I Can't Stop My Clutch Chatter On My '53!

[Binx]

Originally Posted by J Franklin

A friend with somewhat similar deal was not supporting the trans well on install before tightening up and distorted the disk.

Excellent point. If the trans was brute force bench pressed in and left to hang by the clutch hub before stabbed into the pilot bushing/bearing it will likely bend the disc hub.

Lonnie

[northeastcarnut]

I had the transmission carefully supported level then installed it with the spline into the disc, then releasing the clutch just enough to let the transmission slip the rest of the way into the pilot bearing. Pressure plate bolts and transmission to bell housing were torqued to specs using new bolts. There is no play in the transmission spline or with the engine at the flywheel. Still a mystery !!

[rotorwrench]

Clutch chatter on the 59A era and earlier cars was mostly due to the push of the torque tube on the engine & trans. Movement could get excessive with worn mounts and cause the equalizer parts to get moved around too much.

On the 8BA era cars, the chatter is generally due to localized problems with the clutch components. Just about everything has been touched on in this thread so far. Flywheel warpage or crankshaft flange irregularities can be checked with a dial indicator as already mentioned. If it is a Long or Borg & Beck type clutch, the pressure plate has to be true and have the proper parts internally to get a good footprint on the disk. A clutch shop can check this stuff. Ft Wayne Clutch is highly recommended for this. The cushion plates or whatever the clutch disk cushion material is between the two friction plates has to be right. If it has a spring disk type clutch disk then the springs & hub have to be up to the task. Trans and input shaft alignment are in there too as was mentioned.

I've seen where folks have used diaphragm clutches from a mid 80s Camaro with a Borg & Beck type pattern or something of that nature but I can't tell you what parts work for that. It has to work for the 1-inch 10-spline input and the original type throw out bearing assy if you still have the OEM type transmission. Ft Wayne Clutch might be able to help out there as well. I know that it has been done before and the diaphragm types generally don't have near the problems with chatter that the old Borg Warner designs do.

[donald1950]

are all 3 fingers of the pressure plate adjust correctly to the same height ? if the throwout bearing is releasing one before the other two, and releasing the pressure plate unevenly that could well cause chatter...

[George/Maine]

If you can remember if the Pressure Plate had 6 even spaced bolt pattern.
You say Mercury maybe 51?
If you are using the mercury PP it larger in finger dia.
Your trans must have 1" dia shaft.
I think you NEED a flywheel for 9" PP and clutch.
Mercury had large throw out bearing and using small one could be problem.
Doing same thing over and over with no results, time to try something else.

[tubman]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Originally Posted by donald1950

are all 3 fingers of the pressure plate adjust correctly to the same height ? if the throwout bearing is releasing one before the other two, and releasing the pressure plate unevenly that could well cause chatter...

I had this problem myself when putting an engine together. I was using a new pressure plate of unknown origin I had gotten at a swap meet for an extremely reasonable price. When I checked it, it seemed to be out an unreasonable amount. Here's a link to what I found and how I corrected it : https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showt...light=pressure

[Bulligen]

I had been told in the old days they would pick a big old tree and pull the car up to it. Then slowly let out the clutch and burn it in !!!!!!

[J Franklin]

Burn it in, or burn it out!

[tubman]

Never worked for me. I once put a new pressure plate, disk, and resurfaced flywheel in my '51. When it still chattered, I followed my 80 year old neighbor's advice and tried this (only I used a power pole). Just made it worse. The next year I found out it was bad motor mounts. Luckily I didn't do any damage with this "technique". As I look back on it now, deep down I had little confidence in doing this, so I didn't really put full power to it.

Bottom line? If you have this much time and money into a project and still have problems, find them and fix them and don't resort to stuff like this.

[Shu47]

I agree that if you have all these new parts in it and have chatter then you want to figure it out and fix it right...... but I have an 47 tonner that has some chatter and I find that putting some firm pressure on the brakes and holding the RPMs up slightly with the dash mounted throttle and then put it in say 3rd gear and let the clutch out slightly until it drags for 5 or 10 seconds will get rid of my chatter for a little while. One of these days I will take it apart but for now it gets me by.

[Bulligen]

When I repeated the old timer solution it was just meant to make us smile. I would never do that to my car or truck. Keep investigating to discover the real issue and fix it right. Like someone else mentioned, have you checked the motor mounts and or the rear spring hangers for unwanted play or movement?

[Dick]

I have a '49 coupe that has extreme clutch chatter.
Everything in this thread has been done at least once without results.
Northeast told me he installed a completely new flywheel/clutch assembly without results.
I would like to formulate a methodical plan to solve this by changing parts known to be working from other vehicles. I have the parts available now.

Engine is smooth and quiet at all rpms
With rear wheels in the air, no chatter.
Car moving down the road it's quiet and smoothe.
Car sitting still; letting the clutch out slowly causes the violent chatter before the car starts to move.

As so much has been done I'm thinking replacing the trans first, easiest.
Then the bell housing. Then the complete flywheel assembly etc.

What would you do first?
I'd appreciate any input on this. I am determind to find the cause.
Thanks!
Dick

[adileo]

I didn’t read the posts, but my chatter stopped after I replaced the (very worn - dry rotted) motor mounts on my
52 F1.

[1948F-1Pickup]

I've got this chatter BS with my F-1 as well. Same modus operandi....
slow pedal release, bad news. Quicker release with a fair amount of
throttle and it's ok. It does put a damper on the driving experience though.
I suspect the clutch friction material in my case..... as it came from the
prior owner with who knows what "quality" stuff? I've replaced the engine mounts, the clutch linkage pivot bushings (which were totally thrashed) and carefully set up the clearance and operation of the linkage.
I may go with a diaphragm pressure plate and a Fort Wayne disc the next time I drop the trans......

[38 coupe]

I did three clutch jobs on my 53. The worst results were the completely new clutch kit. I found the new pressure plates to be junk. I got a good used original type pressure plate and a "NOS" clutch disk from that auction site (probably an old factory authorized rebuilt disk, but whatever). My clutch is now great.

[Tinker]

Originally Posted by Bulligen

I had been told in the old days they would pick a big old tree and pull the car up to it. Then slowly let out the clutch and burn it in !!!!!!

Usually that was to burn off oil, you'll never burn in an alignment as the clutch disc and the pressure plate arms meet different every time. I'd look at adjusting the clutch arms as mentioned. or stop riding the clutch.

[Dick]

Hi Guys,
I found the part that was causing the violent chatter. I wouldn't have thought of looking at this normally but was inspecting parts as I was removing the transmission. My helper noticed the throwout bearing hub wasn't sliding smoothly on the input shaft retainer.
I just happened to look at it while having coffee and spotted the problem.

The bearing is on the hub crooked. It's at an angle. I guess it would have acted like a cam lobe to the pressure plate fingers. It must have been driven onto the hub rather than pressed??

I still have a bit of a shudder but it's probably from damage done with this throwout bearing. I'll fix the rest when I change to an OD transmission.

Thanks to everyone that posted on this thread from the beginning as it save a lot of parts and labor!
Dick

[40cpe]

Good catch on the bearing. I love to see laser straight shoeboxes.

[Mart]

I'm glad you found the culprit, Dick.

But Northeast (I guess) still has the problem.

I can't offer much, but would strip and carefully inspect all the parts. I would definitely attach a dial indicator to the flywheel and clock both the bellhousing bore and face for trueness, shimming/redowelling as necessary.

[Ford Freak]

Hey Dick - great looking '49 . Gonna get me one of those someday !