Clutch help?

TwinH · June 2011

Pulled the engine/trans out of my 49 C8 this evening and the pressure plate isn't
coming loose from the flywheel.Its a 55 308 mated to a single lever 3sp/OD. All the
cover bolts are out and I see 2 locating dowels but even while removing the cover
bolts it was apparent that somebody got a little carried away with the permatex and so
the clutch cover is really stuck good to the flywheel.Before I get heavy handed with
it I'm looking for any thoughts here.

ski4life65 · June 2011

I don't have an answer, but I do have a question. Does this motor have a crank from a 51-54, or is there just an adapter/spacer mounted to the crank? I want to put a 3 speed on a 55 motor, but was told not to do it.

Marconi · June 2011

Get a thin putty knife and sharpen the edge. put it on the flywheel so with some light blows it will be driven between the flywheel and clutch cover. Only drive it in a little at a time and go around 4 or 5 times. It should start to separate a little the second or so time around and if done gingerly shouldn't do any damage.

TwinH · June 2011

ski4life65 wrote:

I don't have an answer, but I do have a question. Does this motor have a crank from a 51-54, or is there just an adapter/spacer mounted to the crank? I want to put a 3 speed on a 55 motor, but was told not to do it.

Thank you Marconi, it was late and I wanted to get it on the engine stand,glad I
waited. The sharpened putty knife worked great after a couple times around and NO
damage done.

Ski4life65,why do I always end up with the oddball??? Let me start by saying I'm
only 5 yrs. into this Hudson deal and this is the first time(hopefully last too

)
I've had the engine trans out. In NO way am I any kind of Hudson guru like those
that freely share info on this forum so hopefully we can both learn what the deal is
here.

Mine is indeed a 55 engine and has a 55 crankshaft (crankshaft flange is 1" from the
back of the block,has 6 bolt equal distance pattern with a locating dowel,and the
crankshaft flange is threaded.) My spare engine has an earlier 55 casting date than
the one I just pulled out and also has the 55/6 crank AND hydraulic lifters...
BOTH engines have a bronze pilot bushing in the back of the crankshaft that is
approx. .585"I.D. BUT my single lever trans doesn't engage the factory pilot bushing.
Instead it pilots in a sealed ball bearing retained in the flywheel with a snap ring
on the crankshaft side.NO spacer between the crank and flywheel on this deal BUT i'm
guessing this may be a purpose built flywheel to adapt the late crank to the early
(stepdown)trans. Also the input shaft pilot has likely been turned down to .390"
(25/64")to fit in the ball bearings(same) I.D. . It uses a 10" clutch and has worked
beautifully these last 5 yrs. I've had it with nothing more than normal fluid changes
and one pedal adjustment.

Hopefully someone on here has info on this and will chime in. The only info I can
think of is this car supposedly came out of Miller Motors in MI.This was told to me
by a friend of the previous owner, whose estate I bought the car from.

Unknown · June 2011

This flywheel is not a 48-54 or a 55-56 assembly? does anyone have an answer.

Marconi · June 2011

Flywheel appears to be made for this application, 55/6 engine into a 54 or earlier chassis. As I recall, the 48 to 54 flywheels are relatively flat on the crankshaft side, this one has a 3/4in. or so protruding flange on the back side which would make up for the shorter crankshaft on the 55/ 6 engines and also has the 48 to 54 pilot bearing installed. Can you find any numbers on it? Specifically a 7 digit number that starts with a 5. Maybe we've overlooked a factory part for many years! Maybe not, but it's worth checking out!

TwinH · June 2011

Sorry no part# just the CYL-UDC-1 and the timing marks stamped on the block side.
Yes,ring gear is welded at 90* intervals but I'm sure that its just insurance as
the ring gear does appear to be properly shrunk on the flywheel.It was even ground
flush when the flywheel was surface ground. That being said,and with no info
popping up on this thread I'm leaning toward a one off homebuilt flywheel by some
old-schooler from before the days of 1-800-send-me-parts-the factory-never-made.
In my opinion this is a very viable solution for mating the 55/6 crankshaft to
the stepdown trans and could easily be duplicated but I have no idea if there
would be enough demand to produce another dozen or so of these.

When this engine goes back together I'll be checking those timing marks a little
closer to see how accurate they are. I never used them because the PO/builder
installed a pointer up front and on the balancer.

And a few more pics of this "oddball" flywheel.

the register for the crank flange is 4.5" wide and .200" deep.

Clutchguy · June 2011

This is a factory flywheel. It was availble for the 55-6 engines that were replacements for the Step-down bodied cars. It is thick and uses NO spacer on this application. If you look,it is manufactured with the offset needed to line up to the Stepdown bell-housing. It has the 16 bolts for the wet pressure plate. Don't forget to seal it back onto the cleaned crankshaft flange and properly torqued. I am not sure of the part# but there is one,probably in the supplements to the parts books. Hope this answers your questions?. CG

super651 · June 2011

Clutch guy is right, 10-16-56 AMC part#3200404 cast steel flywheel is made for the 55-56 308 engine crank shaft to install the 55-56 engine to the wet oil clutch for hudsonfrom 1948-1954.
I have one of the blue prints that show all of the dimensions and drawings as to how they made them. I got the print from Al Saffrahn many years back and it came with a new flywheel that he bought back then. Hope this helps a bit Rudy

Clutch help?

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