No ACL and less than 400 hp, sell me on a clutch

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While your pedal is out you might consider a new primary parking brake cable. Mine was a PITA to install up there.
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If you're staying with a 3 finger you might consider ..........
Hays 91-3004 Hays Street 450 Clutch Kit - Dodge (holley.com)

Check the finger height prior to install.
Align the bell.

They do offer a heavier set but sounds like you want to stay away from it.
Thanks, yeah I need all new e- brake everything. After new motor break in I dove into rear brakes, upgraded to 11x2.5, Mancini had e brake levers and struts thankfully. So ive never " aligned a Bell" nor would I know what im looking for to check PP " finger height" can you expand on this?
Thanks
 
If it hurts? Then an automatic is the solution. I personally believe that one does lose some of the classic car experience with an automatic? But that goes away fast with pain?
I hear you and agree on both fronts. Im pretty passionate about keeping the 4spd., even if that means knee replacement sooner than later.
 
I would call RAM Clutches and talk to Mike. My direct, personal experience with his mopar replacement clutch/pp sets has been great. I dont care for the Hays/Zoom/etc 2800 lb pressure plates. 2400 or less IMO. 400hp in a 3600 lb car with street tires wont need a ton of clamping force to lock up. If you run a clutch with ceramic or sintered bronze/iron/whatever on the flywheel sode make sure it's a billet steel unit. The sintered bronze disc I have is tough on the flywheel.
Great info, thank you
 
Thanks, yeah I need all new e- brake everything. After new motor break in I dove into rear brakes, upgraded to 11x2.5, Mancini had e brake levers and struts thankfully. So ive never " aligned a Bell" nor would I know what im looking for to check PP " finger height" can you expand on this?
Thanks

You can find the bell alignment procedure in your service manual. A download link is added below if you need one.
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MyMopar - Mopar Forums & Information - Service Manuals

Finger height is the dimension as installed (1.700") per MP. They provide fixture diagram but no real info on "how to".

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I use a 10" disc that I had ground. The disc is sandwiched between the PP and FW to simulate an installed flat .310" thick disc. I measure from next to the fingers to that disc with my depth mic. I'd imagine this could also be accomplished just using 5/16" key stock lengths as well.
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Thanks very much for your help, this info will definitely come in handy.
 
I would call RAM Clutches and talk to Mike. My direct, personal experience with his mopar replacement clutch/pp sets has been great. I dont care for the Hays/Zoom/etc 2800 lb pressure plates. 2400 or less IMO. 400hp in a 3600 lb car with street tires wont need a ton of clamping force to lock up. If you run a clutch with ceramic or sintered bronze/iron/whatever on the flywheel sode make sure it's a billet steel unit. The sintered bronze disc I have is tough on the flywheel.
I put a Ram clutch in behind my warmed up 340 in Challenger. It has lite pedal pressure and is smooth takeoff. I have not done burnouts yet as I have just broken in everything.
 
Curious, what is your Ram clutch, 3-finger or diaphragm. If a diaphragm, did they recommend removing the overcenter spring?
 
On the Valiant shown to the left...I used a McCleod 75109 which is a their basic 10.5" diaphragm clutch setup. I used a McCleod 13725 hydraulic TO bearing 'kit' which included the master cylinder. That number is for a Viper so you would need to use the equivalent kit for your trans.

It's quite easy to push the clutch. Unlike stock (B&B clutches with mechanical linkage) there is no 'over center' feel to the clutch. It pretty much has the same degree of force needed to depress the pedal all the way down. I'd personally like a little harder-to-push pedal but if easy is your aim, it's a good choice.

I would also ditch your mechanical linkage as that is part of the problem (as far as low effort is concerned). And as noted, if you use a diaphragm pressure plate, the over center spring on the pedal assembly needs to be removed. That is because the diaphragm clutch has little 'return' pressure as compared to a B&B and will probably stay depressed when you do an 8500RPM powershift on Street Outlaws and that guy in the black shirt beats you.

mcLeod 75109 clutch.jpg
 
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Good to know, and am learning yet another variable in that OC springs differ with engine? My car was factory 318 so, guess I have a 318 OC spring? Thanks for your input.
ACL is anterior cruciate ligament, it resides through the middle of the knee joint vertically, if memory serves
I lost a ligament, in my right knee, in 1997 in a snowmobile mishap. I felt it recoil; and snap up into my right butt-cheek, and I sat on it for a couple of months while my knee cartilage knit. Eventually the lump grew smaller and disappeared, or at least I didn't feel it any more.
The doctor drained blood and water out of that knee many times over the following couple of months, and he said I would limp for the rest of my life. I did limp, but only for about 14 months. During that time, I occasionally fell down due to lack of lateral support, and it was mighty painful when that happened.
But I'll tell you something;
today, that leg has no pain, and I quit limping over two decades ago, and it is the stronger leg. I never give it a thought anymore.
And I bet you know what I'm gonna say next;
My God is well able to heal me, he created this body and is intimately acquainted with how it is supposed to work. All I had to do was ask. I have absolutely no doubt, that if you follow the rules, you also can be healed.
I am almost 68 now, and well into the age that most men start to have physical problems, as we run down our promised 70 years/80 if by reason of good health. Yet,my body is blessed with, as far as I can tell, perfect health. Which is not of my own doing, but according to the promises of AlmightyGod.
Any Believer, I mean ANY Believer can enjoy the same blessing, when they follow the rules. I am in no way special; and God is no respecter of persons. He put the rules in the Bible, for anyone to find. Anyone who has eyes to see, and ears to hear. Anyone.
 
