The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Flywheel clutch question

Hi Guys,
I have a 53 3100 with a rebuilt 235 engine I installed 18 months ago. The shop I purchased the engine from said they always put a HD clutch in their engines. Did not think it was a big deal for the clutch but after I installed the engine and tried adjusting the clutch pedal freeplay I noted that the clutch would slip initially when trying to drive it. I adjusted the freeplay at least 100 times going just a small amount each time. I finally settled on a spot that it worked best but still slipped through the gears on the first attempt to drive it each time. After going through the gears and the truck warming up the truck seemed to run fine. I could even start out in second gear. I did notice on occasion that there seemed to be some minor slippage while driving at 50 plus mph. The initial slippage seemed to get worse as I used the truck. I only have about 400 miles on the engine and clutch at this point. I did not drive the truck much this summer because of this issue.
Yesterday I pulled the transmission and clutch out to replace it with a standard size clutch (9 1/8) My question is will I need to replace the flywheel or can I just have it resurfaced and reuse it? Also does anyone have a good trick for removing the flywheel with the truck on jack stands because this seems so much harder to do now than it did when I was 60?

Deegs

Check how many bolts hold that clutch pressure plate to the flywheel. A true heavy duty clutch uses 9 bolts versus 6 bolts for the standard 9-1/8 inch clutch used on on stovebolt engines. Replacement 10 or 11 inch (can't remember which one) clutches are extremely hard to find, so if you have a 9 bolt flywheel you'll either need to replace it with a 6-bolt one or get it drilled and tapped for 6 bolts (smaller bolt circle.)
But yes, unless the flywheel has real deep cracks in it, it can be resurfaced and reused.

BTW, EVERYTHING is harder than when we were 60.

Maybe find a youngster to help you.

[on edit] As you found out, adjusting the pedal linkage won't cure a slipping clutch. Yours was bad right out of the box.