how to tell 9" clutch from 10" from the outside?

[Deleted User]

im on the hunt for some graveyard hudsons and would like to know how to determine whether the car has a 9 or 10 inch clutch without doing much more than sticking my head under the car with a tape measure or a couple of spanners so i know whether to bother dragging them out of their hiding spots or not.

Geoff

YOu can tell by the shape of the clutch cover - the 10" clutch has a very short distance between the bolts and the extrusion - in other words the angled part of the clutch cover starts just out from the bolts, whereas the 9" clutch has about an inch between the bolt heads and where it starts to bend rearwards. I hope that explains it, not really sure how to put it in words without sending a pic, which I don't have!

Geoff.

bob ward

Someone may correct me here, but I think you will find that all non-overdrive 232s have 9" clutches, everything else has a 10" clutch.

[Deleted User]

geoff, im guessing that what you are trying to say is that the cover of a 9" has a wider flange than the 10" to make up the difference

Geoff

half baked wrote:

geoff, im guessing that what you are trying to say is that the cover of a 9" has a wider flange than the 10" to make up the difference

Yes, that's right. The flange on the 10" clutch is very small, and the space between the bellhousing and clutch cover is also tight. And as Bob has said, the 6's all had 9" clutches up to 1947, and the 8's had 10". However, if there is an overdrive fitted, it should have a 10" unit. The trucks had 10", and the Pacemakers and Wasps with 232" motors had the 9", which was barely adequate. I had a Pacemaker which somebody had fitted an overdrive, without upgrading the clutch. After 100 miles the clutch had got so hot, the pedal had fallen in to the floor, and I couldn't disengage it until things had cooled down.

Geoff.

Huddy42

The 9" pressure plate has only 9 springs, whereas the 10" has 12, this can be seen by the cup marks on the top of the plate.