clutch chatter

oldskool

oldskool

Well-known member
my 46 ford pickup has the dreaded clutch chatter first and reverse only,has stock 59AB 4 speed crash box open drive with 8 in mustang rear , other wise the trans and clutch work perfect mounts look original,i have anti chatter kit for cars but the chassis on the pick up is different,anyone have any fixes short of pulling the trans..:mad:
 
All of the fingers on the clutch are not making contact at the same time. You need to do some adjusting on the fingers.
 
you did not say new or old clutch .any way try this put in high speed put hand brake on .hold clutch pedal down start car bring r.p.m. to about 1.500. release clutch pedal lightley not all way up just slip the clutch to heat up the faceing .sometimes the faceing has oil on it. this burnes it off i don,t think stay rods are important on an open drive car you say it has a mustang rear.just don,t over due it & burn the clutch out.
 
It can be oil on the disk or the fingers ,fly wheel face .I had one recently and it shook ,I put a new clutch in it still shook ,the onlY thing I could find was the spigot /thrust bearing slide had PLAY IN IT .
 
Make that 3 votes for motor & ****** mounts. Never gave a problem before? They get old & mushy with oil. Sloppy mounts & open driveshaft bad combination.
 
motor mounts are tight ,i removed the inspection plate on trans and it hard to see if the fingers are touching even,the fingers seem wobbly is this normal? i have a good 3 speed top loader open drive out of a 50 pickup that i can put in instead of the 4 speed crash box and change the clutch at the same time,im hopeing i have a 10in clutch in there because im told a 11"in requires oil pan removel...the fun never ends
 
Id go for oil on the flywheel surface.
So i see a gearbox removal in the future.
 
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I'm a retired clutch shop rebuilder - 30 years in the business. The levers normally have a little wiggle in them - about 1/16" is normal. They must be level with each other. We set ours to within .010" or less. Over time, the pins, bushings, rollers in the lever/yoke assembly will wear and let one lever drop down some. When the bearing coms in contact, it pushes the levers in unevenly, causing chatter. This will also put a chrystalized hot sopt on the pressure plate and flywheel which also cause chatter. Take it to a rebuilder & get the pressure rebuilt, surface the flywheel on a flywheel grinder, NOT a lathe and reline the clutch with a good woven facing - not molded and then have the clutch disc spun to check for any runnout. All this assumes it's a clutch related problem.
 
Sounds like 35topdown knows his business. I'll add just one small note:
Stamp match marks on the plate & wheel.
 
Yep - good point. We put a centerpunch mark on the pressure plate cover and matching one on a lug on the plate as well before it was disassembled. We could reassemble the pressure plate without a lot of balancing to do. If your engine has been balanced, be sure and mark the pressure plate and flywheel (deep enough so grinding does not remove the marks).
 
oldskool said:
my 46 ford pickup has the dreaded clutch chatter first and reverse only,has stock 59AB 4 speed crash box open drive with 8 in mustang rear , other wise the trans and clutch work perfect mounts look original,i have anti chatter kit for cars but the chassis on the pick up is different,anyone have any fixes short of pulling the trans..:mad:
Click to expand...
On my 39, I have reinstalled the 3speed and my engine radius rods (chatter rods) come off the center of the motor @ 9/3 O'clock and mount below the top rail of my frame. The left (driver side) runs right along side my clutch adjustment rod.

Was reading your post and remembered a section in the greenbible, pg. 316 in section K-34 that explains your condition. Keep us posted. I'm PORing my rods and hoped to have them mounted next weekend. Will post pics if it helps:D
 
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