Clutch Swap

Hey, welcome to the shop where horsepower is the name of the game. And we played hard here every weekend.

And speaking of players, how about this? 67 Mustang fast back. Now, this thing runs an 850 horse 600 cubic inch big block Ford with a Holly dominator and dual stages of Nitrous. Now, this thing is capable of cranking out well over 1000 horsepower at the push of a button. Of course, the more power you're making, the more strain you're putting on the cars, drive train. And

I gotta tell you that's something I know about firsthand.

Now, chances are you followed the build up on project nightmare here. And you know that some time ago, we installed a Vortex Super charger on the stock 4.6 L engine.

And recently we followed that up with one of their after cooler kits.

Now, last time we signed up on the

dyno Jet made over 300 horses at the rear wheels.

Of course, that's nothing compared to the fast back over there. But I gotta tell you this thing is a blast on the street and I just love showing all those Camaros. My tail lights around town.

However,

the stock clutching this thing just is not up to the extra abuse. And, well, as you may know, there's nothing worse than frying your tires off the line than frying your clutch.

Uh huh. Southern fried clutch. Huh? One of my favorites. Now, what do you say while I finish unpacking all of these parts that we go back to school and see how a clutch actually works. Because if you drive anything with a straight shift transmission,

well, you're going to have to transfer that power from the engine

to the transmission.

A typical clutch has three basic parts, a flywheel attached to the crank shaft, a friction disk riding on the transmission input shaft and a pressure plate assembly which includes a pressure plate, diaphragm spring and cover.

Other components include the throt fork and bearing and a bell housing that connects the transmission to the engine.

When the clutch pedal is depressed, the throt bearing pushes against the diaphragm fingers separating the pressure plate from the friction disk interrupting power transfer.

When the pedal is released,

the throw bearing causes the diaphragm spring to move the opposite direction, engaging the pressure plate to the friction disk and flywheel, transferring power to the transmission.

As you might imagine, the clutch disc is probably one of the first things that'll wear out on here but the springs in your pressure plate.

Well, they can get weak too because of all the heat that they're subjected to. Now, when that happens, well, you're gonna lose a little bit of clamping force on your clutch assembly and your pedal is probably gonna get weak too.

Yeah, that's what's happening to my mustang. So, to fix the problem, we ordered a performance clutch kit from Hayes. Now, it's a matched assembly that includes a new disk, pressure plate,

new throw out bearing

this installation tool and even a new bolt kit.

Now, this dis measures a full 11 inches which is a half inch larger than the stocker for more clamping area.

The pressure plate uses stronger diaphragm springs for more clamping force. Now, the end result of course is a high performance clutch assembly that's gonna be able to handle that extra horse foul. Yeah, I think that thing is gonna be more than stout enough. But you know what, in order to make those bigger components work, well, we needed to get a bigger fly wheel. So we ordered this one from Hayes.

Of course, all their fly wheels are sf I certified for

50 plus,

they're all balanced to each specific engine application.

They also offer them from 25 to 50 pounds, which means the lighter fly wheels are gonna let you rev that engine just a little bit quicker and of course, the heavier ones are gonna store more energy,

help you get a heavier car off the line a little bit better. Now, considering the weight and gear ratio of a mustang. Well, I think this 30 pounder right here was just what we needed.

Well, I've already got started on some of the work under here, like removing the shifter from inside the car and the X pipe from the exhaust. And once I get this drive shaft out of here, all we'll have to do is disconnect a couple sensors and electrical connections.

Hey, remember these long tube headers that we installed a while ago.

Well, they're great for horsepower. But when it comes to changing a clutch or dropping the transmission,

they can be quite a hassle. Now, I've already loosened the passenger side and let it rest in the engine compartment. That'll give us enough room to slip the bell housing past it

start by disconnecting the clutch cable,

then unbolt the starter

after supporting the transmission, remove the cross member from the frame,

then you'll be able to unbolt the bell housing from the block.

If it's a convertible, the G load brace also needs to come out.

That'll allow us to rotate the transmission counterclockwise enough to clear the headers and trans tunnel. So it comes right out.

Now, we can get to this clutch assembly that's held in place with six bolts. But before backing them off,

I'll install this alignment tool to keep everything in place.

Once the bolts are gone,

the disc and pressure plate come right out.

Finally, we can remove the flywheel boats and the fly wheel.

