Not that I'm aware of, Clark. You can have a good clutch rebuilder replace the springs with heavier, or even every other spring with heavy-duty depending on how strong you need it...
The 9" pressure plates are commonly available from early Ford places and Ford 9N tractor places--don't know if they sell different versions, and of course specs are worthless since none of this is going to match Ford specs... Anyhow, over here various long style plates were very commonly used for a long time, and I believe a clutch rebuild place can customize one easily be simply replacing the springs with fiercer ones. Peer inside--there are I think 9 spring pockets in 3 clusters, and in some uses only 6 are in there. If so, course is obvious... Also, if getting better one is difficult, yours may just need its arms properly adjusted. I've got the Ford rebuild and adjust manual if needed... Here, the 9" has a reputation as weak, but only on heavier '40ish cars...I ***ume you have a flattened A-B flywheel; bestest route might be to have a machinest redrill it for a '46-8 10" wheel, which allows much better grip through increased area without killer spring pressure. Peer in through inspection window and try to see if 3 arms look even--I've heard current repro discs are oft maladjusted...
Thanks guys. The situation is I've just put a much hotter spec four in my roadster. Gave it, its first real "drag start" (!) and it sat there spinning the clutch! I've got a repro 'A' clutch disc and a repro 9" pressure plate. The flywheel is an aluminium wilcap flatty V8 that was drilled for a 10 or 11" pressure plate, can't remember which now. I had it redrilled for a 9" because I didn't feel it was necessary for the bigger pressure plate. Would it be a pressure plate or clutch disc issue or simply inadequate sized clutch? Didn't really want to just have stiffer springs because the clutch isn't the lightest thing as it sits now.
You need to get y'self a woman, Clark - that'll slow you down... Have a word with Bob. We use someone up this way for re-lining shoes and clutch plates, he may have an idea of what to use?
If you don't want to increase pressure, then seems like you could increase surface area with the 10" clutch. I think 11" will be way overkill & the pressure plates tend to get very heavy (will they even fit in an A bellhousing?) reducing the benefits of lightened flywheel somewhat. Obvious things to check now would be are you positive it's disengaging fully? Does your ally flywheel have an insert or are you up against raw aluminium? (can't remember which way Wilcap does theirs) If raw, you may need to change clutch disks to work better with the raw - best course of action would be insert....
Yes, it has the steel insert for the clutch surface. Your right with the extra weight of the bigger pressure plates, one of the reasons for sticking with the 9".
Yup - that's the place. Paul Beck uses him too. I've a set of shoes here that Bob was going to pick up Wednesday(!) due to go there, so it wouldn't be out of his way to throw a 9" plate in?
just a dumb thing to mention when i cut down my stock V8 flywheel the thread holes were not all the way through the wheel.. i took 1/4" off and had to rethread the holes to allow the bolts to tighten before they bottomed out is there any chance this could be a problem? i would ***ume it would cause the results your mentioning i guess its not the case but i figured worth mentioning as the pressure when ***embling may be deceiving as to whats getting tight Zach
10" would increase holding and lower effort...BUT! There's something wrong, adjustmen-plate-fit-whatever. You have a car maybe below 2,000 pounds, weight is much more important than power in choices here... You should be able to light your tires without any fuss from the 9" on this thing. Ford heavy trucks used the A style 9' plate through 1934 and did fine--the V8 plate should be good for you application, and most 9"s are fairly light in their action. I'd be inclined to verify finger adjustment, which has to be done against a specified thickness clamped. I think adjustment, springs, or maybe basic parts are off somehow, and possibly a wrong thickness plate could cause this. And verifying bolts as suggested above would be good too...on thinking about this, I don't see why the setup you have would not work if right. I think this is a pressure plate problem, obviously...
Other stuff: wrong thickness of disc could cause prob--remachined pressure plate requires shimming springs, height of springs is set to spec just like valve springs there's a spec for plate thickness and a spec for clamping thickness for finger adjusting springs are colored to indicate pressure--different applications get different arrays of springs, Don't know if Ford spring colors I have match what a rebuilder has nowadays.
i ran a stock 9" clutch with a worn out disc on a stock 8RT flathead in my roadster and it would spin the tires at will but it was all original parts.... i have a 10" on there now with 1/4" off the flywheel and a stock 53 merc motor ...the extra pressure plate weight made it almost equal to the 9" and i dont see any major difference in "grab" ...again all original parts though i think fixing the 9" is the way to go also
Bruce, I've used this pressure plate for a couple of years without any problems so I don't think its a fundamental problem with the basic components. As you've mentioned maybe its time for it to be readjusted and the next question is.... How do you do that?!? If the 9" clutches are adequate why do all the V8 boys use 10 " clutches?
I'll dig up specs and procedure and post. I think the V8's start needing the 10" clutch as they approach 3,000 lbs...a stripped roadster should have lots of margin with a 9.
From the '32-47 trans and clutch manual: You likely have a 6-spring pressure plate, which probably has mounts for 9 if needed. There are pages of dimensions and procedures for checking out, repairing, and adjusting innards--if you need that stuff, I'd have to xerox and send. For finger adjustment on an intact PP ***embly, procedure is so: Compress PP (set on wood block, put another block on top, push cover down a bit). Block the 3 fingers with bits of wood, bolt to flywheel over a plate .340 thick for a 9". You could probably do this like a normal human being would, too, just set plate down on flywheel and .340 spacer plate and slowly tighten bolts in rotation so as not to warp cover... Remove chocks from fingers if used. Lay a straightedge across cover flat areas (not dipped area where bolts show) and measure from straightedge to face of the adjuster screws, the bolts seen at inner end of each lever. For 9", should be 11/16", adjust to suit, exact equality important for smooooth engagement. Remove PP from flywheel, using compression rigamarole or just slowly loosen bolts a bit at a time in rotation like an actual mechanic would. Invert PP and rest head of each adjusting screw against an anvil of some sort and stake lever to screw so it can't move. I can send you whole rebuild stuff if you want... Disc: B ( I think this one has no cushioning coil springs 90 degrees to axial in the hub) uses .135 facings; V8 ones with coil springs there 1.25. All have cushioning flat springs between actual metal disc and liners. New disc rivet head to surface is 050 on the thick linings, 032 on thin, replace advised if half gone disc runout limit 4 1/2" from center, .035...fixing done by hammer attack. 9 inch springs, brown, supposed to measure 147-163 lbs at 1 9/16 if anyone gets that involved... also, mounts and linkage--chatter can come in here if linkage can push engine and trans along car axis...mounts must be rigid fore and aft, or rods needed,
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