Will clutch plate rust to flywheel with non use?

[MarcDeSoto]

I have a 1948 DeSoto business coupe that has been sitting in a garage for the last 30 years. It has a rebuilt engine that has never started and a new clutch. Now I am finally in a position where I can work on it again. Since the pedals are out of the car, I guess that means the clutch is engaged. Will there be a problem breaking it free from the flywheel and will there be a problem starting an engine that has never run. I still turns over when use a wrench to turn the crank. Thanks, Marc.

[Plymouthy Adams]

if in an extremely damp enviroment one can get a stuck disc..they can be freed up..

[randroid]

Marc,

I've seen where a clutch will get glued to a flywheel when the rear seal has been leaking and there's any oil present. Like Tim said, they can be freed but expect to yank the tranny so the surfaces can be cleaned. If you're simply speculating I'd say try to start it because until the pedals go back in it won't make any difference, and nothing sounds quite like an engine starting for the first time in 30 years. Might be worth a video if you have the gear.

-Randy

[Rusty O'Toole]

It might be stuck, then again it might not. I have seen them stick when stored for 2 years, others are not stuck after being stored in a dirt floor garage for 30 years.

If it is stuck it is not hard to get it loose if you can get access to the clutch. Is there a removable plate on the bottom of the bellhousing? This is not recommended but I cut a hole in the bottom of a Toyota pickup bellhousing to get access once. This was on a 4 wheel drive pickup, it would have been necessary to take out the whole transfer case and transmission otherwise.

If you can't get at the clutch it will be necessary to take out the transmission.

Anyway, if you can get at the clutch have someone step on the clutch pedal or prop it down with a stick between the pedal and the dashboard. Then take a knife blade and slip it between the clutch plate and flywheel and between the clutch plate and pressure plate. Turn the engine over and do this 2 or 3 times. It is surprising how little rust will glue a clutch together. Once you get it free the rust will be polished off as soon as you drive the car.

To prevent this happening when a car is stored for long periods you can prop the clutch pedal down with a stick while in storage.

No damage to the clutch will result.

[ptwothree]

Or if you are worried about it, you can pull the spark plugs, put it in high gear and rock the car back and forth until it breaks loose....

[MarcDeSoto]

Randy, I like your answer. I really want to get this thing started and I will definitely make a video and post it here and on Youtube. Another thing that worries me is the flywheel ring gear. In the shop manual, they show a special tool to align the new ring gear, but I just had my school's metal shop teacher put it on by lining it up by eye and arc welding it on. I guess I'll just have to start it and see if there's a vibration there.

[austinsailor]

Mine was rusted so bad I couldn't get the transmission out. Not only was the clutch stuck to the flywheel, the splines of the clutch were stuck on the pilot shaft. Took a torch to cut away the entire pressure plate and the clutch, except the very nub of the clutch so that it would fit through the throwout bearing. Then, I had to use a die grinder to cut that nub 3 ways to get it off the pilot shaft. Heating it red hot with a torch didn't help.

My machinist said that when he started cutting on the flywheel to surface it, it filled the whole shop with rust dust!

I doubt many are that bad but it happens. I salvaged everything except the pressure plate and clutch disk.

[Young Ed]

Mine was rusted so bad I couldn't get the transmission out. Not only was the clutch stuck to the flywheel, the splines of the clutch were stuck on the pilot shaft. Took a torch to cut away the entire pressure plate and the clutch, except the very nub of the clutch so that it would fit through the throwout bearing. Then, I had to use a die grinder to cut that nub 3 ways to get it off the pilot shaft. Heating it red hot with a torch didn't help.

My machinist said that when he started cutting on the flywheel to surface it, it filled the whole shop with rust dust!

I doubt many are that bad but it happens. I salvaged everything except the pressure plate and clutch disk.

I bought a correct Txxx engine for my 46 pickup and it was that bad too. Of course it had been laying in the dirt long enough to rust through the oil and clutch pans. We ended up heating the nub of the clutch with a torch and driving it off with an air tool with a punch in it.

[MarkAubuchon]

If the garage is dry, and the car has not been sitting on dirt or gravel you should be ok. My 49 coupe sits in a unheated concrete floor garage, whn I went to start it after two years it had a little rust/stick but as soon as I cranked it, it broke loose

[old stovebolt]

I have a 1948 DeSoto business coupe that has been sitting in a garage for the last 30 years. It has a rebuilt engine that has never started and a new clutch. Now I am finally in a position where I can work on it again. Since the pedals are out of the car, I guess that means the clutch is engaged. Will there be a problem breaking it free from the flywheel and will there be a problem starting an engine that has never run. I still turns over when use a wrench to turn the crank. Thanks, Marc.

Yes, I have had that happen once. Real bugger to free up.

