anybody had probs with oiled up clutches on early 850?

[36inter]

The hole, if it were there would be under the primary gear, if its not visible it has either been plugged or it is a later crank.

I had an early crank on my 62 van but don't recall having oiling problems although I did replace the seal in the flywheel each time it was apart.

[62Countryman]

David Vizard's "Tuning the A-Series Engine" mentions a similar type of problem (clutch slipping due to oil on the clutch) that you are having starting on page 384 (Crankshaft section). He mentions that the seal (oil fed primary gear) wasn't as reliable as it should have been. The oil fed primary gear was used up to January 1963 on all 850s and 997 Coopers. The "deva" metal primary gear was introduced. He recommends going to a junk yard (breaker's yard) and obtain a crank from a newer engine.

[ivor badger]

Bronze bushes, actually Oilite = no oil feed. white metal bushes with short clutch splines = oil fed primary gear

[mk1]

As well as the oil feed to the bush the oil used to come out through the thread of the big bolt. The oil feed drilling goes down the centre of the crank & the brass plug that blocks it can become dislodged. An easy way to fix it is to push a piece of rubber down there ( bits of old inner tube or similar) before you do up the big bolt.

[mk1]

You just stuff enough in to seal the hole at the bottom of the threaded hole, not enough to effect the bolt.

See page 20 & 21 here http://mk1-performance-conversions.co.u ... 5-m728.pdf

M