My pepboys clutch let go after 7K miles of papmered driving today. I know the miles were pampered because the previous owner of the car didn't have the secondaries working.

I had the car in second at 2/3 throttle and I heard a loud bang as I pushed the clutch in to go to third. The pedal lost most of the pressure at the same time. After coasting for a few seconds I matched revs and put it into second. Nothing, just slipping. The cluch is permenantley disengaged. The strange thing is there is no noise coming from the bell housing (or anywhere else) at idle.

So two questions:
1) What the heck would cause this? A blown disc?
2) What do I replace it with so I don't have to mess with it for another 30K miles or more.

Thanks.

PS - It's a '69 350/350 4 speed w/ 3.70s

 

In my opinion the "bang" that you heard was probably your clutch disc scattering. You won't know for sure until you pull the bellhousing. If it was your clutch disc, consider yourself lucky to have your feet. Hayes and Center Force both make quality clutches. Jeg's carries both of these brands.

I find it odd that your clutch came apart as you pushed in the clutch :confused:. Normally a clutch will come apart whenever you release it to put power through the transmission. Either way check it out and let us know what you find.

 

Well, if the clutch was mis-adjusted, even with pampered driving it would wear pretty bad. Having the wrong throwout bearing installed will do this too.

Have you tried re-adjusting the clutch pedal and checking it for play?

I went the lifetime clutch route on my Camaro once. It started my motto of "buy a lifetime clutch, replace it for a lifetime). Since then I have used only Centerforce Dual Friction clutches. They are a little stiff, but holy cow do they work well. Look into it. Hays makes damn good clutches too.

I'd stay away from the part store brands, unless of course you feel like replacing your clutch all the time.

 

What's the problem you asked? Two words...... PEP BOY'S. :U :U

 

I'm pretty sure the pedal was adjusted properly. I've adjusted them before and the engagement point on this clutch was in about the same spot. I had no slipping on chattering prior to today, I didn't have any today either, just a bang.

At any rate, the centerforce dual friction looks like the way to go. Just one question. I was hoping to have my wife drive the car to shows / club events on occasion (she's afraid of my ZR-1, whimp :)), do you think the centerforce is too stiff for the average 5'9" 120-130# female to drive?

Okay, I lied, one more question. What's the PITA factor on this with the welded in cross member? The only time I've installed a manual tranny in a C3 the body was off the car at the time which made it pretty darn easy. Is this something you do on your back with jack-stands or do you just take it somewhere and have it done?

 

Yep, Pepboy's sucks. I bought the clutch and many other parts 7-8 years ago while doing a body off cleanup. (I didn't use correct paint or fasteners so I don't call it a restoration :rolleyes:)

I'll never go there again except for fasteners and light bulbs. And then only because I live less that 200 yds away from one. A couple of months ago I took my former 300zx twin turbo (I sold it to buy back my '69) there to have the oil changed and they did $1200 damage to the front end by running it up and over a parking curb when they were done. They paid up only because I made the manager on duty put it in writing that they had done the damage, I had him look at it before I even unlocked it.

 

The non- removable cross member is not the problem. The real PIA is the exhaust system. After you get past that the rest is not too bad. You do need a clutch alignment tool though to center the new clutch disc. An old input shaft from an old trans works the best. :cheers:

 

If your not racing, you might look at the Centerforce II's. They engage smoother and still hold up well.

I just changed my clutch. Jackstands on my back. Not to bad of job. Just hard to get at the shifter bolts. Some members on this forum can get it out in less than two hours. It took me half day out and most of the next putting it in and adjusting everything.

Hope this helps

Terry

 

If you are lucky you have side pipes and that really makes the job easier. :yesnod:

 

I have a Centerforce dual friction clutch and I like it but I would recommend a Hayes clutch. The Centerforce is really affected by clutch geometry and you may need to use an adjustable ball and possibly a new flywheel. The Hays seems much less afected by the clutch geometry and should go right in.

 

I have the Centerforce but not the dual Friction. The one under that. It holds fine and pedal pressure is almost like stock. As for the tranny removal I just took mine out in about 1 hour. Once the exhaust is out of theway it goes very easy.

 

I have/had the centerforce II, 4 years and 15000-20000 miles of UNpampered driving and it started to slip in the fall. Pretty good clutch IMO. I never had any problems with the geometry if thats worth anything. I'll post pictures of a new clutch disc and old one when I get around to tearing into the car(its a bit cold right now)

 

I hear that! The side pipes are really nice when it comes to removing the rear end or transmission. Makes working under the car much more tolerable. :yesnod:

 

Centerforce Dual Friction, bought it through JEGS a year and a half ago (1,100 miles). So far, no problems, normal pedal effort.

Dwayne


[Modified by BigBlockVette, 11:14 PM 2/23/2002]

 

What's the trick to removing the transmission with the welded in cross member? I just finished removing the transmission this morning but i had to raise the engine and move it forward 3 inches for the input shaft to clear the bellhousing. I am more concerned on the reinstall trying to line up the input with the clutch. P.S. The reason I had to pull the transmission, the freeze plug behind the cam blew out yesterday on the first drive with the new engine. I think I have plenty of oil pressure! Going to pin the new one in when I reinstall. Thanks for any help, Carl.

 

You need to remove the shifter first and then the tranny will come out. The shifter must come out first and go in last.

 

This is what I found works best also. It's a pain removing the shifter from the linkage, but the easiest way to remove/ install the tranny. :yesnod: .