Redbone
New Member
Not to add more confusion to your repair... I just measured a Ford flywheel and an Exedy flywheel and the Exedy is thinner , but not by much. Then I measured the pressure plates and they have different mounting fingers heights for the TOB but when measured with the bearing both came out the same at 3.500 static height. Now the clutch disks come a little different thickness but not enough to make me worry, the main distance is 3.500" and when mounted there will be some compression of the PP down on the disk so the 3.500" distance will be less. The adjustable cable will take up the compression distance and all should be good??? I saw another thread about adding an extra return spring to the cable at the clutch fork to stop the TOB from constant wear that will add some play to the pedal. I got pictures if you want them but after all the effort most people just slam everything together and it all works, I am trying to find a problem that may not exist because of the problems before mixing Ford and Exedy parts.
I used an Exedy pressure plate with a RAM flywheel when I rebuilt the clutch on my 2000 Mustang GT. Upon installation the new clutch would not disengage. Before I tore it all back down I did an internet search on Exedy. Exedy is cheap junk made in China used mostly by Nissan and Toyota, at least according to my Google search. There are many reported problems of new installations failing to disengage when using both Exedy pressure plates and flywheels. My advice is to go with RAM or McLeod, get the Ford racing throw out bearing and flywheel studs, and replace the fork and its pivot stud and the pilot bearing. Be aware that the throwout bearing is asymmetrical and only installs in one position. But who knows, most Exedy installs go fine. To their credit American Muscle accepted the Exedy PP return and I got a RAM PP which worked and is still working perfectly. I did a better install the second time around and it took about half the time, of course the nuts and bolts were all broken free then.
In retrospect I believe that the Exedy PP has poor quality control, typical of parts manufactured in China. I also added a Home Depot compression spring over the clutch cable between the bell housing and the fork to keep the throwout bearing from riding. You can adjust the clutch feel a bit with the size of this spring. Of course you need the non-adjustable (Steeda) quadrant and firewall adjuster with the Steeda clutch cable or equivalent. I currently have a 2016 GT with the hydraulic clutch, an entirely different beast with entirely different problems.