1951 F1 8BA Flathead 3 Speed Floor Shift

Hello all,

just to give you some background here goes...

Pulled the motor and trans to do some routine maintenance
Had the flywheel resurfaced
Bought a new 11" Clutch from LMC
Put everything together and I am having huge problems

When you bump the key with the truck in gear and clutch pedal pressed in the truck lunges forward, its not coming out of gear all the way
when the clutch is pushed pedal is all the way down

I tried loosening the fingers on the pressure plate 1 turn each and it got much better but is still lunging forward

Just got done adjusting them to the point I have no thread on my clevis rod on the clutch pedal. (Fingers a total of 4 turns out each)

Its adjusted so far that the clutch ford rod isnt really moving much anymore, the clevis had the arm past the 12 o'clock position so I am not getting and push from the rod

Cant start the truck in gear and when it is running and you push the clutch pedal in to try and put it in gear it just grinds because the clutch is not fully disengaging.

I am out of ideas

Any chance the clutch disc is in backwards? I know its a long shot and not sure if it is even possible but I dont know what else to think.

I put the disc in so the biggest part of the center splined hub faces the throwout bearing and the smallest part of the splined hub faces the flywheel

 

First off, I'd turn those finger bolts back in a ways.

It sounds like your disc is in correctly, but it's always possible the center hub is still contacting something, like the pilot bushing. Especially if the flywheel has been machined a couple of times, and deeply.

I hate to say it, but I'd pull the trans (again), and check absolutely everything one piece at a time. Can you post pictures of the PP and disc? Do you have any kind of meaningful part numbers off the cartons they came in?

 

I will turn the bolts all the way back in, thats where they were when I first started, all the way in.

I had the machine shop press the pilot bearing in the flywheel after they resurfaced it

I will try and post pictures once I get it apart. I dont have the number of the clutch kit once I got it from LMC I threw the box away. I could call them and ask them what manufacturer is and part number

I dont have a problem pulling the trans back out again but I dont know what to look for. everything went together smoothly and everything is torqued to the right specs.

What would cause the disc to not disenagage from the clutch assembly?

 

If the disc is a little too large on the OD, it can hang up on the PP cover. It is also possible the disc hub is hitting on the ID of the PP.

The main point of pulling it again would be to make sure the disc hub isn't fouling the flywheel.

If you look thru the inspection hole can you see that the PP is clearly moving back from the disc? If it is, then the hub would seem to be where the problem is. With the inspection cover off, clutch depressed, trans in neutral, see if you can spin the disc by pushing it with a screwdriver.

 

Ok, when I get a 2nd set of hands I will give it a shot and keep you posted. Thanks again!

 

Does anyone make a 11" clutch kit with the modern day diaphragm finger setup rather than the 3 finger adjustable setup?

Not sure if that is the answer but It would eliminate the need for clutch finger adjustment

 

I don't think the fingers are your problem. BTW here is a picture of my clutch after being rebuilt at a reputable local shop. You can see the finger bolt is almost all the way down.

 

Ross, found the problem but I dont kn ow the solution.....

Got everything back apart down to the flywheel

Ill try and explain this the best I can...

Bolted the bell adapter, trans and just the clutch disc back to the motor. I did this so there was no pressure on the disc

I reached through the inspection cover and the clutch disc was wedged so tight against the flywheel I couldnt budge it

The problem is that the clutch disc doesnt slide back to the throwout bearing on the bearing retainer far enough.

With the transmission on the bench and just the clutch disc installed should the disc slide all the way to the bearing retainer? Mine is 1/2" away from the bearing retainer

In my original setup I had a column shift 3 speed with an 11" clutch. I am using the same flywheel which is drilled for the 10" and 11" pressure plate

I got a 3 speed floor shift from a 48 panel van which I believe had a 10" clutch

I am trying to run an 11" clutch with the panel van floor shifted trans.

Is there a difference in the clucth disc hub from the 10" to 11"?

 

Any chance of getting some pictures ,it would sure help with diagnosing the problem .

 

What was pushing the disc against the flywheel when you had the trans bolted up?

Is the input shaft splined all the way back to allow the disc to move back to the throwout brg? The disc never needs to go that far, you should be able to see the area on the input shaft that is worn from the disc, about an inch behind the pilot bearing. Any place that is splined, the disc should slide along smoothly.

Remind me, where did you get the 3-sp trans? It isn't out of a '53 - '56, is it?

AFAIK, all Ford truck input shafts until the '60's used the same 1-3/8 dia. 10-splines. If the disc isn't sliding along the whole length of the splines easily, this could be a case of Hecho en China... clean the input shaft splines with a wire brush and grease lightly.

Pics would help, mainly of the trans input shaft

 

As far as what was pushing the disc against the flywheel, it was just the inability of the disc to slide all the way back to the bearing retainer. The input shaft is splined all the way to the bearing retainer but the splines curve and are not square cut all the way to the bearing retainer. The splines are not as deep as they need to be to allow the disc to slide back and allow it to release from the flywheel.

The transmission is from a 1948 panel van
Input shaft is clean and greased, that’s not the problem.

The solution could be either the clutch disc hub is too deep on the trans side or the input shaft isn’t splined correctly not allowing the disc to release from the flywheel.

I will go take a picture now, how do I upload it?

 

If the splines are curved, there's your answer. They should be arrow-straight.

 

I didnt mean curved like twisted I mean curved like towards the back of the trans toward to bearing retainer they are less deep and continue to get less deep as you go back further.

How do you post pictures and I will show you what I mean.

 

It asks me to enter the url of my pictures, I have them on my hard drive and am not sure how to get them on here. If you want to PM me your email address I can send them to you and you can post them for me

 

Non-supporters need to upload them to Photobucket or to their gallery here on FTE. There is a sticky about how to do it.