Clutch kit recommendation needed

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guido

guido

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I have a 4 speed 65 cuda 3.23 gears and I am installing a stock 340 in it.
Please recommend a good clutch kit for my setup. I will never beat on it or race it.
I want a set up that should not chatter and yet still have an easy clutch pedal.
I don't want to have to use 2 feet to step on it
Quido aka Angelo

65 CUDA FLOOR SHIFTER PIC.jpg
 
Find a vendor that sells LUK clutch kits and get one. They are above and beyond anything you will ever be doing.
 
My McLeod 75109 diaphragm clutch kit arrives tomorrow from Mancini ($225). There was good things said on this forum about them so fingers are crossed. Pedal pressure should be light.

ps I used Luk clutch parts on my Porsche so it should be good stuff
 
Brewer Performance has performance clutch kits for that 9 1/2" flywheel. (you didn't say you will change to a 10 1/2" set up)
 
guido said:
I have a 4 speed 65 cuda 3.23 gears and I am installing a stock 340 in it.
Please recommend a good clutch kit for my setup. I will never beat on it or race it.
I want a set up that should not chatter and yet still have an easy clutch pedal.
I don't want to have to use 2 feet to step on it
Quido aka Angelo

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Nice interior! Where can I get all the parts ?
 
I actually had worked with Luk Clutches back in my working days, had good experiences with them so that is what I put in the 83 D150. After about 6 months started having shift issues, grinding gears just a bit, especially going into third. Was real intermittent. Adjusted the clutch, adjusted the shifter linkage several times. It just kept getting worse. After a year of messing with it pulled the motor to get to the clutch to take a look.
One of the adjuster bolts that sets the height of the fingers that the TOB rides on was improperly staked and had gotten way out of adjustment.
The staking on that one adjuster was so light it was almost not present.
I got another clutch and welded the adjuster bolt / nut.
Now I know about one more thing to look for on clutches.
Take a good look at what ever you buy before you put it in.
 
toolmanmike said:
Brewer Performance has performance clutch kits for that 9 1/2" flywheel. (you didn't say you will change to a 10 1/2" set up)
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Hi Mike, IDK what size flywheel. I'll find out when I do the engine swap from the 273 to the 340. what is the advantage of the 10.5 vs the 9.5? more area for the clutch to grab?
 
guido said:
Hi Mike, IDK what size flywheel. I'll find out when I do the engine swap from the 273 to the 340. what is the advantage of the 10.5 vs the 9.5? more area for the clutch to grab?
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Absolutely but if you upgrade to a bigger flywheel you also have to change the bell housing and some of the linkage.
 
Diaphragm clutchs are the easiest to depress and hold, for the same clamp-pressure.
If you install a 9.5, you better put a 2bbl on that 340,lol.
The thing is that on a 4-bbl carb, the primaries and secondaries have to reach WOT simultaneously. That means, the Primaries start opening the Secondaries at somewhere around 50% of the Primary throttle opening. Now; the Factory 340 was never known for a strong bottom end, so you may be driving deeper into the throttle than you think. Just something to keep in mind if you keep the 9.5.

The thing is, if your 340 is a low compression model, you can really increase the low-rpm grunt with a shorter-period cam. I once, in the 70s, installed a complete 318 top end and cam, onto a 340, which made it a torque-monster. It made short work of the 904 behind it, which was originally behind a 273, lol. Hey, I was a broke-azz 22 year old with no job; I just threw together what was available, for cheap or barter.
 
AJ/FormS said:
Diaphragm clutchs are the easiest to depress and hold, for the same clamp-pressure.
If you install a 9.5, you better put a 2bbl on that 340,lol.
The thing is that on a 4-bbl carb, the primaries and secondaries have to reach WOT simultaneously. That means, the Primaries start opening the Secondaries at somewhere around 50% of the Primary throttle opening. Now; the Factory 340 was never known for a strong bottom end, so you may be driving deeper into the throttle than you think. Just something to keep in mind if you keep the 9.5.

The thing is, if your 340 is a low compression model, you can really increase the low-rpm grunt with a shorter-period cam. I once, in the 70s, installed a complete 318 top end and cam, onto a 340, which made it a torque-monster. It made short work of the 904 behind it, which was originally behind a 273, lol. Hey, I was a broke-azz 22 year old with no job; I just threw together what was available, for cheap or barter.
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Brewer's new offering. 2 available, 9 1/2" , up to 500 horse. I think we are safe here! Brewer's Performance - Mopar A833 4-Speed Transmission and Component Specialists

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Once upon a time I had a '67 Valiant with a '68 340 on a '67 factory 4 speed. One night taking my girlfriend home about 2am, I realized how late it was and while travelling along at 60 in 4th, I stepped on the gas, heard and felt a "bang" and later discovered she'd spun the hub out of the oem 9.5" clutch. Moral of the story? Put a 10.5" clutch in and never have a problem.
 
You can get a 10" clutch disc and run it on the 9.5" flywheel if you find the correct pressure plate.
 
If you are using the 10-1/2 bellhousing flywheel etc. from the 340 I recommend the McLoed Street Pro as previously mentioned. You will need some linkage mods to use the 10.5 bell housing but it's pretty easy to round up the pieces or Brewers sells them.
If you keep the 9.5" flywheel contact American Powertrain. They can put together a 10" dual friction diaphragm clutch that will fit and hold. I had one in my car for several years before I switched it to the 10.5 setup.
 
toolmanmike said:
Brewer Performance has performance clutch kits for that 9 1/2" flywheel. (you didn't say you will change to a 10 1/2" set up)
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I would highly recommend calling Brewer Performance and getting their recommendation. They are nice people and very knowledgeable. They might be a little more expensive than Jegs, but I think it is well worth the difference to deal with them.
 
For easier pedal effort how about switching to a hydraulic clutch linkage instead of mechanical linkage? I've had several stick shifts and none were as stiff as my 78 D300 was ....
The best one I had was the center force "1 step over stock" pressure plate with a factory stock disc that was sin my 97 Wrangler. Diaphragm like the original was but there was something different about the release point between them. Didn't think I'd like it at first but after a day of driving it I grew to really like it.
I had a Dakota 318 club cab with the same model trans at the same time with that wrangler, which called for the same on of clutch as the wrangler did
I had a Luk in the Dakota and I liked that one too, but they definitely drive different because of that release point.
 
RustyRatRod said:
You can get a 10" clutch disc and run it on the 9.5" flywheel if you find the correct pressure plate.
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Yeah, but is it worth the aggravation of sourcing a scarce, smaller clutch? And, you'd have to resurface the flywheel anyways. I don't know, but in my own situation, I just said "FI" and went with the 10.5"- and never had a bit more trouble. Cheers!
 
jimynick said:
Yeah, but is it worth the aggravation of sourcing a scarce, smaller clutch? And, you'd have to resurface the flywheel anyways. I don't know, but in my own situation, I just said "FI" and went with the 10.5"- and never had a bit more trouble. Cheers!
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No, they are readily available almost anywhere. A lot of applications do not have room for the 10.5 clutch, like slant sixes for instance.
 
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