63 Dodge Dart, now let me see;)

[Dne007]

I do know that my bell housing wasn’t from an early A body, I’m tempted to order a shorter fork.

 

[mygasser]

or cut, shorten and brace the one you have for free, lol.
neil.

 

[Dne007]

Now that has crossed my mind, but I'd feel more comfortable with one that's not been weakend~ a lot of pressure on that little arm;)

neil.

 

[moparlvr166]

Dne007, question, the fork you're using in the bellhousing, does it pivot on a ball stud or bolted on fork pivot.
Look on bellhousing for part # so you can see what it came from then go to Brewers and compare all the pieces, bellhousing, pivot, and fork to see what your options are.
Possible best option is measuring your fork, cut, shorten and add reinforcement and when shortening I would do it close to where it tapers down instead of towards the end. I'm
sure, others will respond.

 

[Dne007]

Hey Ed, pics below, shows my bell housing is from a '76-80 Dodge truck (don't know what the -2 means in the numbers). I have a second fork that I could practice on to shorten, just don't know how much shorter I need to make it, I guess some simple math, mine is 13+ and the other one that I'd like to have it 10 7/8. ah heck, have to go to the store~ brb

1976-80 SLANT SIX 9.5" BELLHOUSING, DODGE TRUCK, A/F BODY, OVERDRIVE, RECONDITIONED - Mopar A833 4-Speed Transmission & Component Specialists

1976-80 SLANT SIX 9.5" BELLHOUSING, DODGE TRUCK, A/F BODY, OVERDRIVE, RECONDITIONED

www.brewersperformance.com

63-66 A-BODY 273 V8/SLANT 6 CLUTCH FORK - Mopar A833 4-Speed Transmission & Component Specialists

63-66 A-BODY 273 V8/SLANT 6 CLUTCH FORK

www.brewersperformance.com

 

[mygasser]

if you go ahead with shortening the fork i'd make it just short enough for the clearance you need. as it gets shorter the ratio alters and the effort needed at the pedal will increase. just something to consider.
neil.

 

[Dne007]

Doah! too late, it's cut, this would be a great geometry problem! The ones being sold are 10.5", mine is a tad over that. I still need to weld in the strengthening metal. What I'll do is when I install the clutch/ bell housing etc, I'm going to rig up where I can use the short ram on my portapower and see how the piece does~ I'd still feel better with a new one. So the diaphragm should help I hope.
seems like everytime I sit to write, supper time is right now~ rats

 

[Dne007]

nothing terribly exciting going on, but got one quarter glass installed, one day they'll all be tinted as dark as allowed. and put the tail light lenses on just to say, yay! I'll take them back off just in fear of breaking them. Those lens are crazy expensive. oh, I did cut out the strengtheing plate yesterday, not nearly as pretty as being cut by a commercial cutter. I cut the straights with 4.5" cutoff and the curves with cutting torch. IT'll look much nicer when I've spent some time on it. It's 5/16 plate, 1/4 may have worked, but I don't want to have to make another one. Now I've been working on the connection to the clutch pedal~ fun.

I've been looking at head liners, haven't bought yet, just shopping.

Once "finished" it'll be the same color as the engine compartment. I'm feeling more confident on this. I've cut plenty of steel with my cutting torch, but even with a cut slot with the cutoff, the torch kept popping. I've ran into this before on metal that was "layered". However, I think it came out ok.

 

[mygasser]

once everything's back in the engine bay and the plate's painted to match you won't notice it's there unless you know
neil.

 

[Dne007]

Yes, once the steering column, brake booster, air cleaner, etc. No one will ever notice it;)

once everything's back in the engine bay and the plate's painted to match you won't notice it's there unless you know
neil.

 

[Dne007]

I got my pressure plate and flywheel back, not so excited I've already contacted Randy at Carolina clutch and he says I need to send everything back to Kentucky clutch. I should have sent the pressure plate to them the first time, but trying to save money bit me. For fun, I installed the diaphragm clutch. When I compress the newly shortened fork, just as where my finger is is where the fork touches. But I need to back off just a tad then the clutch disc will turn freely, if it touches the bell housing, I can't turn the friction disc. Anyway, looks like I'll be sending it all to them

 

[moparlvr166]

Dne007, looks like you got the fork part figured out, stock 63-66 v8 & /6 fork was 10.5 inches, now when you compare p/plates next to each other you can see the issue with fork travel, sometimes it hard to see it all till you walk through it. We've all been there, can't wait to see more.

 

[Dne007]

Yes, I've been learning alot in this build. I don't mind the ups n downs as long as I figure it out actually the challenges are fun (fun has different meanings these days)

Today I finally got the clutch master hooked up to the clutch pedal. Notice the distance between the pivot and where the other pivot is. If I were to go to the factory nub, it wouldn't have the necessary travel. The travel is about
1 11/16 in the clutch master itself. When I had the portapower pushing the shorter 10 5/8 fork, it only had to move about an 1" for the friction plate to be free. I hope this is the case when I get the new stuff back in a couple weeks. On mustang, I installed a bearing kit for the brake/clutch pivot rod. It really helped and never should squeak. I'd like to do the same for this setup~ I haven't researched if such a bearing system exists.

