I have a 1948 59AB flathead with a flywheel set up only for a 11" pressure plate and clutch disk. I am running a 1939 top loader gear box. I have the following problems: 1. The gear box output shaft housing will not fit between the long fingers of the pressure plate. Can i shorten the fingers of the pressure plate so the output shaft house will fit between the clutch fingers? 2. The clutch is very hard if not impossible to depress. Can i remove one of the pressure plate springs to try to make the clutch easier to depress. OR Am i just wasting my time and get a new clutch plate and disk and have the flywheel redrilled and balanced. If so what size? 9" or 10"
What kind of car is it going in? Does it really need an 11" clutch? My sedan has a 40 Ford 9" clutch and it has never slipped.
This is going into a Roadster Pickup. The flywheel is only drilled for a 11". I assumed this was the right setup. I was just trying to salvage what i have.
Yes, you are headed down the wrong path using an 11 in. clutch as it is very heavy and was used in trucks. Your left leg will learn to hate you. I have a 10 inch clutch in my 40 Ford with an 8BA engine. The original 40 engine used a 9 in. clutch that also worked just fine. I would suggest that you get your flywheel redrilled for a 10 inch clutch but make sure it will fit propeerly on the 59AB flywheel. The 8BA flywheel will not fit the 59Ab engine as they are not interchangeable. Post your question on Fordbarn for more info. Those folks are "in the know".
Since this was factory set up for trucks I don't understand why the transmission shaft will not pass through the Ford Long clutch. I ran a 11"clutch in my Flathead dragster with a Shieffer Pressure plate and could depress it ok. If the clutch won't fit pass the transmission shaft how do you know it is hard to depress? You can't depress the forks out of the car. A lot of mechanical advantage in clutch pedal linkage.
I had a second output shaft cover that I cut down to get the 39 transmission in. From what I could find the truck transmission is a 4 speed and a different gear box, (not 100% sure). There are also other problems with this setup. the pressure plate fingers are about 1/4 of the way depressed when it is mounted properly. If I shim the pressure plate so that the fingers are not depressed the fingers sit on top of the throw out bearing so it would be spinning all of the time. I could finally get the pressure plate to depress when I removed 3 springs from the pressure plate. All in all its not the best set up and I don't want future problems. I decided to go with a 9" ford clutch set up and have it balanced with the flywheel. FYI the 9" setup is also sold on Amazon as a Ford/Holland tractor part # 09A-7563-N. Open box unit was $50.
Not all trucks had the 4 speed trans. Some has a light duty and "heavy duty" speed that used all the same trans parts as a '39 box. Sadly, it sounds like you've got some parts mixed up.
Not sure what you really have but the 11" clutch was for the bigger trucks. If the tranny is also out of a big truck it will probably be a 4 speed non-synchro in all gears. I don't think you want to use either of those. I'd find a 3 speed car or 1/2T pickup tranny and use a 9" or 10" clutch. It may help if you post a few photos of what you have. I run a 59ab that came with the flywheel drilled for 9", 10" and 11". You could also drill for a modern style diaphragm clutch setup. I did that to mine and I like the smoothness and lack of clutch chatter that is common with the old Fords.
I have an 11” in my lil’ 34 pickup. had the light springs installed on the pressure plate. Been driving it for 10 yrs. No problem with pushing it in at all. Not uncomfortable.
I have a 11 inch clutch in my 59A in my 47coupe, works excellent, however I have a friend that replaced the complete clutch in an original 40 last year, and could not depress the pedal at all, turned out the new pressure plate had the wrong fingers installed.
Not sure I understand the problem. One thing to watch for is the inside front of the tranny case, right behind the throw out bearing. There are different castings that either have or don't have a thicker area around the little inspection plate. Only the ones with the thinner casting will work with an 11" clutch. If you bolt up against the thick one it will lock the whole thing up. If you have the thick variety you can grind it around the the inspection plate area to clear the pressure plate. Are you sure you have the right flywheel? 59 series and 8BA flywheels are a different animal. I have a couple of nice 59 series flywheels that use a 9" clutch and I would be glad to give you one if you can find a ride for it.
Good move going to the 9" clutch. You can make anything work but the reality is the 9" is almost always the best choice. The weight difference is considerable between the 2. With a little flathead rotating weight is important. I came very close to running the 11" even had a flywheel lightened that was drilled for it. Its rusting away under the work bench.
I ran an 11 inch clutch on my 296 motor for several years......no issues with using a '39 trans and TO bearing.....it all bolted together fine. It was pretty stiff, and luckily I was young enough that it did not bother my left leg.....too much! Never worried about it slipping.......the '40 coupe was so light in the back end the tires spun easily.
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