I put a Ram clutch in behind my warmed up 340 in Challenger. It has lite pedal pressure and is smooth takeoff. I have not done burnouts yet as I have just broken in everything.
340, is that a diaphragm type or fingers?
 
On the Valiant shown to the left...I used a McCleod 75109 which is a their basic 10.5" diaphragm clutch setup. I used a McCleod 13725 hydraulic TO bearing 'kit' which included the master cylinder. That number is for a Viper so you would need to use the equivalent kit for your trans.

It's quite easy to push the clutch. Unlike stock (B&B clutches with mechanical linkage) there is no 'over center' feel to the clutch. It pretty much has the same degree of force needed to depress the pedal all the way down. I'd personally like a little harder-to-push pedal but if easy is your aim, it's a good choice.

I would also ditch your mechanical linkage as that is part of the problem (as far as low effort is concerned). And as noted, if you use a diaphragm pressure plate, the over center spring on the pedal assembly needs to be removed. That is because the diaphragm clutch has little 'return' pressure as compared to a B&B and will probably stay depressed when you do an 8500RPM powershift on Street Outlaws and that guy in the black shirt beats you.

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Awesome reply! Thanks everybody for sharing here. Ive got a direction to go now
 
I like my CenterForce diaphragm Pressure Plate. But I pulled the CF II disc out after a short time; It was just too harsh for street duty, for me.
What exactly do you mean by "harsh"? I have that clutch in my Dart and have no problems with it... the travel during engagement is a bit short, but I got used to it quickly. No chatter at stoplights either.
 
What exactly do you mean by "harsh"? I have that clutch in my Dart and have no problems with it... the travel during engagement is a bit short, but I got used to it quickly. No chatter at stoplights either.
I have 295s in the back.
I bought the CF-II disc; It breaks stuff behind it. I had to go to 1350 U-joints before the driveshaft would stay in the saddles. It zinged the front teeth of the input gear off an Overdrive box. And chipped teeth off ringears.
It barks the tires into third gear, sometimes spinning them .
I finally swapped in an organic 340 disc and shimmed the PP off the flywheel for some slippage. Now it's a dump it an go deal. From a stop, I blip the throttle just a lil, and more or less dump the clutch, then power away like it was an automatic.
But my 367 has had up to 185 psi cranking cylinder pressure, so maybe that has something to do with it. and she is 100% a streeter.
And I stopped driving it like I stole it, so the 340 discs last a whole summer after that, about as long as an oilchange, lol. Maybe a lil longer.
 
And I stopped driving it like I stole it,

I suspect that has more to do with the trashing transmissions and u-joints than the disc all by itself :p

I also have 295's out back (and a 451 in front), but I don't just sidestep the clutch either. Will see what I can break when I can get the car out someday and flog on it - it's been a crappy long winter and it ain't over yet...
 
My problem is I am aware of what a clutch is and what it does. Those things preclude me from thrashing on it all that much. I guess I consider it a miracle that it works at all, and I am not one to lean too hard on miracles. It'd be like finding myself in a very satisfying multi-year sexual relationship with Jennifer Aniston, then letting the idea creep into my head that I should ask her to do a threesome.
 
Sometimes at speed, I don't use the clutch at all.
the CF-II can take anything that you care to give it, with street tires, on the street.
The A833Regular and A833Commando
Can take anything my lil 367 can dish out.
I have had the 8.75/3.55s for several decades, and it seems they too can take anything...... on the street with street tires.
But after breaking three 833ods, I won't run them again.
And you can never trust a 7260 U-joint. At first I thought it would be a good idea to have one at the very back, to be like a fuse. Bad idea. Well great idea, it's a fuse alrightee. But when it breaks, I've been lucky it happened at low speeds.
I'd rather have the disc be my fuse, at least it doesn't leave me walking and calling the tow-truck.
And besides, it takes very little longer to swap out a disc than a u-joint, and to repair the damage the flailing driveshaft did.
 
I'd think the clutch is happy anytime it's being fully squeezed by the pressure plate. Unless you put way too much power through it. Its the engagement that it doesn't like.

I still run 7290 u joints but slowly have been migrating to the Chevy 1350 as its getting harder to buy good 7290 joints and yokes.
 
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