I used to work for for a big clutch remanufacturer named NAP.www.national-auto.co.uk
They would buy tonnes of used clutch parts, covers and plates, and wash them in caustic soda, drill out the rivets, sand blast the parts, grade them good or scrap, and then replace the springs and friction plates.
The finished product met the same peformance spec. as the original.
They were then clearcoted and boxed up in plain boxes or in Ferodo etc... boxes. Ferodo supplied their own friction and this was used in theirs.
I can see how these could be made badly, and some QC rejects were taken home by workers who gave them to friends but they often juddered.
In the early 1990s, the total cost of remanufacturing them was £17.50 average. They sold for £100s as car parts were dearer in those days.
You are right, SACHS and Borg & Beck were the best.
Some USSR cars such FSO or Skoda had weird home-made looking friction plates made of PVA, cement, asbestos string and brass turnings.
Edited by Hamsafar on 24/10/2012 at 18:28
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