Time for a new clutch

[General karthief]

When you pull it out, if it's like my 89 model, an arm with a pad on the end swings up and down a spring-like resister(?), It probably has green looking junk on it, hit it with some contact cleaner and use a soft tooth brush to help knock the junk off, I did this to mine and it works fine now.
I'm cheap and don't trust the aftermarket much anymore.

 

[2000xp8]

Yeah, i'm not the biggest fan of repro parts either, but in this case it felt pretty awful. The lack of dimming correctly is one thing, but the notch for turning on the interior light feeling wrong i felt was another issue.

 

[2000xp8]

So after driving the car last year, i realized why i bought a new clutch and hastily returned it a couple years earlier.
The 20 year old clutch i have that was used with 2 pushrod engines and my 4.6 is just outdated. I'd say it's still good, but it is awful in parking lots and traffic.
It's very heavy on your leg and works like a light switch, engaged or not engaged, there is no slipping it, which made some of the busier places i drove the car a nightmare.

Picked up a lightened steel flywheel from mcleod, it's about half way between the solid steel weight and the aluminum. I got it ebay from AMP racing for $300, which is about $100 savings. Drilled for for both 10.5 and 11.
Saw the mcleod twin disc at CJ pony parts at $80 off, really never have seen on sale much past that if at all.

https://www.cjponyparts.com/mcleod-clutch-kit-rst-twin-disc-26-spline-input-shaft-gt-mid-2001-2010-cobra-1999-2004-mach-1-2003-2004/p/CK228/

Bought all new bolts and throwout bearing. Picked up valvoline synchromesh, the penzoil was out of stock everywhere i looked and the GM stuff is seriously expensive. Supposedly it's the same.

Also purchased and adjustable pivot ball, which was $50, my friend who worked at my other friends race shop suggested it. At this point not sure the 50 bucks really mattered because even with $200 off and some other 6% discounts, this is still like a $1200 clutch.
Most likely install it Sunday.
Unless something goes wrong, should be a quick install. (keep in mind i have highly qualified help and a 4 post lift).
Hoping it's all the great things i've heard about this setup.

 

[Noobz347]

What are number on the pressure plate fingers for?

Other question:

Did they always always ship them assembled like that?

 

[2000xp8]

I guess this is how they ship them, same as last one I returned.
Its the part number on the fingers, they all seem that way.
I also get the feeling the clutches are all the same size and they just use different adapter plates.

 

[2000xp8]

Took it out of the box today, i'm getting the idea that they assemble and label it so people don't mess it up.

 

[Noobz347]

I am imagining they started it doing it that way to reduce irate phone calls. LoL

 

[FastDriver]

That's how 3 twins from McLeod came for me.

 

[2000xp8]

So we installed the clutch yesterday. Relatively uneventful.
Though i never took into consideration that last year i installed a torque arm.
Makes getting the driveshaft bolts out more of a pain.
The way i handled the driveshaft itself was to the bolts out, raise the car by the frame (with a hydraulic slide jack) letting the rear fall and sliding the driveshaft back over the top of the rear. Couple extra minutes, but i'd rather that than remove the torque arm.

I'm going to guess my old billet flywheel (which shows no wear) is 3 or 4 pounds heavier.
The machined adapter is also a bit of a work of art.
The adjustable pivot ball was necessary.
Not sure if it was because of the bellhousing i use, the tremec aluminum for a 4.6 (i think it comes from the 2000 cobra R).
I have the old version which does not let the pivot ball bolt go through, so I drilled and tapped it, then used a cutoff wheel to cut off the excess because it is really long.

I didn't have time to drive the car, but as of right now i'm not feeling impressed by the stock pedal effort. Still feels pretty heavy.
Now in all fairness my cable is a 20 year old adjustable that i never really liked. Though when disconnected from the fork it does move freely. But with the load of the pressure plate on it, i can see how if it's all dried out the friction could bind it.

It was suggested I buy the good steeda cable.
Not sure or not if i could use the 96-04 which i think is longer so the routing could be a little more straight on.
I may buy one for a 90 and one for a new edge and see how they fit.

The cable has to be adjustable because the firewall adjuster really has no room because it's right up on the valve cover.

 

[2000xp8]

Ordered the new cable and a double hook quadrant. I went with the 4.6 version which i'm guessing is just longer for routing around the engine with the heads being so wide.
The MM cable which is apparently the top cable is good for 83-04. I can't use that one because it's not adjustable and as i said the firewall is really close to the valve cover. So my guess is that from the bell to the fork and the firewall to the quadrant all the measurements are the same from fox to new edge.

Oddly enough LMR wanted basically a week to get it to me. I was a few dollars short of free shipping, which is fine because now free is some kind of economical deal where it's handed off to the post office, last week's order was scanned 19 times (by ups), sometimes the same location after it was there then somewhere else.
Steeda was a little pricier for the parts and a whopping $30 for shipping, i could send a cinder block cheaper than that through Pirateship.com.

So i landed up using summit, which will get here thursday.

 

[2000xp8]

So i swapped out the quadrant and cable.
Removed the firewall adjuster.
The cables are the same from a foxbody to a new edge, but it's about 8 inches longer.
Had to cut the bottom half of the white grommet off to get the cable out of the firewall. that's how tight the valve cover to the firewall is.
I didn't install any firewall adjuster, so i used the longer distance hook. There is no point in one because of the value cover clearance issue.

Still had to learn some lessons again.
First off, why i don't default to removing the seat i'm not sure.
Second, why did i spend 3 minutes looking for the quadrant (that I installed) all the way to the left? I realize the pedal is there, but for some reason i forgot it was towards the passenger side.

You can see in the pic the difference in the quadrant. I'd say the steeda version has a mechanical advantage with the curve being longer. Also the red one fraid the cable where it hooks. And it had no spacer bushing like the one that comes with the steeda.

The new cable moves much more freely.
Though now i have an issue on where to bolt it in because the bracket really doesn't line up with anywhere on the frame.
If i don't figure it out, i'll buy a fox cable again.
Took at least 5 routing methods to get it to where it is.
One thing to note about a modular swap, there just is no room for anything at head height. So the cable has to go in front of the alternator (which makes it too short) or towards the firewall which makes it a little too long.

So, did it solve my issue with a heavy pedal?
Well, it made it better.
For sure it moves much smoother and probably 20% less effort than before.
We will see when i actually drive it what the true verdict is.
And there is still some cable movement since i didn't bolt the bracket in yet.

.