Back in the 90's when I put the car together, I ordered a new clutch assy., and installed it. It is a diaphragm type, and I've never liked it. Sometimes the pedal sticks to the floor, etc. Yesterday, I put the car up and pulled the clutch out, and headed for the store. They fixed me up with a borg-beck with the three fingers. It slipped awful. Took it out today and went to AutoZone, and the guy worked for quite a while trying to figure a setup for me (he used to run his own shop). He said that the pressure plate the other guy gave me was for a Pont/Olds. I left with a new clutch plate and t/o bearing. When I put it in, it appeared that the fingers were about half way drawn in already. I put the tranny in, and the setup didn't work (just the trans).

I called him back and he looked again through the books and puter, but said that any 10" clutches that would fit, aren't available to AutoZone (but he could get diaphragm plates). He had told me that diaphragm clutches had a tendency to pull the pedal to the floor if it was pushed over halfway...that's why I decided that I wanted the other style. He said to return the parts, and to call a local machine shop that is heavy into Chevies, etc.

Has anyone else run into this problem? I looked in Jegs and Summit catalogs, and they show the diaphragm's as being the way to go. Talked with a fella in town with a '58 2dr...he's putting a 350 auto in his. Hmmmmm.

phil
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One man's treasure is another man's trash.

I have a 3 finger pressure plate in my 40 Ford w/283 adapted to stock driveline. There are different length fingers for different applications. My rebuilder told me a 50 Mercury and a V8 Chevrolet has the same basic pressure plate with different fingers and springs. He put Mercury fingers and Chevy springs in mine. Find a GOOD rebuilder.

IF I was going to change to a automatic, I would strongly consider a 700R4 instead of a 350. The 700R4 has a 3.06 first gear and the 350 only has a 2.52. Gets the big old heavy Chevy going a lot easier and OD is nice on the interstate. RPMS reduced almost a 1/3 in overdrive.
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Same Wife, Same DEUCE Roadster, Same Job for over 20 years. Must be in a rut. AIN'T LIFE GRAND.....

Was this a new pressure plate or a rebuilt one?
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Mike J
Unchartered DSRA Member
If it ain't broke, fix it anyway...

They were both rebuilts. The 700R4 isn't puter controlled, is it?

phil
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One man's treasure is another man's trash.

www.700r4.com
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Same Wife, Same DEUCE Roadster, Same Job for over 20 years. Must be in a rut. AIN'T LIFE GRAND.....

Site tells you most of the F A Q's
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Same Wife, Same DEUCE Roadster, Same Job for over 20 years. Must be in a rut. AIN'T LIFE GRAND.....

I believe if they surface the plate , you should also machine the flywheel where the plate bolts up. It should not go over center. Flywheel surface could have been machined to far also. Just a thought.
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Mike J
Unchartered DSRA Member
If it ain't broke, fix it anyway...

When the old guy (80 years old) rebuilt my pressure plate, he surfaced the flywheel and bolted the rebuilt pressure plate to the flywheel and adjusted it to the flywheel. Works great, almost no chatter, does not slip and does not go over-center. The chatter comes in almost all old closed driveline Fords.
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Same Wife, Same DEUCE Roadster, Same Job for over 20 years. Must be in a rut. AIN'T LIFE GRAND.....

It's been a while since I sold clutches, but here's what I remember. There were 3 types of pressure plates for Chevys, a flat diaphragm type, a raised finger diaphragm type, and the 3 finger Borg & Beck type. The raised finger diaphragm and the B&B style both used a shorter throwout bearing. Using a long bearing in a short application would not allow the clutch to fully engage. Make sure you have the right bearing for the pressure plate.

Also, the GM forks are prone to bending in the area where the bearing slides on the fork. Take your old fork in and compare it to a new one. Look at it from the bearing end and the difference will be obvious if it's bent.

My two cents, good luck.

bjb
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There's a world of difference between "good" and "good enough".

