3.8 clutch chatter / odd feel

[24hrlemons]

New to Mustangs or Ford for that matter - on team setting up a car to race, 3.8 5 speed. Well used vehicle, unknown miles as speedo broken. Clutch has significant chatter, but holds great. I heard from a guy this car is known for chatter and not to worry about it. I have driven clutches since '77 and never burned one up, so yes I know how to drive one

Also, the clutch feel is good - when engine is not running. Start it up, and the throw at the pedal feels like I'm hitting resistance at about 4 places. I understand the cable is known to fail frequently.

Any advice? I'm leaning towards replacing the clutch and cable.

 

[MustangChris]

how do you drive a clutch without burning at least one up? thats like never going through a set of brake pads... i guess if you change cars faster than underware... lol.

 

[24hrlemons]

Well, I'm not the type to switch cars! My first car a '65 chevy II 6 cyl I put a Munci M-21 manual in it from a donor car, and although the rear end was made for the powerglide and too numerically low for the close ratio m21 and sometimes required re-engagement to get the car moving on a hill, I never burned that clutch and I had it nearly 10 years. Drove a high milage mazda truck 5 speed and hauled overloaded runs to the dump and just about killed the rear end from the sound of it when I sold it, but no clutch work. '70 Toyota corona, never needed clutch. Drove a '70 nova 3 on tree and that car had original clutch when we sold it years later. My dad had a '63 chevy wagon he bought new and it ran and ran, he gave it to my sister after about 15 years, only requiring like a new battery or belt once in a while, never a clutch, I drove a shadow 5 speed for 13 years before getting a maxima 5 speed, well....I broke one on my Shadow Turbo, it was a centerforce (relaced at dealer when they had to replace the output shaft seal, had them put that in) and the springs broke loose and were flopping around inside it, the local tranny shop guy said "those aren't always heavy duty as their marketing leads you believe". And I was ragging the car some. So, no clutches "burned up". My Dad is 76 and he has driven a lot of miles and never burned a clutch up. Of course we're not talking about 500hp cars drag racing, but still, if you don't excessively slip the clutch, it will last a LONG time usually (I wasn't so sure about the Maxima clutch, seems like it was under-built, but it lasted while we owned the car about 7 years). :thumbsup:

 

[Win]

I would say just slap a new clutch and Cable in there and go with it.

 

[24hrlemons]

Yes, I think that's where I'm leaning. books say it could have a bit of oil on it, or other various maladies. We have some testing to do and we'll run it a bit and see what happens. But we'll probably replace it.

 

[Addermk2]

just try to grab another clutch for cheap... best way to go

the flywheel is probably fubar... thats what usually causes chatter. Sadly, it eats the clutch at the same time