OK, so I toasted the clutch in my Stude last weekend.  Was going to have
to come apart sooner or later anyway as the throwout bearing was
sounding dry, so I'm not real broken up about it.  But anyway, here come
the questions...

first, this is an all original car with 24K miles on it.  It was parked
for 30-some years and never driven.  Do pressure plates wear out from
use, or do the springs get weaker over time even if the clutch is not
used?  Reason I ask is, I can get clutch discs fairly cheaply but a new
pressure plate is about $200 at least for a performance type unit.  I'm
wondering if replacing the pressure plate is really necessary,
especially since I am almost certain that the death of the original
plate was due not to wear but to my driving the car with a leaking rear
main seal (well, and thoroughly testing the throttle response of my new
AFB.)

second, would it be worth it to "upgrade" to an 11" unit (from 10.4") -
this seems counterintuitive, wouldn't a smaller diameter clutch provide
more torque transmission capabilities for a given clamping force, all
other factors remaining equal?  Why are larger diameter clutches offered
as "upgrades?"  I'd like to keep pedal effort to a reasonable level so
it seems like I'd be better off with a stock sized unit.

Finally, the stock pressure plate is a Borg and Beck type I believe, I
have been told that it's fairly easy to fit a diaphragm type however.
Can someone give me a quick 'n' dirty explanation of the advantages and
disadvantages of both?  Also, I thought about a "centerforce" type
clutch but I'm not sure if that would really be a good idea - a Stude
motor makes lots of torque down low and very little power (over 300
lb-ft at 3Kish, and only a hair over 200 HP at around 5K) so would the
centrifugal assist really do anything?  At what RPM does the clamping
force start to increase, typically?

I'll probably just throw another stock unit at it, but thinking about
possible upgrades made me realize that there's stuff I don't know about
clutches and I hate that :)

thanks,

nate