1962 Bel Air Bubble Top 409 Project

Phil Reed

Well Seasoned Member
Supporting Member 10
Stan................your clutch fork and clevis are correct for your application but.............your upper and lower rods are not. Show Cars has both rods repo and are correct. Assuming you have the correct 409 bellcrank, maybe getting the correct rods will help with your alignment problem.
How's your front seat??????????????????????
 

CASHguzzler409

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 6
IMG_0928.jpg 100_2660.jpg IMG_0928.jpg 100_2660.jpg 100_2666.jpg 100_2665.jpg 100_2664.jpg 100_2662.jpg 100_2659.jpg Phil, glad to see you haven't lost your knack for humor. Yesterday I removed all parts, driveshaft, tranny, bell housing, clutch/pressure plate, throwout bearing fork.
What I found is the side of the clutch plate that faces the flywheel, the springs had been hitting the flywheel bolts. After re-reading the center force web page,
it could be that the flywheel is to thin or the bolts are not the correct ones. Thanks for your input, when you say that the upper/lower rods, are wrong, do you mean
the long clutch rod coming out of the cowl.? I know that the bottom one is not the correct one, as I broke off the tip, and had to make a new one. I made it the same
length as original, 9 7/8 ", then made one longer, as I couldn't get the throwout bearing to work as needed.

UPDATE..... First thanks for all the help and idea's.

I took my Dual Centerforce parts over to the machine shop, and in a second he told me what was wrong. Astonished, it was NOT my fault. I had the WRONG
type flywheel, it would never have work with my set up, as the machine shop guy said, cheap Chineese junk. I needed one that was designed for the extra springs
that are in the Centerforce Clutch disk, deeper so the bolts don't hit them. So I've ordered a flywheel, clutch disc, and new bolts. Im confident that this set up will
work, and I can finally take it for a drive. Here's some pictures of my system. IMG_0928.jpg 100_2660.jpg
 
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Baron

Active Member
Supporting Member 1
Always a good thing when you take it apart and can see what the problem was . That is a lot of work to go through for a flywheel that was not machined or made correctly. You really have to be careful buying after-market parts today. So many of them are junk from the get go. Glad you found the problem ( and nice to know it was nothing you did wrong! )
 

blkblk63ss

Well Seasoned Member
Supporting Member 5
Cash , you might want to resurface the new flywheel you get. I put a new flywheel in mine and it has a chatter on take off. I was told I should have resurfaced it ,but I assumed being new it was ok ,,,,,wrong!!!:tantrum It look 's like your flywheel also was uneven....
 

CASHguzzler409

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 6
Thanks Baron, this is all about learning as we go for me. BlkBlk63ss good thinking on having it resurfaced, Im buy the flywheel from a machine shop so I will
ask them about getting a new one resurfaced. The thing I wish for the most, is just taking it for a nice long drive, with no problems. I do love this site, lots
of W people willing to help. :drive
 

62impala409

 
Supporting Member 1
I have been resurfacing the flywheels whenever I do a clutch job. The flywheel needs the rough grind marks to seat the pressure plate, much like brake rotors need a rough surface finish to seat the pads and prevent squealing.
 

CASHguzzler409

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 6
And wouldn't you think the manufactures would suggest this, or even better do this extra step for the customer?. :dunno2
 

Phil Reed

Well Seasoned Member
Supporting Member 10
Stan.....................you told me in Bowling Green you should have taken my advise.
Here goes......BALANCE your new flywheel also. It's amazing how many new flywheels are not in balance. Probably $20-25. Don't put it in and then find out you have a vibration. To be sure...take in your new pressure plate and clutch and then have the whole assembly balanced. Money well spent.
I'll go back to my original post above...........get the correct upper and lower rods from Show Cars and make sure you have the correct bellcrank!!! Also......check your clutch fork is not worn where the throwout bearing rides. If it has grooves...either get a new one if possible or have yours welded up and ground smooth so the TOB is in proper position.
I'm off my soap box now...............................
 

