So for my upcoming swap I decided on a LUK clutch. I have always heard good things about them but recently someone on here had a bad experience with one. However, I decided to go with a LUK in spite of that because the dealership I work at buys a lot of jobber parts from a local supplier. We buy so much there that I know if I have trouble with this clutch, they will take care of me. It cost me a bit more, about $60 more than if I would have bought it online out of the US, had it shipped to the border and then run there to pick it up. I figure my border run costs me about $20, so that brings it down to about $40 and it takes a good chunk of time out of an evening for me, so I went this route.
First impressions are good, and as I posted on a different thread about clutches, the pilot bushing is TRUE bronze which is a tough find these days.
The box says made in South Africa. The pressure plate is made there, the disc says Valeo, made in Korea. I have heard Valeo is supposed to be good stuff though, in spite of that.
I plan to update this thread once I have it installed.
Oh, one thing, it includes the typical plastic clutch disc aligning tool which I would suggest is best located in the trash in favour of an old transission input shaft to do a proper job lining up the disc before the trans goes in.
Thanks for this Carl. Did it come with the throwout? And does it look ok, or would you use something different?
I need to find a old 10 spllne input shaft. The plastic is not accurate?
It comes with the throw-out bearing.
Re the plastic alignment tool, I used the one with my Hays clutch, it worked fine. Keep in mind it's only aligning the clutch disc once, allowing the transmission to mount. After that the clutch disc rides on the input shaft of the tranny.
Thanks for this Carl. Did it come with the throwout? And does it look ok, or would you use something different?
I need to find a old 10 spllne input shaft. The plastic is not accurate?
Yes, it's in the lower left of the top picture Mark.
Clint, I've talked to guys who've said they've struggled to get the trans in when they use the plastic shaft and when they did it with an old input shaft it went in instantly. And yes, of course the first time the clutch pedal is depressed it doesn't matter any more anyway, but if a guy can make the installation as easy as possible, why not do it?
Mark, I will check. I might have a spare junk input shaft. If I do, I'll toss it in with your other stuff.
__________________
1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
I have one in my 78 Corvette L82. Been in there for 8yrs. I have had no problems with it Carl. Have a Hays in my 442 and it needs a bit more leg pressure to operate. Both are great units.
Brian
So far I'm going with the 10.5" but I'm gathering the stuff to do an 11" conversion down the road. I have a feeling the little clutch won't like the big block...
__________________
1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
So far I'm going with the 10.5" but I'm gathering the stuff to do an 11" conversion down the road. I have a feeling the little clutch won't like the big block...
Ok . If you still need next coffee I will bring a flyweel for you.
6 springs, as pictured in service manual. The LUK clutch only has 5
Springs as Carl has pictured. Does it matter?
Mine has been fine, just curious.
Many thanks.
Robert
-- Edited by -Robert M- on Friday 15th of February 2019 09:21:22 AM
__________________
1959 Pontiac Laurentian - 1962 Dodge Dart 440 - 1962 Hillman Minx - 1959 Lincoln Premier Landau -1982 Lincoln Mark VI - 1977 Ford LTD Landau - 2017 Ford Fusion Platinum - 1963 Chrysler Imperial
Sorry, yes, I think you are right about it being a 10".
I would think it will be fine with 5 springs, but we'll see. All the springs do is make it engage smoothly. Anyone who's ever had one with broken springs knows it's easy to tell when they're broken!
__________________
1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Sorry, yes, I think you are right about it being a 10".
I would think it will be fine with 5 springs, but we'll see. All the springs do is make it engage smoothly. Anyone who's ever had one with broken springs knows it's easy to tell when they're broken!
Thanks Carl!
Not that I would know the difference as I had never replaced a clutch before - but I found the LUK kit sturdy and well made given that it wasn't a ton of money. I did have a problem with the pilot bearing binding and turning the input shaft while clutch pedal pushed down. (I didn't know one not supposed to put a wee bit of wheel bearing grease on the shaft )
Started it in gear with pedal pushed down and let it idle. 15 minutes of that and was fine. All works really well now.
*Really looking forward to updates as you go*
RGM
__________________
1959 Pontiac Laurentian - 1962 Dodge Dart 440 - 1962 Hillman Minx - 1959 Lincoln Premier Landau -1982 Lincoln Mark VI - 1977 Ford LTD Landau - 2017 Ford Fusion Platinum - 1963 Chrysler Imperial
I chose the 10" because it was listed as the original replacement. I pulled my trans today and now I have a real dilemma.
The original clutch looks beautiful. It measures basically new.
The flywheel is perfect, you can't even feel a ridge where the edge of the disc ran. I can put it back in exactly as it was. And the bronze pilot bushing in the 283 still looks perfect!
Soooooo, now it's down to this-
1) Put this clutch back in.
2) Put a LUK in, either the 10" original, or a 10.375" like Mark listed. And yes Mark, I'm sure the flywheel is the same for either of those 2 sizes.
3) Order an 11" and try to find a bellhousing. A site member here will sell me a big flywheel and I have a big starter but I don't have a bellhousing.
I'm leaning towards putting the clutch back in as it was and shopping for a bellhousing. The Muncie is very simple to pull out and it could be a project next winter converting to 11".
I can easily return the LUK that I bought, with no return charge.
__________________
1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
If it works fine I won't ever go to the 11" though.
For the driving this car is going to do, I'm guessing the 10" will work but I can't say for certain.
It won't see any clutch dumps or full throttle shifts. I did that with hot rods I built, but not with this car.
I will replace the release bearing though. I've learned that lesson. NEVER have the trans out without replacing the release bearing unless you know it's pretty much brand new. In my early 20's I built a 350 for a friends 59 Camino. Put it in, the release bearing felt fine so I didn't change it. Not even a month later it was screeching so I got to pull the Saginaw and put a new bearing in. I've never forgotten that.
__________________
1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Hmmm, seeing the above drawing re clutch fork & release bearing orientation, I'm a bit concerned I did mine incorrectly. Will need to investigate come springtime.
One of the most common mistakes people make when installing a release bearing is doing the clip wrong as shown above. Fortunately my brother taught me very early on about doing them correctly.
Next common one is putting the clutch disc in backwards! I had to learn that one the hard way, but it was a great lesson because the disc had to come back out and be switched around. I won't do that again either...
The first time you put the clutch pedal to the floor you know you made a mistake!
__________________
1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars