When I pulled the Hyena (’88 Westy WBX) out of storage last Saturday, I felt what I though might have been a little clutch shudder on the way home.  I experienced a shudder twice more this week - first thing in the morning after the Hyena had been sitting all night.

The van has ~@235K on the clock and, as far as I can tell from the records I inherited, the clutch has never been replaced.   I’m guessing the actual clutch replacement is similar to my ’66 Westy, but the disconnecting and reconnecting of the engine’s “tethers” is a much more involved.

Given my work schedule over the next month, I’m going to have to pay to have this done if I plan on being able to take the boy camping this summer - he’s been playing in the Hyena every day since it came home - and that likely won’t be cheap.   If I’m going to shell out a very wince-able amount of cash to have the old, snarly-but-good, local guy swap the clutch, I may as well use the opportunity to upgrade to a clutch that will (should?) last longer.  

I looked at an OEM (Sachs) clutch kit last autumn - because it was for sale locally - but it was stamped as made in China (not Germany).  I know parts quality coming out of China can be hit or miss, are the Chinese Sachs bits of the same calibre as those made at home (Germany)?   I have yet to find a Canadian supplier of the Luks clutch kit {I’ve read there are two Luk clutches - a “regular” one and a “heavier" one intended for syncros?} or a Kennedy replacement clutch.

Are there other candidates I should consider?