I will be mating a 1964 vintage 3.03 ford truck toploader 3 speed to a 309ci Y with 11" flywheel to go into my big window 56 F100.   FYI, I want to keep "3 on the tree"  but have all synco trans that can take the additional ponies.  I have been told to get the newer style pressure plate "with fingers" instead of the old style.  Who makes these types of pressure plates for the y-block? Also, what brand(s) make the best clutch disc?  Where is the best place to purchase this type of clutch?  Thanks ahead for the help!

Greg

   

1956 F100 Big Window 309ci Y-block,  1956 F100 small window 272ci Y-block

Greg.  Mountains of North Eastern CA

I should add that the 3.03 toploader 3 speed was mated to the 292 y-block in the 1964 f100's.  So I can just get a clutch kit for a 64 truck with this combo.  I just want to know which brands people are having the best luck with and which ones have the newer style pressure plate.  FYI, the input shaft is 1 3/8" 10 spline.  Thanks again!

Greg

   

1956 F100 Big Window 309ci Y-block,  1956 F100 small window 272ci Y-block

Greg.  Mountains of North Eastern CA

There are three basic styles of pressure plates.  The original equipment style was the ‘Long’ style which had three fingers.  Another style that was popular in its day was the ‘Borg & Beck’ which has three wider arms than what's found in the 'Long' style.  The replacement pressure plate that are much more popular now is the diaphragm style which have a multitude of thin fingers placed close together in a circular pattern.  The ‘Long’ style are getting more difficult to get so the diaphragm pressure plates are becoming the best if not the only choice.

 

I have a local brake and clutch shop that is good at getting the newer clutch disk and pressure plate combinations for the older vehicles.  For my ’55 Customline, I simply ordered a clutch and pressure plate for a 1967 Fairlane with a 289 and received a diaphragm style setup that worked perfectly.  I already had a transmission with a 1.062” input in the ’55 which is the same as the ’67 Fairlane so this was a bolt together.

 

If you have a good parts guy available, he (or she) should be able to match you up to a suitable replacement setup.  You might try checking your Yellow Pages for clutch and brake shops as these have been around for awhile and can be quite helpful in these instances.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

The truck's 1 3/8 10 spline clutch in stock form is rather difficult to find. An aftermarket or modern style will be near impossible. I found a stock replacement clutch at Carolina Clutch.

What have you done to the engine? The stock 11" clutch seemed to do fine with mine.


Lawrenceville, GA

Ted, Charlie,... Thanks for the replies.

Ted I have spoken to my local parts guy and he can get a LUK brand stock replacement clutch kit.  He doesn't know if it is the diaphram style or stock style without ordering it.  It would be special order so I'm trying to gather info before ordering so I get the best stuff.

Charlie,

I will look into Carolina Clutch.  I have one of their HD disc's in my 04 F350 6.0 diesel and have had good luck. 

The engine is a Tim McMaster built 292 .30 over with 312 crank.  Street ported 113 heads with 2.02/1.6 valves, 1.54 rockers, cast flat top Badger pistons on C2AE rods, 0 decked. Cam is .450" lift (with 1.5:1 rockers) 288* adv. dur. and 238* @ .050 with 112* lobe centers.

The stock style clutch will most likely work just fine.  I had heard that the diaphram style pressure plate is superior and read/heard some brands of clutch discs are better than others so I'm trying to get info on what brands have worked well and possible sources for those brands.

I have not heard any bad things about LUK clutches so if this is the only thing available I will go with it.  Thanks again.

Greg

   

1956 F100 Big Window 309ci Y-block,  1956 F100 small window 272ci Y-block

Greg.  Mountains of North Eastern CA

I don't know about the LUK clutch, but one problem I ran into here is that the local parts stores have a 12" clutch kit listed but when I actually got it in hand, it was for a big block, which will not bolt to your flywheel without drilling new holes. Zoom also offers one but it's the same story. In fact, the local parts stores part number was suspiciously similar to that of the zoom clutch, MU72112-1.

Give Carolina a shot. We probably have very similar power output. When I was using it, I had no signs of slippage.


Lawrenceville, GA

go to www.ford-y-block.he has what your looking for.

www.ford-y-block.com   forgot the com.

Thanks for the replies Charlie and 314,

314,

I have been to John's site many times before but must have missed the pressure plate and disc, so Thanks!  He says "Exchange only" on the disc and I do not have one.  Unless the stock 1956 light duty 3 speed has the same 1 3/8" 10 spline clutch??? Anyone know?

Charlie, 

I went to CarolinaClutch.com and they list a LUK clutch kit for 61-64 f100.  It does not list the size diameter or shaft size/spline count.  Curiously, at the two local parts stores I checked,  one store listed a 12" clutch and the other a 11" clutch for a 1964 f100 w/3 speed.  So, I will check your part# against theirs and see if they match.

I appreciate all the help!  Thanks,

Greg

   

1956 F100 Big Window 309ci Y-block,  1956 F100 small window 272ci Y-block

Greg.  Mountains of North Eastern CA

Try a Centerforce. They have lots of combos with 1 3/8 hub, 11 inch. Jegs, Summit have them. I bought one from a company called Street Side Auto in Kansas. ( www.streetsideauto.com ). Very good service, the right item and best of all, the best price. I tried Jegs for one, Street Side beat jegs price by about 40 dollars plus they were running a special for an additional 25.00 off.. Mine is a dual friction model which looks like a good street clutch. Car is not on the road with it yet. Go to the Centerforce web site and you can see what they offer. Give disc size, hub size and shows the application. The tech line was very helpful since their apps don't go back to 56. My hub was 1 1/16 so I cant give you a app.

54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