308 Using Triumph TR8 Clutch?

I've got the engine out of my 308. I removed the flywheel access cover and noticed some writing on my clutch. It said "Triumph TR8" and "98440". I was able to find this page which says that 98440 was a clutch part number for a Triumph TR8.
http://www.ottawaclutch.com/triumph.htm

Is the TR8 clutch interchangeable with a 308 clutch? Is this very common?

 

One other detail. The car is tough to get into gear under some circumstances. There is no crunching. Unfortunately, I only have ~20 miles in the car before it was obvious the engined needed to be pulled so I can't be specific about when it is tough to get into gear. Any chance this is from the TR8 clutch or is this most likely just a problem with the clutch adjustment? Given that I didn't notice crunching, any chance it is a synchro?

 

Is the info on the clutch disc, handwritten or stamped into the metal? I'm sure the TR-8 parts are English measure while the F-car parts are, of course, metric. Can't see how a TR-8 part could fit. Boy, could we save some money if it's true! But, I doubt it.

 

Handwritten. I forgot to include that. Good point about the metric vs. imperial units.

 

But don't both the clutches come from someone like AP in Leamington anyway ?

Having said that I think the part numbers may be different

 

How do the disc and shaft splines fit together? Loose, tight,
just right? Also, it's hard to believe that the TR-8 clutch would be over-engineered enough to handle the HP of a 308. Is there any, stamped in, numbers on the disc?
I suspect that someone wrote the wrong info on the (308) disc, them someone else, who knew better, installed it in your car and didn't bother to remove the bad writing.

 

The bell housing is still on the car so I can't see very much. The writing is on the edge of the plate so it is visible through the small panel by the oil filter.

 

Huh? It was a 3.5 liter V8 of the same era based on an old Buick V8... It should be consistent 308 specs. Depending on whose stats you read it had anywhere from 160 to 220 hp - so thats right in range.

Since neither Ferrari or Triumph manufactured their own clutches, its entirely feasible they used not only a common supplier, but a common part. Especially considering the other Brit vendors used throughout the car.

Rick

(PS, I had a TR7 as a teenager... what a hoot that car was)

 

I had a TR3a, and it was a blast. Too bad they got so ugly with the TR8.

 

Nothing metric about Ferrari clutches. Most are off the shelf, chosen out of a catalog just like most other cars. The 308 clutch is common to a number of other cars.

 

TR8? Hey Great! Maybe we can use some Lucas electric parts!

"Nothing metric about Ferrari clutches. Most are off the shelf, chosen out of a catalog just like most other cars"

Yeah - it's like bearings...they are standard and, as has often been noted, Ferrari (or any other auto manufacturer) doesn't make bearings (or hoses, or thermostats, or alternators or spark plug wires, or nuts and bolts, or brake pads or clutches...etc, etc, etc.

 

Don't look too close at the name on your center console switches....

Rick

 

They work fine so they can't be Lucas!

 

Sad but true....

Yep, there is a bit of the original "dark lord" in your Ferrari.

Rick

 

And I still have a TR3b - complete with the tractor engine, as designed.

When touring the F-factory in 1999 we watched them build gearboxes. The individual gears came out of boxes marked "Porsche".

 

Ferrari used ZF in the past for internals just like Porsche did but did not buy from Porsche. About the only commonality anymore is the posi clutches.

 

The shape of things that break.

 

The genesis of Lamborghini is attributed to Ferruccio Lamborghini's clutch problems with his car, and his subsequent discovery that the clutch in his Ferrari was the same one he used in farm tractors he manufactured. Considering how many parts-bins Ferrari raided to build its cars, I would be surprised if the disc for any Ferrari of the period was unique to Ferrari. Why reinvent the wheel, er..., clutch?

--Woody

 

I still have a new clutch kit left over from my TR-8 (sold). It would be interesting to match it up with one from a 308.
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not quite a match
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Not even close...
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Maybe someone messing with a future owner.

Several years ago I was having 2.05" journals of a mazda 626 crank ground down to use 2" chevy rods and I stamped "cosworth" on one of the counter weights just to mess with the head of some future engine builder.

 

well the disk splines are off but a closer look at the pressure plate and it looks like the important mounting holes line up.

Maybe an improvised TR8 pressure plate with a ferrari spec disk to get something out the door quick?

 

Bah, my Lucas stuff works fine. The damn Clear Hooters wiper switch just died on the TR6 though. NLA for YEARS now.

Oh, and my BMW mirror switch just died on the Ferrari today. So much for German Engineering.

 

Here are a couple clutches I removed from customer's cars.

One of them a Ferrari 365 GTC/4 that needed a new piston.

The other a Series 3 Jaguar Etype (V12), in for an engine re-seal.

Both clutches were still good but replaced because it "made sense" while the engine was out.

I don't recall which was which anymore but they are dimensionally similar and could interchange (including the splines).

Even the Lamborghini Miura uses a modified version of this same pressure plate.
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