Hey, if you plan on reusing your flywheel, I got a little tip for you. You probably notice some heat checks on the face of it and that's normal. Your machine shop can resurface it for you.

But if you see cracks down in this recess area, you might need to trash this thing. You see those cracks can work their way into the retaining boat area, weaken the fly wheel and make it even come apart during high torque loads.

Hey, I've got a tip too while you got everything apart. Make sure you check out this pilot

bearing for wear and replace it if it's worn because you know what? It's a really cheap part. Anyway. Now here's something else that you want to take care of. Go ahead and clean the flywheel and the pressure plate with some carb cleaner. Now that's gonna help you get rid of any manufacturing oils or grease that may have come off your hands

looks pretty good right there. Now, we're about ready to bolt this flywheel back up. But don't you bolt away because we're gonna be back with more horsepower TV.

Right after this

later, some hair raising tales from

Sma in Las Vegas, home of the world's wildest rides, some way out wacky rides

and some winning ones in an annual Cool Car contest. We'll help choose the winners later in the show.

Well, breaks over time to get back to work here in the horse power shop. Now, in case you're just joining us, we're upgrading the clutch in my 96 GT there with a performance kit from Hayes. Now, we've already got the old clutch assembly parts off and now it's time to put it back together. Beginning with our new fly wheel.

Anytime you install a new flywheel, always use new bolts,

add a little dreadlock

and torque them to the recommended specs.

Hey, here's something that could save you a headache down the road

before you install this new clutch disk test fitted on the input shaft of the transmission to make sure there's no binding

to do that,

lubricate the spines of this input shaft with some light grease.

There we go.

Now

place the disk over the input shaft

and make sure that it moves freely back and forth. It's ok. Hey, that's some great advice, you know, and I noticed that you wiped your hands there before you touch this thing. And that's a good habit to get into. After all, you don't want any grease or dirt on this disk or it could cause it to chatter or maybe even slip. Now, here's something else you want to pay attention to the proper orientation of this disk. Now, this thing actually has a sticker that says fly wheel side

and you'll also notice that it has an offset on this hub here and well, this won't even drop down into that recess and the fly wheel. So make sure you pay attention to that as well. Now, if you do bolt this thing up wrong though, well, it could bend this disk or maybe even damage your clutch assembly. Now, what do you say? We get back to work,

start by positioning the disk and hold it in place with the alignment tool.

The pressure plate assembly goes on next

and using the bolts from the kit, tighten them up in a crisscross fashion.

Once you're done,

you can torque them to 30 ft pounds.

We're just about ready to reinstall the transmission. But before we do, we need to prep the new throw out bearing. I always like to put a little grease here on the inside so it moves freely on the transmission snout.

Now we can lift the tranny back into place.

Reconnect the clutch cable,

tighten up the header,

the starter in the place

reattach the electrical connections,

bolt up the trainee cross member and the G load brace,

then reinstall the driveshaft

and finally bolt up the A

pipe and we're done underneath

reinstalling. The shifter is the last bit of rent spinning on this project and then we can go ahead and get our clutch adjusted.

But you know, you can forget about crawling under the car to do that. It's gonna be so easy. You won't believe it.

Late model Mustangs have a self adjusting clutch to give you the proper amount of release.

You simply pump the clutch pedal slowly several times and you'll feel the quadrant ratcheting as it shortens the cable to the proper length.

Pretty easy. Huh? Well, that about wraps up our clutch swap, which will probably take you the better part of the day out in the driveway.

But before you go out and do any blazing burnouts, you're first gonna have to break in that clutch to make sure that your parts are made it up properly and to seat the disc. Now you can do that with a couple of days of normal around the town driving, but you wanna make sure that you don't slip the clutch too much or you could overheat that assembly before it's broken in.

Well, it's time for us to break it off for a minute or two. But when we come back, we've got something that you won't want to miss. So stay tuned.

It's the greatest parts and car show on earth

this time at the S

A show in Las Vegas, Chuck Mike and I get a chance to pick the winning models in the Grand Tourism

Awards competition. Stay tuned.

It's become the hottest show in Las Vegas even without showgirls or at least dancing showgirls.

These ladies are here to attract buyers to the all new, improved, more powerful, more shiny, bigger and better products of the automotive aftermarket,

but it's also a unique one of a kind car show. I mean, they've got hot rods, they got customs, they got imports here,

you name it, baby. They got it.

