of the spring, lining
up the holes with the tangs on the inner basket. Tighten the
washer and nut onto the bolt, carefully compressing the clutch
spring:

Once tightened it should look like this:

Now place the clutch plates on, starting
with a cork plate, then a steel, then cork and so on. You
should finish with a cork plate on top.
Note that the steel plates have inner lugs which engage
on the inner basket, and the cork plates have outer lugs
which will engage with the outer basket. This is how drive
is transmitted, from the outer basket and primary drive to
the inner basket and gearshaft. When the spring is compressed
the cork plates and outer basket can spin without turning
the steel plates and gearshaft, but when the clutch lever
is released and the spring is expanded the cork and steel
plates are forced together, thus transmitting the drive to
the gears. Stack the plates so the lugs on the edge of the cork plates
line up |

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Once you have finished place the top plate on. This
has lugs which engage on the inner basket, but also small pegs
that make sure the inner basket does not spread under heavy load:

Now the aluminium retaining ring can go on. If the
spring needs compressing a bit more tighten the nut on the bolt.
Now clip the circlip into the groove on the inner basket tangs:

Make
sure the circlip is seated securely, preferably with the opening
completely enclosed by one of the tangs. When it is in place
carefully release the tension on the spring and remove
the spring compressor, making sure the circlip remains in position.
When
replacing the clutch in the engine it is easier to put a dab
of silicone on the woodruff key to hold it in place before placing
it in the keyway. Now align the lugs on the cork plates with
the gaps in the outer basket, and rotate the rear axle to align
the keyways. Finally jam the primary drive with a penny and replace
the tab washer and clutch nut, tightening the latter to drive
the clutch down onto the gearshaft. Remove the penny, replace
the clutch activator pad and the clutch cover (with new gasket
and sealer) and connect and adjust the clutch cable.
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