Pressure Plate and Throw Out Bearings Comparison
Filter ByHere's a quick tech tip on pressure plates and throw out bearings used in Air Cooled VWs.
Early style (1970 & earlier) clutch and throw out bearing has a collar on the pressure plate fingers, round tabs, removable clips on the throw out bearing, and does not have any guide sleeve around the input shaft.
![Picture showing early style throwout bearing removable clips](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0560/9521/1694/files/Early_style_throwout_bearing.jpg?v=1679603225)
Late style (1971 & later) clutch and throw out bearing has a guide sleeve, flat tabs, clips are molded into the throw out bearing, and no collar on the pressure plate fingers.
![Picture showing late style throw out bearing with flat tabs](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0560/9521/1694/files/late_style_throwout_bearing.jpg?v=1679603267)
Some aftermarket pressure plates may have a removable collar so they can work with early and late style - like this KEP/Kennedy model.
![Picture showing kennedy brand pressure plate with removable center collar](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0560/9521/1694/files/Kennedy_removable_collar.jpg?v=1679603333)
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