Old torque converter, is there some way to adjust....

[Bikerscum]

the engagement point? As soon as the engine fires the driver pulley slides over against the belt wanting to engage. When I kill the engine just as it comes to a stop the pulley slides back away from the belt. If I take that black bell off will things try to find their way back to the factory?

Thanks :thumbsup:

 

[minibikin']

Not sure on those. The Comets use a garter spring. They have different rates like a centrifugal clutch. What brand is it?


Sent from my Texas Instruments Speak and Spell...[emoji2]

 

[Harleys Papa]

First thing I would try is cleaning and lubing

 

[Bikerscum]

Not sure on those. The Comets use a garter spring. They have different rates like a centrifugal clutch. What brand is it?


Sent from my Texas Instruments Speak and Spell...[emoji2]

It's a Salisbury. I took the cover off, & all I can see is torsion springs... I guess they are the equivalent of Comet's garter springs. :shrug:

Wonder what my chances are of finding stiffer springs for a 40 year old clutch? :doah:

 

[minibikin']

I've never messed with those. I'm guessing the three levers are controlled by the torsion springs and that give you engagement? I'm wondering if stiffer is necessary or those are plain wore out? Unless the idle speed is waaaayyyyy too high?


Sent from my Texas Instruments Speak and Spell...[emoji2]

 

[Bikerscum]

Well, upon further review it seems maybe the belt is too tight. I mean it's loose, but maybe not loose enough. The inside of the belt drags on the shaft some unless I squeeze the top & bottom together. Makes the bike hard to push too. Going to have to elongate some engine plate slots a bit.

I wonder if belts shrink some after 40 years of sitting?

Thanks all :thumbsup:

 

[buckeye]

I so remember doing my first ever build. Start it and thing would take off.

Cleaned and lubed everything up and put a new belt on it. No problem.

Thankfully I didn't have anything like this. Good luck...

 

[minibikin']

Man that belt looks too loose to me? Again, I'm only familiar with Comet stuff. However, is a Comet were that loose it would allow the driver to collapse and grab the belt as well I believe.


Sent from my Texas Instruments Speak and Spell...[emoji2]

 

[delray]

i have the same toque converter setup on my trail mate. i had the problem where the bike would not go into high gear(rear unit). at first i did not know what was going on? first thing i did was take the front unit apart and found that it was setup with springs and rollers. clean everything out and then sprayed the rollers with comet oil. notes right away that the springs where very stiff and that no way they could go soft. even after being in there for 40 years. my problem may or may not be the samething,but after finding out the back unit was not working(frozen) i had a better ideal why my converter was not working correct.
one thing that would be nice to have is a belt chart for that unit. i believe it has been posted in the past and that the front unit and back unit are moving free. really looks like a unit that would last forever......:thumbsup:

 

[bikebudy]

This little Salisbury is the same as the Larger ones on the Snowmobiles.

However, I don't know if the springs are the same size or length. ??

Snowmobile ones tend to have broken spring ends, but I would say yours are likely week.

You could try and lighten the rollers, which act as the weights. Or get new rollers made, but lighter.

Good luck.

 

[bikebudy]

Salisbury Clutch springs

E-bay # 271698980332

 

[JKautoFab]

sounds like too high an idle

 

[ole4]

Does it have the bronze idle bushing installed on the driver unit? If it is not there it can cause the belt to grab like you are experiencing.

 

[Bikerscum]

Salisbury Clutch springs

E-bay # 271698980332

Thanks for the link, but mine look a little different than that.

 

[Bikerscum]

Does it have the bronze idle bushing installed on the driver unit? If it is not there it can cause the belt to grab like you are experiencing.

No bushing on mine, but that seems like a good idea. Problem is it would then need a longer belt & I can't seem to find one. It's a 15/16 wide belt.... not too common. I do wonder what would happen if I just used a 7/8 wide belt.

I'm toying with the idea of lightening the "arms" on the assembly. I remember from my Comet experience that going to an aluminum weight rather than the stock zinc made a big difference.... delayed engagement a lot. I also might just go ahead and make stronger springs, not hard to do.

Thanks all for the help :thumbsup: