It *Looks* like your friction disk has a horrible rivet job.
Some look like there is plenty of material before you hit a rivet, but others look really close to getting into flywheel/pressure plate.
Since it says 'Made In Korea' that might explain things...
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I always insist on Spicer, Clevite, Timpken, etc., American brands that are OEM suppliers,
MUCH less issues with that stuff than the import stuff.
The last clutch disk I bought cost $12 more for American OEM suppliers, and since the original lasted about 20 years,
AND,
I'm going to pound on it
I went with the heavy duty version of OEM.
It's worth NOT having to take the trans/transfer back out in a year or two...
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I would change the friction disk, no question.
I never take a trans out without installing a new throw out bearing, and again because I don't want to do it over again.
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Lay a straight edge across flywheel and see what sizes of feeler gauges you can slip between flywheel & straight edge.
While the friction disk you have has 'Floating' friction material (outer ring with lining riveted to it) somewhere around 0.010"-0.015" wear/gouge out is where I start to consider having the flywheel resurfaced.
Small grooves aren't a huge issue, they don't take much friction surface from the lockup, it's the warp/run-out that concerns me the most.
A bowed, or dished flywheel (concave/convex) surface is where you start to loose friction surface in a big way.
As for clutch itself, check the 'Finger' springs,
Push on each one, see if you have weak springs from heat, broken springs, check the friction surface to see if it's getting thin or excessively blued metal, or red rust which is also a sign of excessive heat.
Excessive heat burns the carbon out of steel, and it rust red instead of brown.
The guys with HEI distributors know this when the spark energy (plasma) blows through rotor and cooks the pins/weights.
You can cook a clutch, particularly if you don't have a deep (crawl) 1st gear and slip the clutch a lot.
Guys that leave a foot on the clutch pedal get cooked clutches a lot, the clutch pedal worn on the edge tells the tail of guys that ride the clutch... I don't even have to ask anymore...
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While the trans is out,
If your pivot arm doesn't have a grease zerk in it, this is a real good time to install one.
Cost $1 for a grease zerk and solves a BUNCH of problems.
Drill a hole in the tube, thread the hole, screw in a $1 grease zerk.
Hit it with a few pumps when servicing to keep water & crud from standing in it.
Wipe off the squirt out, it's full of crud from the tube at the ends...
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*IF* you have clutch rods slotting the bell crank pivot arm...
And the slots aren't too bad, then get a set of GM door hinge bushings (bronze).
Drill out the hole so you can press/hammer the bronze in, and peen over the pressed in side.
Think ball-peen hammer, round nose in the small end of the bronze insert, use another hammer to expand the bushing so it holds itself in.
This gives you a replaceable bushing so you can control metal on metal wear.
The big, heavy 70s GM door hinge pin bushings to hold the door up (Dorman Products) are the cheapest way to do bronze bushings I've come up with so far, about $5-$10 a set.
A cheap way to take slotting wear slop out of the old Jeep clutches...