[james curl]

I have a Triumph TR-7 Convertible that the clutch will stick to the flywheel or the pilot bushing if it sits a month or more without moving. I can usually free the clutch by putting the car in 3rd gear then cranking the engine until it starts, push the clutch in and floor the gas once out in the street, the torque should break the clutch free with in a block. If not then try the next higher gear. crank with the clutch in or out doesn't matter, once it starts push the clutch in and floor the gas, usually the torque will break it loose. Always turn the key off to stop the car if it doesn't break loose, never try to shift out of gear while under high power.

[Dodgeb4ya]

I say-put everything back together and get the engine running, then see if the clutch disc is stuck to the flywheel/ pressure plate. If it is- put the E-Brake on, push the clutch pedal down. Shift to high range, hold your right foot on the brake pedal-assuming the car has good brakes, crank and start the engine -see if clutch brakes free. If not repeat this procedure 2-3 times (Clutch pedal up and down with trans in high range) until clutch disc brakes free. If this does not work pull clutch housing pan and loosen pressure plate bolts up a bit and re-try the above procedure.

[fatFreddie]

Very common in construction equipment and farm tractors, more so with muti-stage clutches. These will have a clutch release either on the pedal itself or a block of wood to release the clutch while not in use. Can happen overnight on some equipment. Around the farm when it would happen we would place the effected unit in gear and then drag it behind another larger unit to free the clutch.

[BHondle'40]

I have read this thread and have a bit of a twist on the subject I was hopeful someone might be able to comment on.

I was finally able to start my '40 Roadking after it has sat since 1979 (that year is not a typo). In 1979 my father-in-law had the stock engine rebuilt and a new clutch installed by a shop but thereafter never got back to putting the vehicle back together. He is now of an age where he is no longer able to work on it, so he gave the vehicle to me (I was extremely appreciative!) and we recently started it. Fired right up and sounds excellent.

However, when I attempted to engage the clutch I could not move the column shift lever without griding the gears. In other words, the clutch was not disengaging. I removed the bottom inspection cover and watched the clutch disk and pressure plate while someone depressed the clutch pedal. I oberved that half of the clutch disk was stuck to the flywheel, while at the same time the other half appeared to be stuck to the pressure plate. So, by all appearances, the clutch disk has physically separated in the middle and has segregated itself into two separate pieces while still on the spline.

Has anyone experienced this sort of problem before, where the clutch has separated into two pieces?

If so, and I am able to free the clutch disk from both the flywheel and the pressure plate, will the fact that it is separated (i.e., is no longer one solid unit of asbestos) be problematic?

Thanks in advance for your courtesy in this regard.

Bruce

[Dodgeb4ya]

As to the above question if the disc separated I doubt it.

Here are a couple pics of a 1947 Chrysler job I did with a lightly rusted up clutch. The car was parked over a newly poured concrete slab and the disc was stuck after only a month of sitting! It was a fluid drive car so I couldn't break it loose so I held the pedal down and carefully wedged a putty knife in between the disc and plates to free it up. Then replaced it as the rust condition could not be determined with out removal and the customer wanted a 100% no rust questions job. The surface rust was very minor.

Bob

[BHondle'40]

As to the above question if the disc separated I doubt it.

Thank you for your kind reply. Please forgive me but I didn't quite understand whether or not you meant that the clutch disk would need to be replaced.

I have attached some pictures of my clutch issue that I was trying to describe in my earlier post, for purposes of illustration. I attempted to include explanatory notes on the pictures, but I could not save the notes so I am going to try to explain below.

The pictures show a "rough" area in the middle of the clutch disk. This is where the clutch disk plysically separates when the clutch pedal is depressed.

In the last picture, the "rough" portion can be seen to be sandwiched between two "smooth" portions of the clutch disk. When the clutch pedal is depressed, the disk separates at that "rough" area and the "smooth" portion of the disk which is on the flywheel-side remains solidly affixed to the flywheel, while the "smooth" portion of the disk on the side touching the pressure plate retracts with the pressure plate. So it would appear to me that the disk is not only rusted to the flywheel but is also rusted to the face of the pressure plate.

Question #1: I am presuming that the separation of the clutch disk is not a normal occurence and that the disk material has failed. Would that be a correct presumption?

Question #2: If the clutch disk is successfully loosened from the flywheel, could the disk still be operational in this fashion?

Question #3: Or must the disk be replaced?

Thank you,

Bruce

[BHondle'40]

Forgive my follow-up but I am thinking that perhaps my post got lost in the holiday rush. I was wondering whether anyone might be able to offer any assistance to my post of 11/22?

Thanks in advance to anyone who does!

Bruce

[Dodgeb4ya]

I would just separate the disc from the flywheel and pressure plate-break it loose and drive it and if it works you are good to go!

I'm sure it will be fine.

Bob

[BHondle'40]

Based on your post, and one from "shel_bizzy_48", both of which included pictures for my review, I was unaware there was a flexible-type material built in to the clutch disk. Now that I know this, it may very well be that my clutch does not need to be replaced and, therefore, I am going to try to pry it away from the flywheel and pressure plate and see what happens. It certainly couldn't hurt to try that first, as you have suggested.

Again, thank you.

Bruce