Question about a 36’ flathead pressure plate.

S

Selwyn

Junior Member
Question about a 36’ flathead pressure plate.

Hi everyone,

My name is Selwyn, I’m from the Netherlands and currently trying to get my 34 cabriolet with 36 LZ motor back on the road.

I have a question about the clutch which a couldn’t find on the forum or google. Hoop you guys can help me out.

The pressure plate is a 9 inch long model. I would like to replace it for a diagram pressure plate because of the good experience I had when doing so on my Ford GPW. The company MDL (modern drive line) sells a kit for the 6 cilinder mustang. Which as far as I know was also equipped with a 9 inch long style pressure plate. Could someone confirm that the pressure plate from the early mustang 6 cylinder is the same as the 9 inch long on the flathead? If I compare photos on different websites, than it looks the same to me.

And if there is someone here who has experience with an MDL diagram clutch on a flathead, please let me know.

Thanks and apologies if grammar is not completely right.

Selwyn
 
Re: Question about a 36’ flathead pressure plate.

Check the flywheel bolt pattern. Even though both are 9" clutches, the Mustang pressure plate may not bolt straight onto the flathead flywheel.
 
Re: Question about a 36’ flathead pressure plate.

One of the limitations on swapping pressure plates is finding one that works with the large size throw out bearing (clutch release bearing) of the early Fords. Most pressure plates for Ford passenger cars from 1949 and later do not work since they are make for a throw out bearing that is smaller diameter. I am confident a Mustang pressure plate does not work in an early Ford V8. I remember reading something about an early 80s F-150 pressure plate working, but that may have been for the 49 and later passenger cars that use the smaller throw out bearing.
Is there something wrong with the original parts you have? If not, I would use them.


I suspect you have a typo, is your engine an "LB" (insert main type block) or an "LZ" (Lincoln-Zephyr) type engine?
 
Re: Question about a 36’ flathead pressure plate.

Thanks for the quick reply.

The engine is the LB type with the insert main bearings.

The bolt pattern seems to be the same, as well as the lever height. But like you said, the big input shaft en throw out bearing might be the problem here. The company who sells them is going to do some measurements. So I’m curious to see what het come up with.

So the reason I would like to go for a diagram pressure plate is that the one that came out didn’t had te correct adjustment. This resulted in a lot of chatter when pulling away. The adjusting screws were locked in place by welding them. I ordered a new one, which was not adjustable. One’s bolted down to the flywheel the levers were uneven as well. I have sent it back and was hoping to find a diagram version which worked oud very well on my GPW.

Could you guys give some of your experience on how to get a good original long pressure plate working without the chatter?

Thanks!
 
Re: Question about a 36’ flathead pressure plate.

Selwyn said:
Thanks for the quick reply.

The engine is the LB type with the insert main bearings.

The bolt pattern seems to be the same, as well as the lever height. But like you said, the big input shaft en throw out bearing might be the problem here. The company who sells them is going to do some measurements. So I’m curious to see what het come up with.

So the reason I would like to go for a diagram pressure plate is that the one that came out didn’t had te correct adjustment. This resulted in a lot of chatter when pulling away. The adjusting screws were locked in place by welding them. I ordered a new one, which was not adjustable. One’s bolted down to the flywheel the levers were uneven as well. I have sent it back and was hoping to find a diagram version which worked oud very well on my GPW.

Could you guys give some of your experience on how to get a good original long pressure plate working without the chatter?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Actually, most of them are. Check this out : https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=227626&highlight=shim.

(The good stuff starts around post # 16.)
 
Re: Question about a 36’ flathead pressure plate.

Do you have the rods from the frame to the engine block?
 
Re: Question about a 36’ flathead pressure plate.

I did a swap using a Dodge Hemi and a 57 Chevy transmission. I used adapters so I could use the 40 Ford clutch linkage. The throwout bearing was Chevy to match the transmission. I bent and reworked the throw out bearing fingers to fit the Chevy bearing. I post this as it is possible to make smaller bearings work with the early parts. This was 35 years ago.
 
