TKOPerformance wrote:

For old school 4 speeds I am a huge fan of the Centerforce Dual Friction clutches.  They handle a ton of power and offer smooth engagement without tremendous pedal effort. 

In my opinion for street use always go with the biggest clutch you can fit, so I'd opt for the 11".

The flywheel difference is that the 164 tooth flywheels were for older engines using the 28oz. imbalance and the 157 tooth were for the later (5.0) engines using the 50oz. imbalance.  Since you're going with the 4 speed I would just get a 164 tooth flywheel in the proper imbalance for your engine (should be 28oz.). 

I can't help on the fork and hydraulic actuation situation.  Everything I have hydraulics on had it from the factory, and everything else is cable driven or mechanical linkage.  I would ask, why hydraulics?  IMO the pedal input tends to be numb and I really prefer a mechanical linkage of some kind.  With a basically factory setup installing a manual linkage would be the simplest route. 

Sure you have that right on the flywheels?  I have always had it the other way around. 28oz gets the 157 tooth flywheel, and 50oz gets the 164 tooth flywheel.  My 289 had the 157 f/w and 28oz balance.
 

TKOPerformance wrote:

I'd have to go out in the garage and physically count teeth to be 100% sure, but at this point its moot.  You can buy either flywheel in either imbalance thanks to the aftermarket.  So I'd see what you have now and use a flywheel with that many teeth and the correct imbalance for your engine.  That way you don't also have to buy a new starter. 

TKO - you're right about mootness.  As long as the flywheel has the same balance as the engine, you are ok.  And, all early 351w's came with a 28oz balance.  302's had both - I do not know which years had which balance.

One other gottcha - the block plate for each flywheel is different.  It must match your flywheel or the starter will not hook up.  Different diameter.

I'm still running my 351w with theoriginal  '66 289 block plate, flywheel, and bell housing.


 

Last edited by lowercasesteve (3/25/2016 5:02 PM)

In 1990, I had an 85 Mustang GT with the 10" clutch. With the income tax return, I bought a 10 1/2" Centerforce clutch with a heavy duty disc and a motorsports 10 1/2" steel billet flywheel. After install, it took a 100K miles of abuse. Somewhere in about 96, I noticed that the car would no longer bark the tires when I hit second gear!!! In went a new heavy duty disc and I was back in business. I am a fan of Centerforce and have another one for the 67. But I have heard folks that didn't care for them due to the weights. Good luck.

Did anyone contact Centerforce to see if they could offer help or a solution?  Obviously removing the weights worked, but the weights serve a purpose to keep the disc clamped at high RPM. 

I never had an issue with the weights on any of the Centerforce clutches I've used over the years.  I'm wondering if maybe there was a run of bad ones at some point.  This can happen to any manufacturer, but the key to knowing good from bad is what they do for their customers when it does. 

I think the weights are added insurance when you get close to the max clamp load the pressure plate can deliver.  I've only ever experienced high RPM clutch float on worn out clutches or factory clutches where the engine has been upgraded a fair amount and the clutch is now the weak link.