Tennessee Clutch

[Don Coatney]

Tennessee Clutch has been mentioned in many recent threads. I don't know if many have read about my initial contact with Tennessee Clutch about 12 years ago but here it is.

 

I will never forget my visit to Tennessee Clutch. I walked in and found dirt/grease lumps on the floor and 3-4 guys sitting around a pot bellied heater drinking coffee although the stale grease burnt clutch stench out weighed the coffee smell. One fat guy sitting on a stool with a cigar stub and drool hanging out of his mouth asked me what I wanted. I thought I was had! The front office was not an office but looked more like something that you would find in the deliverance movie with no banjo playing. I once again thought I was had! I told the fat guy I wanted my pressure plate re-worked and I plopped it down on the counter. Again I thought I was had and this fat guy would rape my old fat punk butt. The fat guy hollered to the back of the shop and some young kid appeared, grabbed my pressure plate, and disappeared. The fat guy told me it would be an hour so I disappeared out the door before something dreadful happened.

An hour later I returned. The kid plopped my rebuilt pressure plate down and he once again diappeared to the back of the shop. There was a girl behind the counter this time although the drolling fat cigar smooking guy was still there and very much in charge. I told the girl I needed a clutch disc just like the one I plopped down on the counter. She disappeared into the rack of shelves and I once again thought I was had by the drooling fat cigar smoking guy. She plopped the required disk on the counter and I shook as I asked the dredded question "how much"?

She told me something less that one hundred dollars for the whole deal. I about fell off my stool but I know that if I had done so the fat drooling cigar smoking guy would have had his way with me. I then got brave and said I needed a pilot bushing even though I did not need one. She produced the bushing for me and I asked "how much"? She said no charge. Then I really got really balsy. I told her I want two bushings knowing the fat cigar smoking droller was still there.

This is a true story and I am glad so many forum members got satisfaction from what has proven to be a great vendor.

[Bobandy]

Don, I wonder how many places we have in the states that rebuild pressure Plates and clutch disc.  There is one about an hour north of me located in Jonesburg, Missouri.  It's also a little bit colorful....  Colorful but I didn't feel I was in any danger.  The guy that ran the shop is called "SNAKE" by everyone in the place.  In this case it didn't seem to be a place for just local customers.  It had an office building that received and sent out jobs from all over.  Snake only ran the shop where all the actual work occurred.  For those that might be interested it's called Unique Automotive Rebuilders.  Bob

[Dave72dt]

I had a place in Stacyville, Iowa I used to send all my clutches to when in the ag business. The owner ran a route and would come by every couple of months and pick up cores. At the time, if needed, I could set up an appointment and send the secretary with parts, they would rebuild and send her back later in the afternoon with fresh parts. They also developed some HD clutch packages that solved issues with some of the higher hp equipment that the factory clutches couldn't and they did water pumps as well. Owner has since passed on and don't know how the business is doing now, may be closed for all I know. Theobolds.

[Don Coatney]

Lost forum member Norm's Coupe used a company called Fort Wayne Clutch. They are located across town from where I currently live. I have driven by there place several times. Building looks clean and I always see activity in there parking lot. If I recall Norm paid more than double what I paid Tennessee Clutch for the same service and parts.

[austinsailor]

I haven't been to Uniqure in Jonesburg for a year, but when I was there Snake sat and talked about an hour. Problem was, he'd just become elegible for social security and was running the numbers time and again to see if he could quit. He was pretty sure he could get by. The first surprise was he wasn't elegible for social security yet. I was sure he was every bit of 75!

 

I expect he's gone home to stay by now, I haven't had another clutch to get done lately. I'm hoping his replacement runs half as good a shop as he did.

 

That last time I took a model A clutch, pressure plate  and flywheel in. He resurfaced the flywheel, rebuilt the pressure plate, tossed in a new throwout bearing - and just gave me a new clutch, saying it takes too long to rebuild it and they'ed been busy.  Charged me something like $70.  It was worth the 70 mile drive!

 

Gene 

Edited March 8, 2016 by austinsailor