Transmission Clutch Compatability

I have been working on putting a flathead in this 31 ford I bought here on the Hamb. It has an older top loader transmission (a 39 as I recall). After I get it in the ch***is and get things hooked up I discover through the inspection plate that shaft that the throw out bearing rides on is up on the fingers of the pressure plate and the clutch won't work. The motor came out of a 49 car along with pressure plate and flywheel. I did get a clutch with a larger diameter center to accommodate the shaft. Question is, do I need to get a larger pressure plate and get the flywheel re drilled. Any constructive advise will be appreciated, being told how dumb I might be goes with territory I suppose.

 

I did a comprehensive post on late vs early pressure plate swapping...can't find it but I think there are enough bits in these old threads to get you started.
Basically, 49-53 Ford p***enger parts no good with early trans...details below, solutions vary in complexity. If you cannot dig up the original parts needed, a solution might be to take the 9 1/2" parts generally used on late Fords to a clutch rebuilder and have them done over, with proper finges in the PP and an early spline center inserted into a 9 1/2 disc.




http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=478323&highlight=pressure+plates

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=333868&highlight=pressure+plates

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=258155&highlight=pressure+plates

 

guys on the forbarn can probably help.

 

I am not a Ford guy and the memory is not what it used to be but, I seem to remember when doing a late flathead motor to early flathead ****** you need to use 49-53 mercury clutch stuff.

 

This comes up all the time. You CAN'T use the 9-1/2" Ford pressure plate (common on 1949-53 Ford p***enger cars) with the early V8 1932-48 style transmissions. They have the front bearing retainer which is sized for a larger dia throw-out bearing & hub than the 49-53 style TO bearing. The fingers on the pressure plate come too close to the center when depressed and will rub on the 1932-48 type front bearing retainer. You can see it in the pics.

SOLUTION A) Find a 1948-53 Ford F-1 flywheel.....these had a 10" pressure plate (Long style) which was used with the 10" disc (with the 1-3/8" x 10 spline hub). Then buy the regular early Ford 10" clutch & pressure plate set, along with the mating throw-out bearing & hub.

SOLUTION B) Take the existing 1949-53 Ford car flywheel and have it re-drilled for the 10" Long style Ford pressure plate. Again, use the early Ford 10" clutch & pressure plate as above.

SOLUTION C) Find a 1949-50 Mercury flywheel, which used the 10" Borg & Beck pressure plate. These differed from the Ford Long style in that the bolt pattern is equi-distant on the flywheel. The 10" clutch disc would be the same as above sets. Use the early Ford throw-out bearing & hub as listed above. This solution will be more difficult because these B&B pressure plates are not mfr'd new anymore. You would have to find a rebuildable used one and have it re-done by a clutch shop.

NOTE: Do NOT attempt to use the 1942-48 Ford flywheel on the 1949-53 motor simply because it had the 10" pressure plate. This flywheel has a different offset on the mounting flange + a different blank thickness. This flywheel would probably kiss the inside of the bell housing PLUS the starter ring gear will not be aligned correctly.