5/8ths pressure plate adjustment i need help please

[fredski]

adjust the plate finger 5/8 to where, the back of the throw out bearing?
have read search threads but I don't know where to measure .
as it is now throw out bearing is about an inch play to fingers.
I have les book on adjustment but not sure or don't understand.

maybe some one can simplify. 3o town sedan.

fredski

[1931 flamingo]

Why are you wanting to adj the fingers?? Do you have a problem?? Have you just replaced clutch and p/plate?? Is it that you have 1" of play??
If it's the last ? and nothings been replaced, I would adj the clutch pedal free play. Others will chime in I'm sure.
Paul in CT

[700rpm]

Fingers are adjusted from the top of the pressure plate. I lay a tri-square across the top, but any straight-edge will do. Then I measure with another tri-square set at 5/8" on each finger, measuring clearance at the finger with a feeler gauge. You have to do this with the pressure plate mounted to the flywheel. I think you're supposed to do this within .002 tolerance at the fingers. I have done this with the flywheel and pressure plate and engine and trans in the car, but it is a pain in the fanny. Much easier to do with the trans or engine out.

[Tom Wesenberg]

This is a bad picture because the disc and pressure plate need to be mounted in place on the flywheel to do the adjustment, but this will show you how to measure.

It sounds like you may need a clutch pedal adjustment, rather than a pressure plate adjustment. If the 6 pressure plate fingers are all even and about 5/8" to 11/16" from the surface pf the pressure plate, then you can adjust the rod on the bottom of the clutch pedal to take up the freeplay. Just pull the cotter pin and turn the rod in the trunion.

[Jon]

I did similar to what Tom did but using a depth micrometer.

[fredski]

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Originally Posted by 1931 flamingo

Why are you wanting to adj the fingers?? Do you have a problem?? Have you just replaced clutch and p/plate?? Is it that you have 1" of play??
If it's the last ? and nothings been replaced, I would adj the clutch pedal free play. Others will chime in I'm sure.
Paul in CT

I replaced clutch plate 40 years ago and it sat idle until now.
also replaced motor with a supposly rebuild and never started up.

now retired trying to get it mobile. I put in new pedal bushings recently
and now clutch pedal out of adjustment.
engine should start carb rebuilt ,dist, water pump, new wiring harness.

fredski

[fredski]

Originally Posted by Tom Wesenberg

This is a bad picture because the disc and pressure plate need to be mounted in place on the flywheel to do the adjustment, but this will show you how to measure.

It sounds like you may need a clutch pedal adjustment, rather than a pressure plate adjustment. If the 6 pressure plate fingers are all even and about 5/8" to 11/16" from the surface pf the pressure plate, then you can adjust the rod on the bottom of the clutch pedal to take up the freeplay. Just pull the cotter pin and turn the rod in the trunion.

thank you for picture . I will adjust pedal play first and see how pedal
free play is.

if nessasary will do 5/8 adjust.

fred

[fredski]

more info I remember having flywheel resurfaced and replaced with new disc
and just put back in pressure plate

fredski

[Tom Wesenberg]

If the clutch has been assembled and setting for 40 years, the disc might be rusted to the flywheel. If so there have been threads about how to break it loose.

When I was 10th grade I got the stuck clutch loose on a 1952 Desoto with fluid drive. I just drove it to a tree and rested the front bumper against the tree, then stepped on the clutch and gas at the same time. That did the trick. That was a very nice car, but my dad still wouldn't let me buy it for $35. The two new mounted snow tires in the trunk were worth that much.

[Richard Lorenz]

I believe that the Ford spec. for the distance is 3/4 inch, not 5/8.

[fredski]

tom //
I adjusted clutch play , put a board between pedal to hold down , put on emergency brake and turned motor by hand with trans in gear and motor will turn over.

so I guess we don't have a stuck plate to fly wheel, that's good!

thanks for bring that to my attention.

fred

[Tom Endy]

The attached photo is of a tool I had a friend make for me. It is used to adjust the clutch fingers on the pressure plate. It is adjustable between 5\8" and 3\4". I usually set it in the middle at 11\16". Anywhere in the window is acceptable. One setting will put the clutch pedal engage point closer to the floor, the other further up. Off hand I forget which is which. In the middle (11\16") puts the pedal more in the middle.

The tool is very easy to use, especially when the clutch is in the car. Adjusting it on the work bench is much easier. Les Andrews suggests, in one of his articles, to place the flat side of a rear wheel bearing on the fingers when the adjustment has been done to check for any wobble. This will tell you if you have all the fingers set exactly the same.

The clutch fingers should always be checked and adjusted when installing a new cluch as the pressure plate does not always arrive from the supplier correctly set. The thickness of the clutch disk you are going to use is also a factor.

Tom Endy

[tbirdtbird]

haha good story, Tom. I knew a Model A guy who pulled his motor because the disc was stuck to the flywheel because he thought that would have to be the way to do it. Ouch!
I have unstuck many a stuck clutch disk by merely starting the motor while in gear with the brake and clutch depressed at the same time. Always works. Posters on another forum have accused me of dangerous practice and insist on jacking up the rear wheels and all sorts of other unnecessary stuff. Evidently for them starting a car while in gear freaks them out...of course you can always shut the motor down with the key in a true emergency! Your solution of moving the car up to a tree solves a bunch of problems but you still need to drive (or push i suppose) to a tree.

And those fluid drive Chrysler products were a blast to drive.