[DeTomaso] Fidanza flywheel/ARP bolts warning

[Mike Drew]

> On May 27, 2018, at 17:29, Will Kooiman <will.kooiman at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi Mike,
> 
> I have Fidanza flywheels and Centerforce clutches in my Pantera and my
> Cobra.  They¹re the same PN for both the flywheel and clutch/pressure
> plate.

>>>Centerforce makes a Pantera-specific clutch. It uses a 10.4 diameter disc. The normal Centerforce Cleveland setup uses an 11-inch disc and has a different part number. If yours are both the same, you either have a Pantera clutch in your Cobra or a regular Ford clutch in your Pantera?
> 
> >If I recall correctly, the Centerforce PP lined up to 3/8² bolt holes,
> which are stock Chevy.  I used Manley PP bolts for a Chevy, and it has
> worked fine.

>>>Interesting. I know Centerforce clutches won’t bolt up to a Ford flywheel, and they have to be custom drilled which can be problematic. From what you’re saying, apparently they just use a Chevy PP which might account for it. 
> 
> >The long style PP that was in my Pantera lined up to the 5/16² bolt holes,
> so maybe that¹s what you¹re having a problem with.

>>>I noticed the Fidanza flywheel looked like a piece of Swiss cheese, it had so many holes in it. Apparently they drill their Ford flywheels for big and small Ford clutches as well as Centerforce (Chevy?) clutches. But none of the holes are properly countersunk. 

If the pressure plate metal is very thick it might prevent the shank of the bolt from bottoming out on the side of the inadequately countersunk hole. But it won’t help the problem that the ARP bolts are too short. 
> 
> >I have the 428 apart right now, so I¹ll confirm tomorrow.  I¹m replacing
> the 428 with a 427/482 - BBM block, Pond heads.

>>>Awesome. Yeah, take a look and see and let us know what you find?

Mike
> 
> 
> On 5/27/18, 6:06 PM, "DeTomaso on behalf of Mike Drew via DeTomaso"
> <detomaso-bounces at server.detomasolist.com on behalf of
> detomaso at server.detomasolist.com> wrote:
> 
>> All,
>> 
>> I recently installed a new Fidanza aluminum flywheel and McLeod clutch.
>> The Fidanza flywheel was about $200 less than a McLeod flywheel. Along
>> the way I learned some stuff from Dennis Quella.
>> 
>> 1). ARP males great bolts but their Ford pressure plate bolts don¹t cut
>> it‹they are too short!  I had found this out myself previously. I had a
>> different aluminum flywheel and McLeod clutch and when I went to torque
>> the bolts, they stripped!  It turns out the hole in the aluminum flywheel
>> is countersunk and the ARP bolts were only engaging about two threads. I
>> chose to have the flywheel machined for larger/longer Chevy bolts and
>> enlarged the holes in the pressure plate instead of using helicoils.
>> 
>> Then under-head length of the McLeod pressure plate bolts is about 1/4
>> inch longer than ARP bolts plus included washers:
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> That makes all the difference on an aluminum flywheel.
>> 
>> 2). He also told me that Fidanza doesn¹t countersink the holes deep
>> enough in their flywheels.  Here is the Fidanza flywheel (which has holes
>> for both 10.5 and 11-inch clutches)
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Notice there is only a small chamfer. Here is the McLeod flywheel:
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> It looks like it is threaded for two different sized bolts, but it is
>> not. The marks on the larger diameter are machining marks, while the
>> threads are below in the smaller diameter. You will need to copy this
>> model and enlarge the top of the holes in the Fidanza flywheel to make
>> sure the the chamfer of the bolts doesn¹t bottom out against the chamfer
>> of the holes before they are securely clamping the pressure plate against
>> the flywheel.
>> 
>> A friend recently assembled a motor and after a few months two of his
>> pressure plate bolts had ejected and the others were loose. He had
>> torqued the pressure plate bolts to the proper spec, but they weren¹t
>> tight against the face of the pressure plate.  The tapered shank of the
>> bolts had bottomed out against the inside of the flywheel holes  before
>> the clamping surface was tight against the pressure plate, and after
>> awhile they worked loose.
>> 
>> Leaning this, before I installed my setup, I put the flywheel in a drill
>> press and increased the diameter of the top 1/8 of an inch or so of my
>> Fidanza flywheel, and all was good.
>> 
>> Of course after I installed everything and went for a test drive my
>> clutch master cylinder failed, but that¹s a different story.....
>> 
>> Mike (coming up on 30 years of Pantera ownership and still learning
>> things every day!)
>> 
>> Mike
>> 
>> Sent from my iPad_______________________________________________
>> 
>> 
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> 
>