The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline what's up with this clutch

Is it missing a spacer or perhaps disc turned backwards causing contact between flywheel bolt heads and disc springs. You can see in pics. 11" clutch out of a COE. PO said no clutch noise, but I don't think it had been driven much in a very long time.

Yes six bolts in flywheel, had just removed one before remembering to snap a pic.

Skooter,

My vote would be for a backwards installed disc. Could be the wrong disc was purchased installed by the PO???

Is there any identity data stamped on the other side of the disc hub???

What year COE was this out of???

#3 (or is it #2?) vote for disc installed backwards. The springs stick out too far to be installed toward the flywheel. Probably didn't make noise because the bolt heads had been ground off enough to clear the springs. Time for a new clutch AND flywheel bolts. BTW, the bolts are not standard as far as head height - they have heads that are shorter than hardware store bolts.

It's a 1955 235 block casting number, had been pulled from a '50 COE. So it wasn't the original engine to that truck. 11" clutch disk matches flywheel 11" friction area. Little longer snout on flip side of disc as shown this pic. No markings that I can see.

There was plenty of head left for socket to grab, so removal wasn't difficult. But yeah, new bolts for sure.

Doubt if the clutch in my 3100 is 11" but I'll be happy to use the 11" when time comes to switch everything. Came with starter as well, so tooth/ring gear definitely match.

Before disassembly I stuck my finger in the pilot bushing and it came right out, no tools, no nothing. Kinda odd.

With that other face pick, the longer "snout" should have been towards the transmission for sure.

Contact wear between disc hub and flywheel bolts suggests the wrong clutch disc was installed.

Hard to tell without some info on what it started life as???

Years a go replacement clutches were "remanufactured". Every time they were rebuilt they would grind down the pressure plate surface. After several rebuilds the distance
between the plate surface & mounting surface would increase. That moved the disc closer to the flywheel & as soon as the disc wore down a bit, the springs rubbed the flywheel bolts besides starting to slip because there was no clamping force left. The same goes for the flywheel being surfaced too much. That moves the center of the disc closed to the bolts.
You had to check one out before you bought it to make sure it was any good.
Thank god we have complete matched units now.

George

I would agree with Dan that possibly the wrong disc was used, or as George said, the flywheel has been resurfaced too many times putting the disc too close to the bolts. I did a quick search for flywheel thickness specs but didn't find anything in the Service Manual or on the parts list.. It might be time for a replacement flywheel, which could be hard to find.

I just removed an 11" clutch from a 54 3600 and the disc was installed with that longer snout on the flywheel side which means yours was installed backwards

On my ‘55, it ground, had new clutch, disc put in backwards, luckily I was going to change the trans, anyway!

Ed

That's a classic "backwards disc" situation. The side of the disc with the riveted-on retainer plate for the torsion springs ALWAYS gets pointed toward the transmission so the springs stick back into the pressure plate.
Jerry