Centerforce Clutch Difficulty


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By Noob - 14 Years Ago
I emailed Centerforce tech department as follows:

Hi Roger… have `57 Ford 312 ci with stock flywheel and wish to convert from an 11” Long Style, Type 1 pressure plate to a Diaphragm style plate (and disk), preferably a Dual Friction set-up… the bolt spacing is 3-3/8” center-to-center.  Do you have any recommendations?  Thanks in advance for your kind reply.  Brian

To which they replied:

Upon reviewing some old catalogs we can not determine which clutch would be a direct replacement for your application being we can not cross the part numbers over.  It would be a guess to say whether a diaphragm clutch would have the same installed height and whether the spring pack of our disc would work with your flywheel. Therefore I’m not sure what part number to recommend.

 

Blink Pinch Crying

Am I missing something or was my inquiry confusing?  A Diaphragm style's height, being inherently lower than a Long style's height, is irrelevant as long as it works with the tranny's input shaft... right? And why wouldnt their spring pack work with my stock flywheel... an 11" disk is essentially an 11" disk isnt it?

I thought all I needed to know was whether they had a model with the 3-3/8" bolt spacing, but now I'm just confused... any suggestions/clarifications would be greatly appreciated.

 

Brian

 

By DANIEL TINDER - 14 Years Ago
Brian,



If it's any help, the Y-Block diaphragm/11" pressure plate I bought from Mummert was made by LuK. Haven't installed it yet, so can't provide any more details.
By speedpro56 - 14 Years Ago
Brian, The centerforce pressure plate # you're looking for is CFT260000 it should fit the flywheel with no problem (11").  If you're looking for a centerforce clutch for a toploader 4speed the # is 280700.  A clutch for an original trans will have to be had elsewhere. Hope this helps.
By John Mummert - 14 Years Ago
re: spring pack. They might have been referring to the damping springs in the clutch disc. On some discs they can stick too far forward and hit the flywheel bolts.

Also, some time in late 57 or early 58 the input spline was changed from 10 spline to 23 spline. They might not have been sure which you needed. There is very little in the way of high performance clutch discs made for the 1"-10 spline configuration Ford used in cars from 49 to the change to 23 splines.

By Noob - 14 Years Ago
As an update... I asked the Centerforce tech for the dimension of the rivet circle and the depth of the rivets and springs below the friction surface on the 11" CFII disc.

He says I need a 6" crank flange well in the flywheel and at least .100" depth to the bolt heads.

I've got plenty of depth, but the well is only about 5" diameter.

I've heard no one else here complain about rivet and/or spring contact, but maybe they have wider well diameters than my stock 312 flywheel.

I'm gonna trade in the Hayes set I mistakenly order for the Centerforce II through Summit, and I'll verify any fit problems. Worse case, I'll have to remove the flywheel and enlarge the well, which in doing so will also lighten it up a tad. I should prolly remove it any way to have it resurfaced which is always recommended on a clutch change, right?

Cheers... Brian

By charliemccraney - 14 Years Ago
I think you'll be alright. I know several of us are using Centerforce clutches, though probably on aftermarket flywheels. John, how do your billet and aluminum flywheels compare to stock in the mentioned areas?



You should resurface. If you have the cash, also balance the flywheel after it is resurfaced.
By paul2748 - 14 Years Ago
A lot of the 60's Fords used a 1 1/16 diameter input shaft with 10 splines. My toploader is this. The 427/428 engines used a 1 3/8 diameter input shaft, not sure of the spline count.



I just got (for my 312 and toploader) a centerforce clutch and disc, # DF700000 which is the 10 spline 1 and 1/16. The packaging has lots of things to look for when installing, including the diameter of the inside problem. It's tight, but it seems to fit ok. This was the recommendation of Centerforce.



I got mine from Street Side Auto in Kansas City, KS. Price was $301, about 40 bucks cheaper than anybody else. Plus there was an instant discount of 25 bucks so before shipping it cost me 276. I ordered over the internet, and delivery was within three days (right before christmas).