Re: Question about a 36’ flathead pressure plate.

Thanks for all the support. Yes the rods from the frame to the engine are there.

Tubman, that was an interesting topic! I was wondering if you could tell something about how smooth the clutch is after you adjusted the fingers to the same hight? Can you pull away as smooth as a modern manual transmission car does? No chatter?
 
Re: Question about a 36’ flathead pressure plate.

The clutch works perfectly; the only thing I have to compare it with is my 1999 F150 with a V6/5 Speed. I have never even given it a thought, and as I sit here, I honestly can't tell you which is better. I bought the F150 new, so I know it has been treated and maintained well. The clutch in the '51 came from Fort Wayne Clutch long enough ago that it was one of their own. It was only when I called 2 years later to see if I could still return the core that I was informed that they are now getting them from "some guy named Wang Foo" and didn't want the genuine Ford core back.
 
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Re: Question about a 36’ flathead pressure plate.

Selwyn said:
Thanks for the quick reply.

--> This resulted in a lot of chatter when pulling away. The adjusting screws were locked in place by welding them. I ordered a new one, which was not adjustable. One’s bolted down to the flywheel the levers were uneven as well. I have sent it back and was hoping to find a diagram version which worked oud very well on my GPW.

Could you guys give some of your experience on how to get a good original long pressure plate working without the chatter?

Thanks!
Click to expand...



Don't blame the parts if you didn't ->carefully<- assemble them yourself.. All is an unknown at this time.

If the grease monkey who put the chatter box clutch in didn't bother to wash his hand ->spotless<-, then he probably left oily finger prints on the pressure plate and flywheel.

Even the lightest almost invisible finger prints will quickly contaminate and fubar your clutch /pressure plate and flywheel.

As soon as you start the engine and put it in gear the tinyest amount of oily finger prints smears all around you pp and flywheel and then causes hot spots that turn pretty shades of over heated yellow and blue while causing hair line cracks in the pp / flywheel.

Once you've established that wear & overheating pattern in the parts it only gets worse and the chatter is there for life.

Be forewarned, clean hands on things like clutch assemblies and brake jobs
->It Is Not An Option!<-

Wash Hands before you touch your new parts, handle with care and always always always do a final wash / spray down with copious amounts of brake clean once all is assembled.
This to include your clutch disc.

-That's what brake clean is for.

I now regret that 25 years ago when V8Bob and I made the Flathead Bell Housing Guide / PDF (on the old MSN Flathead Forum), that we didn't go into more detail on clutches and proper assembly techniques.



If you wish,, you can still down load our Flathead Bellhousing (and mating / related parts) pdf here:
https://myflatheadford.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/bellhousing.pdf


The guide will help you in matching up the parts necessary to bolt correct bell housing, inspection cover and oil pans to various transmission. Mismatching these simple parts is and has been grief for many people causing pain + $$.

With the guide you should be able to scrounge enough parts to mate older engines with newer transmissions but again, it mostly covers OEM Flatheads and although, with some intuition, you will be able to 'make things work' with early to later (or vise versa) and even newer trannies and adapters, the guide is really there to help people in identifying exactly what they have, what they are missing, and or what parts they may have mismatched and hence -fubar can and will happen causing you pain $$.

Just make sure you read the simple opening page as this will help you extract the most info out of the guide (the pop ups and message boxes etc).
if you need advice, V8Bob is usually around here somewhere but I only check in once in a very blue moon so trust the guys here and if there is doubt call on V8Bob or one of the other very competent Flathead elders.....




Good luck with your project


moe of the north


PS, I probably have a correct NOS clutch disc in stock but it is currently earmarked for a special project.


PS PS, anybody else remember and miss the old MSN Flathead board as much as I do??
We were all such a tight-nit community...



.
 
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