Keith Fromme's 5.0 install

[87B2XLT]

As long as it WORKS! That's about a done deal... all you have left is the rest of the exhaust... I'm sure everyone was giving you dirty looks running it with open headers, especially since it's got a cam ;D You gonna have it "streetable" to bring to the meeting Wednesday evening? Can't wait to see 'er up close 'n' personal ;D

[Deleted]

I'm going to try and talk my exhaust guy into doing it tomorrow so I can drive it to the meeting. I don't know if he's going to do it though. As for the cam, well it's not a real big duration cam, it's very mild with about .542 lift.

[Chuck]

Hey, can't argue with "it works great"! I bet the heims cleaned up the clutch action a lot, too. Rubber bushings have always been one of the weak points in the mechanical linkages ...

[87B2XLT]

Yep, and that was probably one of the few issues with driveability on my grandfather's old F250 until one of my uncles and I retrofitted the linkage and adjusted the clutch... before selling the truck I still wish I would have been allowed to buy it, that thing was a tank, minus all the body rust. I already had a parts source to basically do a ground-up overhaul at the time The only tricky part about all of that would have been, had it become necessary, would have been swapping cabs and VINs. Hopefully we'll get to see it up close and personal tomorrow!

[Deleted]

Yep, the heims did a lot. Actually it never had any bushings at all, it was just solid rod ends cotter pinned through a hole. And the ends were worn alot. The clutch actually feels as if it were hydraulic, I can't believe how easy it is. The heims and the longer Ford clutch fork are the ticket. Probably won't see it tomorrow though, I dropped it off with my exhuast guy. I'm not sure if he'll be done by tomorrow night, but you never know. It's not a big job, but he's going to work on it in between his other stuff. BTW, he said it was going to be easier to do the dual exhaust, especially since the left side is already there. There's no room for a tailpipe on the right side to exit behind the wheel though, so for now we're just going to dump it in front of the rear axle. I don't know how that's going to work out with fumes, but I'll try it and see. It's not like I'm air tight or anything anyway.
One other thing for anyone that is familiar with adjusting the linkage, what's the endplay supposed to be at the clutch fork, or rather, how do you set it? I set it so there's about 1/4" of play between the fork and the adjuster. That is pushing on the fork till i can feel resistance. It can be wiggled about 1/4" right now. My CJ manual says 1 - 1 1/2" but that seems excessive to me.

[87B2XLT]

How far from the floorboard until the clutch engages and the Jeep starts moving? If it's a long travel, then you can adjust it closer to the floorboard, if you so desire. Not sure if going by the CJ manual is going to be the same as if you went with a Ford manual, as I don't know if they are the same specs. Maybe if you look up a pre-1980 F-100/150 repair manual (I believe the 198x and up Ford trucks had hydraulic clutches, the only exemption on pre-1980 models I'm aware of is the Ford/Mazda Courier).... okay, AutoZone's repair guide says 83-up for hydraulic, but that doesn't seem right to me.... here's a link to the adjustment for mechanical clutches: /45/0900823d800a8d45.jsp" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?ForwardPage=/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/0a//45/0900823d800a8d45.jsp
Hope this helps

[Chuck]

83 and up for Hydraulic is right. The free play measurement they're taking is actually at the pedal, so 1/2" to 1-1/2" at the pedal seems pretty reasonable. I don't know with your linkage what that'll translate to at the adjuster ...

If this had a Mustang style throwout bearing and cable clutch, I'd tell you to make certain there's zero free play in the assembly and the fork is always tight against the throwout bearing when the clutch is engaged (almost like lightly riding the clutch). That's the only way Mustang throwout bearings live -- they're a self centering design and they eat themselves in about 8-20k miles if you don't have a preload on them. I've been through two or three before I replaced the self-adjuster and started adjusting them manually.

The trucks are different, though. That sounds about right.

Here's hoping your exhaust guy gets it done in time -- I want to hear that little beast run! ;D

[Deleted]

Exactly Chuck, on my Stang I have to have it adjusted so there's no play (which mine is toast right now, wanna help me pull the T-5? ;D ). Everything on this clutch is Ford truck stuff. I believe on the trucks there needs to be play at the clutch fork. I got it now, the free play is measured at the actual clutch pedal, not at the adjuster. So I'm just about right. Just seems like a weird place to take a free play measurement, as the linkages can all be worn out. I'd think a more accurate measurement would be taken at the clutch fork.

[Chuck]

I'd think that too, but I guess they're aiming more for clutch feel than anything else. As far as I know with a setup like that, as long as you have any free play at the fork end, it should be enough to keep it from eating the bearing. So the critical dimension on the free play is basically making sure there's enough travel left to fully disengage the clutch ...

[87B2XLT]

Yep. And speaking of hearing that beast run, or rather more importantly, the meeting earlier tonight... OOOPS. Today was one of those days at work that truly threw the rest of my after-work day off completely I was sitting here replying to other threads and happen to look at the date/time on my screen and was like @#$%^&*! ... since I had planned on being there tonight for other reasons. I guess I'll have to make sure I'm at next month's meeting without fail, heh.

So, Keith, did'ya git'r'done, or did the exhaust guy not quite make the "deadline" ? ;D

[Deleted]

Nope, he wasn't done in time. I'll pick it up Friday morning since I'm working all day tomorrow. I'll bring it next meeting.