The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk clutch head screws

I heard from a friend who has a lot of clutch head screws throughout his Chevy truck. In my original 49 there are none and in all of my fellow Chevy truck friends don't have them either. Is the use of these screws common or is it the fact that my truck is Canadian-built.

Oldblu, my '50 has them everywhere. Rear fenders, anything connected to the fire wall, fender braces, hood braces and upper latch plate, door latches, even the fastener for the glove box lock.

I believe the number of clutch head screws varied. My 41 has only 7 of them. Two on the data plate, four on the front hood windlace, and one on the speedometer cable strap. All of them had a hexagonal head so I did not even need a clutch head driver.

Very interesting indeed. The only ones I can find on my 49 are holding the rear fenders to the box.

The subject of clutchhead screws has been brought up many times on this site.I am not complaining,just an observation.On my 55 I have them on the door latches and rear fenders.

Okay. I just did a 'search' by clicking on the word SEARCH above (next to FAQ) inserting 'clutch head screws' and found FIVE entries - the five entries on this thread. No others. Maybe I am not using the 'search' function like I am supposed to be.

Just because I couldn’t remember I went out and made a quick count on my ‘41

Door panels 32
Door window trim 20
Wind Lace 26
Front pillars 14
Front overhead 6
Wiper Covers 8
Dash 6
Lower Kick Panels 10
Rear window 14
Head Liner Bows 21
Rocker Panels 18
Door bumpers 4

Total 179

Olblu,
I just did a search, entered "clutch head screws" and only searched the forums (I didn't use the Google feature), kept everything at the default settings, and it returned 20 pages on clutch head screws. There are a lot of posts on them. I hope this helps.
Samantha

search on

+clutch +head (and select All Forums)

and, as stated by others above, you'll find a lot to read

Well I must be a dolt. I went to SEARCH (between Active Topics and FAQ. I selected All Forums and still only saw the FIVE I mentioned above. Where oh where I am I going astray??

Bill,

Go to the top of the far left hand side of this page. There is a search box there. Type in your query there. Many, many results.

Chuck

with or without quotes, a search for "clutch head screws" / all forums [no other adjustments] returns 5 pages of threads, can't think of any reason it'd be any different unless it's your browser [the search uses javascript]

Bill

Gotta be my browser. I went to the LH side of the page typed in clutch head screws and got pages of everything and only the entries I mentioned above.

The search business has been discussed in the IT Short bus forum. Let's get back to trucks.

Thanks

ahha - just one more Cletis

what yer saying blu, is that only the first few entries on the list had "clutch head screw" in the thread TITLE .... the rest of the entries do have one or more of the 3 words in the body of the post, and you'd have to look thru all 5 pages of them to find which ones actually are about clutch head screws, rather then "heads" or "clutches"

like Cletis sez, using the search function is covered in a sticky post in the ShortBus, it's possible to do it to provide better results

and back to the original question, the newer the series the fewer clutch heads used, and Canadian trucks did use less all along

Bill

No need to search the archives Blue, your truck would have come from the factory originally with clutch head screws where Nifty50 and Kip mentioned. If you or your friend’s trucks don't have them than they were replaced at some time over the last 60 years because slotted, Phillips or hex head screws are easier to find and work with. Our trucks are like our women; we tend to believe that they are “virgins”. But after 60 years there are very few of either that remain untouched!
DG

Denny, Canadian trucks did use fewer, and phased'em out sooner, door remotes and step fenders were the only ones used here after 47 I believe, and philips replaced those by 56 .... also up here, roberts head has been the common previous owner replacement for decades - philips are GM

Bill

If you use the search I posted up top, I think you will only see posts that have both clutch AND head (+clutch +head)

It sounds like most the clutch head screws in Kip's truck are in the interior. The interior screws in my truck are all pan head. This surprised an old farmer who was helping me with my truck, and he thought someone may have replaced them, until he noted they had the hammered beige paint on them. It seams unlikely that someone would replace them because the truck was never repainted. Also the truck only had one owner until 1980, when it was sold to a collector who did nothing with it until selling it to me.

Later I read in the VCCA forums that both types of screws were used. Of course I could suppress the original factory uniqueness and install clutch head screws throughout the interior like most of the other art deco trucks. This would also save me the trouble of finding some extra screws to replace some rusted ones.

Yes all of the clutch head screws I mentioned were on the truck’s interior. All but the rear window are 8-32, the rear window are 10-32. All seemed to be hardened, probably carburized and oil quenched. This gave them a nice bluish shine once the rust and paint was removed. I left them unpainted.

I don't like clutch head screws. They do not come out well. Nor are they reusable. They seem to confirm the fact that the trucks were constructed for a time limited use, were expected to wear out, and disposal. Clutch head screws were great to put in (like those screws they use on the public toilet fasteners) and not expected to be taken out. After 50 years go into a public bathroom and see if you can take out those one way screws and reuse them.

I do have an assortment of clutch head bits that I use in nut drivers and socket wrenches but I usually end up drilling the clutch head screws out and go back with another type of fastener. In 50 years someone else can take my trucks apart and ask - what was he thinking when He put the screws/bolts in. They can go back to the clutch head screws. Maybe, they will be back in fashion.

Dennis,

I used to have the same opinion about clutch head screws until I worked on the same vintage trucks with other-headed screws.

All brands of screws are difficult to remove after 50 years of rusting. In fact, I think an argument can be made that, as long as you you have the correct size of clutch-head driver, the clutch head is superior to slotted-head and phillips-head screws in terms of installation and removal torque and "grab".

Tim

I have to agree with Tim, After removing thousands of screws over the years in my trucks that I have had or do have and many years of collecting parts in old salvage yards, the clutch head screws are a bit easier to get a bite on then the phillps and by far better then the flat / straight blade screws. I will say I often have a collection of clutch drivers or bits that I tool on some to get a good fit. Best way I find to get a stubborn screw out in sheet metal (no matter its style) is to give it a good tap with a punch n hammer I even hit em fast at home with a point and my air hammer.

I’m pretty sure most, if not all, of mine had not previously been removed. I got all but two of the 179 out intact and reused all but 4 or 5. After making the mistake of trying to drill one out (it was harder than the drill bit) I began using a little heat from a simple Bernz-O-Matic torch. I did, however, go through 2 driver bits and found out it really helps to have a sharp flat end on the bit. It also helps to use a sharp pointy object to remove the 17 layers of paint from the clutch head hole (right after you heat it).