CASHguzzler409

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 6
Dear Mr. Soap Box.......LOL I just returned from the machine shop, they made me a new flywheel, surfaced it, balanced it, I bought new bolts for both flywheel and
new Clutch plate. Hopefully it will go back together and align in the correct way. My seat is buckled down, as is my hood, fixed the radiator, and i am ready teddy.
 

CASHguzzler409

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 6
The Crisis is over and done. After taking out the tranny 3 or 4 times we found out what the '"noise"problems were. I could not have found these problems by myself, my friends Barry & Gary were there to give me advise after I took it apart and then took it apart again. The things I'd like to pass on to the first timers are these.
Take pictures, make sure you have all the right parts, like , the right length bolts, very important, all the same sized heads, makes it much easier and faster to get them tight. I was installing the bell housing bolts, I thought I had the right ones, but I couldn't get the 9/16 th on them, or the 5/8 sockets on them. Came to
find out I had a 16 -17- 18 metric bolt. I got up and down from underneath that car, 20 times, looking for the right socket. Its amazing how pissed you can get at yourself. Always take your time, if things aren't working out, quit for a while or the night, but have a sheet of paper or something to remind your self in the morning where you left off, so you can finish that job first. As the time I forgot to tighten the seat bolts down, makes it hard to shift when going down the track having your
seat act like a rocking chair...lol :doh Well at least it was a good laugh.. ?
After taking everything off back to the flywheel, we started it up, NO noise, I was so happy, we then installed the clutch system and bell housing and dust shield.
We started it up again, and the NOISE was back, loud as hell. We now new it was something we just put on. My buddies got under the car and I started it up again, and they listened, one of them used a 12" hose to listen for noises, he listened to the starter, no noise, he put the hose on the dust shield and all hell broke loose in his ear. That was the problem, the dust shield. As we kept looking for the why of the noise, Gary saw that the flywheel bolts coming through the crank were just long enough to touch the dust shield, making all the noise. We had another problem, the clutch fork spring we had welded onto the fork was not holding the fork on the ball at the right angle, we cut that spring off and install a new one. Wall la..... the clutch fork, throwout bearing, lined up perfect. After putting it all back together , we adjusted the clutch from the top rod some , and things were like a different car was born. This was on Wednesday night, I had to be at the Good Guys car event the next day , you talk about stress and cutting it close, but we made it to the show and put are car on display indoors. I will say it again, Thanks to all for the attention to my post's, and my asking for your help. This forum is Greatttttt... as Tony the Tiger says. :appl:appl:salute:winner:bow CASH
 

Baron

Active Member
Supporting Member 1
Glad you got it up and running and made it to the Good Guys show. One of those deals if you didn't make it, it's a year to the next one (unless you have the time to travel). Have fun.
 

CASHguzzler409

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 6
Had a great day at the Good Guys, they had 2988 cars for its event. I went out on Sunday as they have that day open to all years of different cars. Got through looking at all I could find and just
as I was finishing, I happen to run into a "Bud" outdoor refreshment stand. This was great, but the best part was it was right behind the band playing live music, it was the local group called,
The Blues Brothers. I loved it, of course I had to have a couple of bubblies to be polite. :drunk
 

CASHguzzler409

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 6
My clutch is as smooth as it gets, I have only driven it a couple miles, but I sure do remember this is the way it should feel. Im going to take the car out today, weather permitting, it runs good, but not
great yet, might need new plugs or just driving it to clean them up. The car has a nice heavy feel, even with the bias tires, I do have a set of radials Im going to put on. Im now ready for a few more
car events in the area. Thanks Don for inquiring, hope your weather is not like we see on the news.
 

CASHguzzler409

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 6
Today was my first 100 mile trip in the 409. What a day it was, drove on the freeway, also about 20 miles and a curvy back wooded road, shifting through the gears, listening to the engine, the windows were all down, and the wind was blowing what hair I have all over the place. Was it worth 3 years work, and twice the money I had intended to spend?. HELL YES......could someone help me wipe this smile off my face. :) :dance:dance3
 
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