General clutch disc and pressure plate question(s)

Would a pressure plate used on a sprung disc be different from one used on an unsprung disc?

And has anyone had experiences running "mix 'n' match" clutch setups? As in... Pressure plate from one company, disc from another?

No.

No, but it should work ok.

Streetwiseguy wrote: No. No, but it should work ok.

I've used a stock (sachs) 16V disk with an ACT pressure plate on my GTI.

As long as they are stock dimensions, I don't see why a mix-n-match would be a problem.

I do it all the time.

My favorite combo is stock plate and puck disk.

Been forced to do mix and match a few times never seen a problem. Twice with Chevy disk on a Dodge motor when doing trany conversions. As long as the OD and thickness are same your good.

I've seen lots of mix-and-matching done, no problems (although not a stock plate and a puck disc, that's new!)

Mix and match away!! I have mixed stuff and never had a problem unless you count finding out it wouldnt hold enough torque as a problem.

Stock plate and puck disk is awesome. You get the additional grip, and the ability to slip without burning up a disk like you can with fiber, but you have quick engagement unlike aftermarket pressure plares that tend to have the motion ratios all screwed up and you have to put your left foot through the front bumper to shift.

I've also run 225mm pressure plate/flywheel with 215mm disk on an RX-7 when my friend kept ordering eBay clutch parts for an '83 engine and they kept sending '79-82 clutch parts. One of my used pressure plates saved the day.

Ok well.... Let's say i have a pressure plate that's part of a package rated to hold 525ftlbs when equipped with the right disc.

And a disc that's part of a package rated to hold 567ftlbs when equipped with the right pressure plate.

Pretty sound theory that the resulting combination should hold 500+?

Uhhh be wary of mixing and matching. Not everyone uses the same thickness clutch disc!!! For example, a clutchnet disc with stock pressure plate on my Fiero resulted in the pressure plate fingers contacting the disc, because the disc was thicker than stock, resulting in the pressure plate fingers starting out closer to the clutch hub at rest.

So i need to measure pad thickness (6 puck unsprung) on the strong disc against overall disc thickness that's currently on the strong pressure plate? (full face sprung.)

Generally sprung hubs (stock) also have a feature called 'marcel'. Basically the two friction faces have a wavy spring between them or some other method to allow a little bit of squishiness on initial engagement. It will be very small in relation to the total thickness. So, if the sprung hub is a few thousandths thicker than the puck style it is probably not a problem.

Oh, that's another thing. Unsprung hubs are a really bad idea. There's no real excuse for them except for racing situations where you need every iota from your car and you don't mind if you have to rebuild/replace transmissions all the time.

That is not true. I ran a 3 disk unsprung clutch in my 240 for 7 yrs. it sucked in traffic but it can be done.

After driving it for a while I hopped in a stock clutch car and about pushed the pedal thru the floor. A lot less resistance.

I broke a bunch of transmissions with an unsprung disk.

Later, I was talking to my boss's dad, who told me that in the 60s they stopped using unsprung disks because they were twisting the input shafts of the T10s they were running. As soon as they went to sprung centers, the problem stopped.

It's just a little bit of give is all you need. Perhaps having a 6-cylinder engine with the traditional Nissan heavy flywheel was helping you a bit. Certainly a rotary with a 9lb flywheel was not doing my trans any favors.