Some time ago I posted a note about upgrading to a new pressure plate & clutch set-up. I thought I would give you an update as to how things went. All these parts were ordered through McLeod

#1) We ordered a new steel flywheel with the stock slant pattern, and
also the pattern for a new Webber diaphragm pressure plate. This
PP. is for some kind of Shelby car with much more horsepower
than I am making. So it should last for a while.

Problem- While I specifically ordered for a 72 engine it was sent with the
small crank hub hole. I had it turned locally and it works fine.
I also feel much safer! Cost $275

#2) The Webber Pressure plate holds great, and is light weight. it did not
Have any interference problems like those in the Hot Rod article.

Note- The L bracket inside the belhousing where the clutch fork pivots has
to be spaced forward approximately 9/16" in order to get the
correct geometry for the fork to move properly.

Also you need to remove the Heavy Spring under the dash or the
pedal will not return normally.

Thirdly is Free travel. It's about 3.5-4" until your T.O bearing even
touches the diaphragm assembly. This 4" free travel was mentioned
in the Hot Rod article, but I thought that it was surely a misprint. It
is not. 4" is correct.

This P.P. has an extremely easy push and very short movement of you pedal is required. It's a little different but it seems to hold great.


#3) We got the Dual Friction material Disc and it engages smoothly and
holds great.

Total cost for Flywheel, Pressure plate, and Disc was $535, but it certainly gives you a lot of peace of mind ! If you have any questions just ask.

Now if we can just keep the wheels from falling off !!!

Thanks for the great site,

Rick

Hey Rick. I'm glad that I didn't purchase any clutch stuff yet for my 4 speed conversion.

Which bellhousing are you using, the regular cast iron slant six 4 speed housing, the aluminum A833OD housing for passenger cars, or the OD truck bellhousing?

Also, if you could post the part numbers that you used here that would great.

Do you know if a hydraulic throw out bearing can be used with this application? How much does the throw out bearing have to move to fully release the clutch?

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'68 Dodge Dart 4dr Sedan

Patrick, I'm sure that McLeod can set you up with a hydraulic TOB for this setup. They are pretty universal and very slick. I have NO freeplay in my pedal and I set it up for only about 3-4" of travel total, which is more than enough. I just drove a '99 Cobra Mustang and I like my clutch feel better. I am very happy I spent the extra $300 for the hydro setup (includes MC, TOB, and spacer for the T5). Of course, I was converting from and 904, so this made things much easier on the install too.

Rick, you got the non-slant PP. Was it the same one you quoted the price on before ($135) ? Did you order it through a shop to get "business" rate?

Thanks,

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

That 's correct Lou. Here are the part #'s again. I did go directly to McLeod because I had a lot of technical questions I wanted to ask before I ordered. Is it cheaper to go through a supplier than going direct to them?

Flywheel - Dual patterns / No part # / custom order / Approx. 30 pound
About 2-3 weeks delivery / Cost $300

Pressure plate - Webber part # 360131 / 9-11/16" , 1.500" finger height
Cost $135

Clutch Disc - Dual Performance- Part #260804 / 9.5" / Cost $110


I am using the car Aluminum Belhousing and 4-speed OD. Tranny.

The Hydralic T.O. bearing is available, and certainly would make things easier as far as the linkeage goes, but its another $300 bucks?? Also You may need a spacer to move the TO. bearing forward.
There was not enough adjustment in the stock clutch adjuster to get the T.O. bearing against the diaphragm spring. And when you pushed in the clutch pedal the clutch fork was at such a bad angle it looked like the arm was going to come off the T.O. bearing. So I simply unbolted the L bracket the arm pivots on and moved it forward with spacers (flat bar) about 9/16". Actually I was able to do this with the tranny still in the car. There is just enough room to get that big of a spcer into place and still get the clutch arm hooked back over the T.O. bearing clips.
One other thing if you are running the 6 into 1 Mopar header, is that I had to rework the Z-bar to clear the headers. I had to put a dogleg in it that moved it approx. 1" towards the drivers side. This put a little worse angle on the adjuster link, but it all works fine. This P.P. pushes extremely easy. When I took it to get exhaust put on, the guy said "man I think you need to adjust your clutch" It just pushed so easy he thought something
was wrong.
This is in a 72 Swinger

Thanks,
Rick

Thanks again, Rick. That's all great info. Now I just have to save some beans for an aluminum flywheel and that HD clutch setup. I'm running the Slant 10" OEM style PP and have heard some questionable things about it. It has worked great so far though...

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Yes it is hard to believe, but it has been 10 years since we purchased Ryan's clutch and pressure plate set-up from Mcleod. This unit has functioned flawlessly until this week when one of the springs came out of the hub and was dancing around inside.

I knew the Clutch disc was not available, but was very happy when I wrote to them and they said they had a replacement that was organic on one side and ceramic on the other. The PP is still available so all should be well.

Ryan's clutch disc looked almost like new after 10 years even on the organic side, and the Pressure Plate could still be used.

Here are the Part#
PP - 361131 - $243
Disc - 260527 - $241

They are not cheap, but if they hold up for 10 more years, that is a bargain. With literally 10 years of very hard driving, drag racing, and even towing, he really got his money's worth out of it.

He did tell Ryan that both of these are for a Pontiac Fiero.

McLeod's customer service was great too. Spoke to Bill Mieczkowski

Rick

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2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

Thanks for the footwork Rick, I'm about to see if the Spec stage 3 and 4 clutches hold up this year...if not, now I know where I'll be spending my $535 next.

Much Appreciated,

-D.Idiot

That's Great Rick,


When you get these parts in Please post pics.


Greg

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http://www.youtube.com/hyperpack

Sure will!

Rick

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2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

Here are the photos of Ryan's clutch that we just got from Mcleod a couple weeks ago.

_________________
2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

is this a bolt in factory replacement? need a cluctch for my aspen?

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1980 Aspen 4 speed

No it is not. It takes a special pattern on the flywheel. It is not a Slant 6 clutch or Pressure plate.

I think "Spec" is the only high performance "bolt -in" set-up. And they have some mixed reviews here. do a search and see.

Rick

_________________
2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

I had such good customer service from McLeod's Billy Mieczkowski that I wrote him back a few days ago and asked him if they would consider adding a bolt-in, high performance , diaphragm PP for our Slant 6. He wrote me back today and said that they did discuss it today in one of their meetings. He said that most of them in the meeting agreed that it was just too low a volume piece for them to make unless we were willing to make an order of 100 or more.

Since I don't think any of you have $25000 to tie up I thanked him and said it doesn't hurt to ask! I think we could move 20-25 of them but 100 is a lot of PP.

I was hoping they could take some existing PP and re-drill the flange in it to match our Slant 6.

Rick

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2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

Well if you find someone willing to do it at a decent price I am in.

Wish I had one that would work with the Hemi splines. And the $$$ for one of Jamie Passon's bolt in 5 speeds.......

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'72 Duster 198 stock cam, 3:23's Hookers on jack stands for 8 years in the driveway
'79 Maxivan 360 Offy Qjet Comp RV cam/rusting in the driveway.
93 D350 160HP Cummins Auto Dually Clubcab needs a injector pump
2005 Golden Couch Buick