That Clutch

Like most Velo owners I have had my struggles trying to stop the clutch springs from bending whilst tighting up the sleeve gear nut. I have tried pulling out the spring holder to try and support the springs, lightly ground the ends and radiused the edges even polished and greased them to no avail. I recall some years ago, printed in F/T members suggesting using the centre tube of ball point pens cut to length and inserted into the spring and another fitting brake rivets on the head of the spring. So when I had to assemble my Venom (with new plates) I thought I’d try the F/T ideas. Not being keen on the pen idea I went to my rivet box to find some brake rivets, on fitting them I found they were loose and rather heavy, plus I wanted to keep them in case I needed them in future. However in the box sat a cheap eyelet kit as sold in D I Y shops and I found that, with a bit of a push the eyelets fitted perfectly . Some were even made of brass, so I made a tool out of a bit of round brass and drilled it slightly larger than the spring diameter and to a depth of 1/2″, placed them in the vice, tightened, and they fitted firmly without falling out. With a bit of grease on the end and the spring holder pulled out towards the nut it worked a treat, simple yet effective and I wondered why I had not thought of it years ago.

John Bryant

Velo clutch spring mod. using brass eyelets