Tomorrow, I'll pull it all back out, start prettying it up including the strengthening plate.
I just can't wait to tackle the slave cylinder!!!!

Ball Bearing Clutch Kits

Ball bearing upgrade kit for the clutch and brake shaft. Fits 5/8" factory and aftermarket MustangSteve clutch and brake pedal shafts.

mustangsteve.com

And as a bonus, I had sandblasted my door handles/locks to create a surface for epoxy primer to stick to, then painted in matte black;)

 

[mygasser]

i do like the blacked out 'brightwork'. it looks really good against the body colour
neil.

 

[Dne007]

Today I attempted fabricating the rod from the clutch master to the swing arm nub. Modern Drivelines idea is that his products should use only hand tools, no drilling if possible. So, that's what I did here. It's made from two plated, a bottom and a top(obviously). The mopar keeper wasn't necessary in this setup, but looks more complete with it on there. They stainless steel Allen bolt is where the pushrod goes or Heim thing. I wish mopar had used a normal hole instead of the nub. I may use the one I made earlier, but it did require drilling a hole into the clutch swingarm. I may end up using my first idea and send the model of the lengthy way to Red Roberts of Modern Driveline, otherwise will be stored on the shelf.

I may resort back to this one just out of simplicity, but is dependent on the 1/4" allen screw seen just below the nub. If it breaks, the pedal will flop. hm Maybe I can make that call when I have the total clutch installed to see how much pressure is exerted.

The hole below the nub is the hole I drilled and taped.

 

[halifaxhops]

You should be OK just use a grade 8 bolt and grease.

 

[mygasser]

i'd use the first one with a simple addition. bend a piece of flat bar into a u shape and drill it to accept your 1/4" allen screw. use a longer screw (of course) bolting through first the 'u' piece, then the heim, then thread into the clutch arm going through the 'u' piece again with a locknut on the end to secure the 'u' piece. sounds complicated (it's not) but i hope you get what i mean. this simple part puts the 1/4" allen screw in double sheer making the chance of it breaking unlikely.
neil.

 

[Dne007]

Thanks Ray, Neil~ I kind of get your idea Neil~ I'm done for today however just finished painting the strengthening plate~ should look neat when installed Maybe I'll sleep tonight, my brain was working on that darned "other" adapter last night~ I do more work in my pre-sleep than actual work~!

 

[Dne007]

Oh, I bought an unscathed clutch fork off of ebay, got it today~ I just didn't feel comfortable having a weakend clutch fork. Just my luck I would have been sitting at a busy intersection and my weld pop.


oh, it's hot dog night at Sonic~ I've lost about 10 pounds so I can afford a cheat night

 

[Dne007]

Well, this part is done (sorta), it's in a box with all the associated hydraulic stuff ready for installation. Now just clean the shop day~ amazing how it becomes cluttered so quickly

The 90 degree AN fittin might be the ticket, but I don't need it right now.

 

[Dne007]

All I did today was clean up, put tools away, etc. I had two smaller rolls of insulation and kind of ran out. I can't do the area around the shifter hump until I install the transmission, which means engine/trans, I will be welding it in. Tomorrow I really need to get on the internet and find a headliner~ that will be pretty incredible to have that out of the way, then rear glass(which I have), it's like a domino effect!

 

[Dne007]

Well, this seemed to take care of the kabonk kabonk in the roof. I was thinking maybe putting a front small overhead light, like a mini console. Another day gone

 

[Mineallmine]

All I did today was clean up, put tools away, etc. I had two smaller rolls of insulation and kind of ran out. I can't do the area around the shifter hump until I install the transmission, which means engine/trans, I will be welding it in. Tomorrow I really need to get on the internet and find a headliner~ that will be pretty incredible to have that out of the way, then rear glass(which I have), it's like a domino effect!

View attachment 1716395293

View attachment 1716395294

Do you have the rear glass weatherstrip yet? just to be aware it is one year only. Only company that makes it is steele rubber. I had a difficult time finding mine originally as some places listed it as the same as 64-65. Detroit muscle technologies sells the right one. Also be careful with that rear glass. Again, one year only. I had a pain finding mine as mine was broken when I bought the car and found out the hard way how difficult they were to find. Got mine out of Texas.

 

[Dne007]

What is it with these glass makers!! Mine is in a safe place, almost scared to touch it! I will need a front glass but they seem to be readily available

 

[halifaxhops]

Watch if you order tinted. Some companies use that dot matrix instead of real color in the glass. Ask me how I know!