V8 CLUTCH flywheel conversion

jjk

jjk

Member
Well after some thought and internal struggle I've decided to upgrade the clutch and trim down my flywheel on the banger.

I've been watching all the YouTube videos and reading as much as I can to educate myself on the process and was curious if anyone had a source for all things V8 clutch swap or had a PDF for the machine shop to use?
 

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Take it to a clutch rebuilding shop. I use Clutch Masters here in SoCal. They know the proper hole pattern for the clutch. The last couple I have done I had them drill for a diaphragm clutch from a Ford Ranger pickup. They are extremely smooth. Some diaphragm clutches require a rounded throwout brg., the Ranger does not. e-mail me at jimb4e4@gmail.com for more info.
 
I am happy with my stock clutch and flywheel. The Snyder page says, "benefit of a V-8 clutch is less chatter and less effort to engage" The conversion is popular, but is it that much better?
 
"is it that much better?"

Depends. The clutch is better but the lightened flywheel will put more torsional vibration into the system and into the hands of the driver. If acceleration in low gear is important to you then get the lightened flywheel.
 
I have a Model A flywheel lightened by 13LBS (62-13=49 LBS) in my Victoria. Acceleration & braking are improved and stress on the rear main bearing is reduced. Although the vibration frequencies are changed, I do not notice any worse vibrations. The engine is a Model B with a counterbalanced crankshaft and a 6:1 hi-compression head. The front engine mount is a Float-A-Motor (copy of Model B mount), and the rear engine mounts are stock Model A.
If I could find one, I would have a Model B flywheel lightened because it is lighter by 10LBS to start with.
 
Bruce of MN said:
I am happy with my stock clutch and flywheel. The Snyder page says, "benefit of a V-8 clutch is less chatter and less effort to engage" The conversion is popular, but is it that much better?
Click to expand...

I think it can be, ...but with a 'but'. :D

Over the years we have assembled a lot of cars that had varying combinations of flywheels, pressure plates, crankshafts, rear axle ratios, etc. My thoughts are that many hobbyists have ruined the core of what made the Model-A what it was famous for. Granted it is a different world today, but the Model-A was always known for being a good hill puller, and being awesome in traversing mud or soft sand. Because the camshaft was designed to make low-end torque, and because of the mass of the heavier flywheel, this made a great combination. Today, many Model-A camshafts are either worn, or have been reground where the engine has lost the ability to make torque at a low RPM.

Next, most people that I have either observed or heard driving their Model-A really do not shift them properly. While Ford designed the Model-A to have the 1st to 2nd gear shift at 5-8 MPH, most hobbyists take of by engaging the clutch with the engine revved well over 1,000 RPMs, then rev the engine towards the moon until they have reached about 20 MPH, so they make the 1-2 shift ...all the while grinding and forcing the shift. :eek: For the ones that are a tad more patient, they allow the RPMs to fall until the shift is forced into 2nd with a tad less effort. The same thing applies when they choose to shift to High at speeds somewhere around 40-45 MPH. So for these drivers, a lighter flywheel is definitely superior.

As for other reasons, I started a thread several years ago that I feel discusses all of this pretty thoroughly...

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=89197
 
Back to JJK's question, there is an article in Les Andrews Vol. 2 (green book) describing how to trim the flywheel, including a diagram for the machine shop.
 
Bruce of MN said:
I am happy with my stock clutch and flywheel. The Snyder page says, "benefit of a V-8 clutch is less chatter and less effort to engage" The conversion is popular, but is it that much better?
Click to expand...

I am with you Bruce. I have driven cars with lightened flywheels and I was not impressed. I think a heavier car, like my Town Sedan, would do better with the heavy stock flywheel. I don't see me accelerating fast off the line too often.
 
30Murray said:
Back to JJK's question, there is an article in Les Andrews Vol. 2 (green book) describing how to trim the flywheel, including a diagram for the machine shop.
Click to expand...



REALLY!! That would be great information. Does anyone have a PDF file of the article?
 
I installed a V8 clutch with lightened flywheel in my roadster several years ago. While the clutch is very smooth, I really cannot tell if it’s any smoother than the stock clutch. In fact, with just over 6,000 miles on this clutch, it does chatter a bit. I’ve been driving Model A’s for over 50 years, so am pretty familiar with them.

I’m presently restoring a ‘29 sport Coupe and plan to keep the stock clutch assembly..
Jim
 
These may be Clutch Masters part numbers???

07017D clutch kit 9" Ford diaphragm. The Model A disc works well as-is. My memory tells me that I used the V8 TO bearing. The first diaphragm clutch I did was from a Mustang, for a higher horsepower engine that I was running. I had to usea rounded TO brg. in it, but the Ranger has contoured fingers, so a flat brg. works well.

They charged me $185 for the PP, $20 for grinding the flywheel, I furnished an already lightened wheel, and $80 to drill and tap the wheel. The hole pattern looks the same as an early Ford PP, but isn't.

I've had this done twice, and both are super smooth. My tudor chattered very badly, the diaphragm eliminated all of that.

Good luck, Jim
 
I’m currently having the Wretched Roadster’s engine rebuilt at Bert’s Model A Store, and requested a V8 clutch setup as well. Steve Becker said they no longer install early V8 clutches because they had problems with chatter due to inconsistent springs.
How does that square with all the folks who say theirs works fine?
Just guessing here, but it may be a concern only in the context of commercial production with a fixed price where re-does can delay production deadlines and wipe out operating margins. If you have the work done at a shop that charges by the hour, or do it yourself, the burden of iterative processing (aka trial and error) becomes your problem. But I’m just guessing.
 
Hello, I believe there were a couple of posts on Ford Barn about adjusting the clutch fingers so they engaged properly on the V8 clutch.Oddly in one of my old sports car racing books ,Model A Fords are mentioned as excellent hill climbing cars ,copyrights on book was 1956 !
 
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