centrifugal clutch install gone bad.

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Humsuckler

New Member
Jul 28, 2009
457
1
0
Ontario
well i sat down this evening to get this clutch installed on my spare engine. pull start was a 3o second job. it works great. onto the clutch kit.

WHAT A ****ING PIECE OF ****.

the cover plate, didn't fit without enlarging holes, no problem.
the clutch assembly itself, that is now stuck onto my crank so tight it will never come off. it only made it halfway on after 20 minutes with the impact gun. i figured it would slip right on with the first pull of the trigger since it was liberally lubed with antisieze compound. wrong. by the second squeeze the clutch pads fell off and the bell pulled off now im mad eh' i start up my compressor and pull out the 1/2" impact (this is the one that halus off lugnuts like they are melted steel. no dice. whatever, its far enough to mesh gears. so i put the bell on and the one way bearing pushed out, try and get those pins in. just try. well at this point i made the mechanic's call that this project is now totally fubar. i swing my pursuader with 6 strong blows directly center (thus pounding the **** out of the crank's main bearings i assume) and now i have one un-used piece of **** china made centrifugal clutch kit, hammered into oblivion, installed on my once-was-a-backup-running-66 probley now never-going-to-run-right-EVER-again, scrap engine.

at least i have a spare set of clutch pads.... and magneto. and a cylinder. the rest is about as useful as a blown up homelite.....

**** 2009.

:-||
 

GearNut

Active Member
Aug 19, 2009
5,104
11
38
San Diego, Kaliforgnia
If you can ever get that clutch off, the most damage you did to the crank was knock the flywheels out of alignment; pinched them together. This can be corrected if you can get the cases split and the flywheels in a truing jig. I doubt that the bearings were damaged as the flywheel shafts only slip through the bearings. Not all is lost if that cheezy clutch will come off. FWIW, I have one of those clutches too. The first thing I did was remove it from the engine and put it in a box.
 

Humsuckler

New Member
Jul 28, 2009
457
1
0
Ontario
just one more piece..... its still turning over nice with no new noise or grinding. (and they arent really balanced that great anyway)
 

GearNut

Active Member
Aug 19, 2009
5,104
11
38
San Diego, Kaliforgnia
A pinched flywheel means that both halves are closer together on the side opposite of the pin that attaches the connecting rod (crank pin). This will not really affect ballance. It will however affect the alignment of the flywheel crank shafts. The one that the magneto rotor attaches to; and on the other side of the engine, the one that the pinion gear that drives the clutch attaches to.
Misalignment of the crankshafts will lead to quick failure of the crank bearings.
 

rohmell

Active Member
Jun 2, 2010
1,531
6
38
New York
Old thread, but here's my comments anyway!

The centrifugal clutch kit that I bought from ZoomCycles came with a clutch puller, so, those tools are available if you ever do need to remove the clutch in the future.

I machined away most of the taper in the clutch and added a keyway for the Woodruff key that is used to hold the original gear on the shaft.
 

steve akins

New Member
Apr 28, 2012
1
0
0
canada
I had the same problem it would only get about half way on the crank shaft i banged on it and i tryed the inpacked gun but it just would not go flush in the end after a lot of prying and banging i managed to pull it off the shaft. in the end i borded out the center of the cluch with a deremal tool and i finaly was able to press it into place.
have you tryed to install a new cluch yet and if you did did you have the same problem again. let me know when you have the time. [email protected] thanks