I grind flywheels for a living and can tell you, always
grind the flywheel and install a new clutch kit the rebuilts that are store bought will not have the quality you want in a good working clutch, also check your input
shaft close any side wear will cause a dic to hang up, some of the new linning like ceramic will slip if you grind the flywheel

Gotta second DEUCE's recommendation to you (or anyone else)to put in a 700R4 IF you go to an auto tranny. Comparing my T350 in the '33 pickup with my '34 sedan with the 700R4 is no comparision at all. The 700R snaps right off the line and as Deuce stated, is zips right down the freeway w/ low RPM's. Only drawback is it being a bit wider and longer. Avoid getting the first years--from '87 on they had all the added improvements to make it a very trouble free tranny. There are several vendors selling conversions for running the 700R W/O the need for computer control.
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In the land of the blind, the one-eyed is KING!

Took all the parts back, went to the machine shop and he ordered one. We'll find out tomorrow if it all works. If not, he said that he will send it back. Thanks for all the info.

BTW, no rebuilders in this area. The local Ford dealer had an auction a couple weeks ago, and the auctioneer didn't even know that the equipment he was selling was a brake shoe arc machine.

phil
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One man's treasure is another man's trash.

I knew there was a reason I run automatics these days.LOL

Yep...that's why I'm going to go with auto in Pontiac. A friend of mine looked in his parts book today, and we discovered that 58's used two different clutch forks; one for the diaphragm clutch, and a different one for the borg & beck style. I'll have a good time finding one of those.

Also, I'm running a non-synchro 3spd. tranny, and it's about 16" from front mounting surface to rear seal. Another friend just gave me a good synchro 3spd., and it's five inches longer! I'm learning alot about Chevy interchageability (let me rest after typing that one).

BTW, the clutch adjusting rod on my '58 is 10 3/4", and according to the book, that is correct. I was in the salvage yard today, and got one off a '60 Chevy 6, and it's almost an inch longer. KQQL. That will get me by until I find the right fork.


phil
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One man's treasure is another man's trash.

GM made long and short Turbo 400's, Turbo 350's and manual transmissions with short and long lengths. It has been my experience that the longer transmissions, as a rule, also came with longer driveshafts to compersate for a longer wheelbase car or truck.

Different year model cars have differnt clutch rods too because of longer wheelbases affect engine placement. Early Chevy II with the V8 (63 to67) even had a special clutch ball placement on the block. No other Chevy block has this. Also as a side note....... This same block had a spin on oil filter from the factory years before the other Chevrolet blocks became spin on oil filter blocks.
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Same Wife, Same DEUCE Roadster, Same Job for over 20 years. Must be in a rut. AIN'T LIFE GRAND.....

u probably had the wrong throw out bearing or a complete mismatched bunch of parts. i mean a chevy is a chevy.......... most of those people in mass marketers dont know sh** . go to a speed shop..... talk to gearheads like us ,pay the price for mcleod parts ....and no problem......
if u have a big cammed up eng it will tear out the center section of the disc from the lopeing around town......iam talking about any parts other than stuff like mcleod......
eventially the lopeing around town and heat will tear the center section out.
u could blow a great motor if if sheared that center section out when u unload the clutch in a drag race.......hello!!!!!
ive done it........
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pink rod ... tom

Was just wondering about the outcome of this saga...... Well Phil, whats up with the 58 ?
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Same Wife, Same DEUCE Roadster, Same Job for over 20 years. Must be in a rut. AIN'T LIFE GRAND.....

Thanks for asking, Randy. First off, I've never put in a new clutch, have never had any probs with any clutch til now. Anyway, I got the clutch (rebuilt) in, but the adjusting rod was just a bit short. That's when I found out about the other type clutch fork. Went to the local yard and found a longer one from a '60 Chev 6. Now, I've got the pedal free play that I need, and the clutch doesn't slip at all. It's working fine, but I'll keep my eyes open for the right fork...it would help if I knew what it looked like. I called the shop and told him that I'd like to pay the core charge to keep my other clutch. He told me to bring in the MT boxes, and he would put a junk clutch that he had there and return it to the company, so it didn't cost me any extra to keep mine.

I'm also going to keep my eyes open for a shorter front shaft, so I can install the full synchro tranny.

phil
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One man's treasure is another man's trash.