Paper vs. bronze clutches

By Chris, Hale Marine · 40+ years rebuilding Velvet Drive and ZF transmissions

Short answer: Borg Warner used paper clutch plates in Velvet Drives from about 1980 to the mid-80s; bronze is used today. Paper doesn't stand up as well in marine use, so we replace it with bronze on a rebuild.

Paper clutches verses Bronze plates

What Chris sees on the bench

Old paper (fiber) plates that separated on a 1017-003 core that had a little water in it at some point.
Paper worn right off the clutch face on a 1017-004, on both the reverse and forward clutches, after all those years.
A 1017-007 1.91:1 with 1980s paper reverse clutches, where somebody had rebuilt it and put bronze plates in the forward clutches only.
An early-80s core you could date by its paper clutches and asbestos gaskets.
A 1014-005 CR-2 that looked to be pretty much original, still running paper clutches.

Why paper doesn't hold up

Borg Warner decided in the early 80s that paper clutches would be suitable in a marine environment. As Chris puts it, they don't. Paper clutches can work fine in a car, where they don't see the demands a marine application puts on them. In a boat they wear out over time.

How they fail is different too. When bronze plates have a problem, they fuse together, so with the later-style bronze or the real early styles, you could always get home. Paper plates will just spin, and you're stuck out in the middle of the lake or the ocean.

Fix

If a rebuild turns up paper clutches, throw them away and put bronze in. Check both packs. That 1.9:1 is a good example of why: somebody replaced the forward clutches with bronze and left the 1980s paper plates in reverse.

1017-007 1.91 71C Velvet Drive

When to call

If you think your transmission still has paper clutches, call (804) 333-3677, Monday through Friday 9 to 3 Eastern, or email sales@halemarine.com.