Centerforce Clutch Swap

Linkage Rebuild
Classic musclecar clutch linkages are actually pretty crude. On our Chevelle, both clutch linkage arms and the Z-bar are metal-to-metal pins with no lubrication. These tend to wear, especially if the car has been subjected to a stiff pressure plate. Our clutch linkage is well past the four-decade mark and is showing its age. We've welded the pins before and polished them smooth, but the best solution is to eliminate them altogether and go to spherical rod ends. There are several approaches, but we like to use thin-wall tubing and weld in 51/416-inch threaded bungs on each end. Then just thread in a pair of male spherical bearings with jam nuts set to the length of the original rods and you're done. You need to make up one rod from the clutch pedal to the Z-bar and the other rod from the Z-bar to the throwout bearing release arm. We bolted our pieces together with fine-thread bolts and locking nuts to prevent them from coming loose. We found our parts at Art Morrison Enterprises. If you don't want to build this system, you can buy similar pieces from SpeedDirect.

Here's how the clutch disc is placed on the flywheel, with the spring hub facing outward toward the pressure plate.

Position the Centerforce pressure plate and disc on the flywheel by starting a couple of bolts while holding the disc in place with the dummy shaft. Put Loctite on the pressure-plate bolts and use a star pattern to evenly load the pressure plate. It is an important step in not tweaking the pressure plate. Hold the dummy shaft as square to the flywheel as possible, and then with the bolts snug, torque them to the factory spec.

Bolt the bellhousing in place. We like to use two transmission studs made out of old bolts in the top two holes to help guide the trans into place (arrow). The studs keep it aligned and prevent the input shaft from tweaking the clutch disc if the trans does not fully seat into the bellhousing. Never use the trans bolts to pull the trans into the bellhousing; that's how those dainty ears get broken on Muncie four-speeds. If the trans won't seat, read the Tech Tip sidebar we've included. If that doesn't work, there's something amiss. Pull the trans and figure out what went wrong.

Now you can bolt the trans, shifter, crossmember, and driveshaft back into place. This is also a good time to spend a few minutes adjusting the shifter. Removing and reinstalling it can cause it to go out of adjustment. For Hurst shifters, be sure to use the alignment pin. If you don't have one, use a drill bit.

Using spherical rod ends eliminates wear in the linkage and also looks cool. The appearance alone is worth the investment.