MG Car Repair: My classic mini vibrate, austin clubman, torque bar

Question
I have 1973(MINI) Austin clubman, the front wheel vibrate at gear 1 or when i reverse.
I have change the clutch plate but still vibrate, any one with the ideas i will appreciate.

Answer
Hi Lionel,

I worked on quite a few minis back it the dealerships I worked in and the only things I remember causing a problem taking off in low gear was the anti torque bar that stabilized the engine had soft rubber along with soft or broken motor mounts. All of our clutch systems brought to the US had hydraulic clutch operating systems so that part was not a problem. The only other thing was worn CV joints can cause that too. But that is easy to test by taking off straight and note the frequency of the vibration and then take off in a circle in each direction to see if it makes any difference. If it makes a difference it is in the axles not the clutch. The only other thing related to a clutch chatter was another mechanic had when he noted the small plates the hold the pressure plate disk to the pressure plate cover were mounted on the wrong side. We never figured out why it was made that way unless there was a small British marine engine that rotated counter clockwise may have used it. The installation of the correct pressure plate solved that one.

Howard