We're gonna have a little bit of fun with it this year. That's right. Now, the folks at Sony Playstation have asked us to help them choose the winners for annual GT awards. And of course, our job is to help them choose the winner for the best domestic. Let's do it.

This is the second year of a row. The video game maker has passed out awards in five categories.

The best of show winner gets immortalized in the next version of the Grand

Turismo game.

Essentially, we put out a call for entries to all the sea exhibitors here at the show. Basically asking, do you think your car has what it takes to be featured in Grand

Turismo?

And we received over 100 entries. Um And we're looking at different categories.

It's a tough gig for the judges. We found more than a few that caught our eyes and maybe even a vote or two.

Hey guys, you know me, I'm the Chevy guy. So this 67 El Camino gets my vote. Now with a 572 big block under the hood, I guarantee it'll hall more than what you can fit in a bed.

Well, what a surprise. My Mustang even made the show. Of course, somebody's added some racing decals and racing slicks out back and

man, even a wing and

a ch

oh, shoot,

this ain't my car.

Chuck and Joe always say I don't know whether I'm coming or going

well with the hot tub and the girls. I think I'm headed in a pretty good direction. Yeah. You don't know if he's coming or going. But, you know, in this George Paris built mini Cooper,

I've got the third round too. Just front or back,

man. I like high tech horsepower too. So, what about this 600 horsepower modified LS one in this brand new GTO, man. We need to figure out a way to get this thing back to the shop.

Hey, I wouldn't want any chevy guys to know this, but I can keep my eyes off this cool. 55 bel

air drop top. I mean, check out this customized interior

dash even got a 502 Ram Jet under the hood.

Yeah, this would get my vote if it was a secret ballot. Hey, well, your secret's out now, you know, I knew we'd make a Chevy guy out of him. Yeah,

all seriousness aside. We got a sneak peek in the ballot box. I discovered this 55 shoe box was a shoe in for top honors in the hot rod category.

A car built by chassis king, Art Morrissey

has a 427 cubic inch engine in. It has a six speed that's actually out of a Viper

and it is a true driver and it does go around corners and it is fun

at the Sony Playstation Awards party. We all got a chance to try out the latest version of Grand Prismo

while awaiting word of the winning cars of this year's competition.

Uh drum roll, please.

In the European import category. This one of a kind HP A Volkswagen R 32.

It's an all wheel drive little monster making 600 horsepower.

The best truck or SUV was this Ford F 250 tricked out by owner Brad Gardner.

The best Japanese import was this Mitsubishi Lancer Evo eight owned by Mark Mendoza,

the best domestic turned out to be Jeff Pets

Lab's 1966 GT 40

and of course, Arts nifty 55 in the hot rod class.

Finally, best of show honors

and the winner Marcel Horn for that truly tricked out and unique BW.

Our congratulations.

Now it's time to take the fast lane back to the shop.

Hey, who's bribing this thing anyway?

Hey, you guys probably think of headers when you hear the word hooker, right? Well, at least most of you probably do,

but now Hooker has these new arrow chamber muffler that

sound good and help produce more power at the same time. Now, they're able to do that with these aerodynamically designed chambers that reduce back pressure and turbulence to increase flow inside this fully welded steel case.

It features all aluminized and stainless steel construction for long life. And of course, you can get them with different inlet

and outlet sizes and locations. So they're gonna fit most popular applications. Now, the chances are they're gonna fit your budget pretty well too with prices starting at just under 60 bucks. Now it's time for a little bit of color commentary.

Soft Seal has just come up with a colorful way to seal your ride from the elements with their new color seal kits that'll fit most popular imports. Try five Chevys and muscle cars.

Now. It's a cool way to color coordinate your latest project using red, white or blue with yellow, orange, green and silver available soon. Now, just like the original black strips, they're soft pliable and feature the correct profile and molded ends for precise fit

in the stock location. So now you can seal the deal and put a little bit of color back in your life with prices starting for these kids at about 150 bucks. Chances are, if you're watching this show, you're a hands on kind of guy. Well, now you can put more power in the palm of your hand with crane's power max power programmer.

They claim gains about the 30 horsepower and 33 ft pounds of torque in a stock engine.

Even more with modifications like one of crane's compatible cam shafts.

Of course, you can recalibrate for everything from tire sizes to shift points, even add spark advance. So if a tuer like this sparks your interest, you can pick one up for about $430. Well, time's up, I think I'll take the mustang out and scare up a Camaro or two. We'll see you here next week.