Fordnatics List Archive

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Mail From: (email redacted) (Robert King)

Well, as I collect parts for my Mustang's new engine, I've come to the
point where I need to replace the clutch. My current clutch assembly is
one the local transmission shop installed (a LUK unit,) that has done
suprizingly well (80,000 miles and one season of drag racing.)

What I'd like to do is replace the clutch assembly, cllutch fork pivot,
and flywheel, and I'm looking for suggestions. Keep in mind that this
engine is essentially a massaged 302 (E303 cam, GT-40 heads, MAC exhaust,
etc...) so we're not talking monstor HP here or stratospheric RPM's. I
want a good street/strip clutch that won't break my pocketbook. The more
wisely I spend on this stuff, the sooner I can afford other goodies!

Also, what should I get in regards to the flywheel? Aluminum, cast
iorn, or nodular iorn? I suspect the stock unit will do, but I'm curious.

- -- Robert King

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Mail From: chucko (Chuck Fry)

I don't drag race, so I can't talk about strip durability, but I went
with the Ford Motorsport clutch and linkage kit when I rebuilt my 5.0.
It seems perfectly adequate for my mildly rebuilt motor.

It's hard to beat the price; Diversified Products Marketing, (313)
459-0130, had the pressure plate, clutch disc and throwout bearing for
$133 plus shipping. The linkage kit consists of a cable and clutch
fork, and is another $40 or so. You'll still have to buy a pilot
bearing at your local Ford dealer, they're about $12 if I remember
right.
-- Chuck

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Mail From: (email redacted) (Robert King)

>
> Robert, the best clutch for your application is the FMS M-7560-A302.
> It offers the best balance of torque load accomodation and easy clutch
> pedal performance. The disc, pressure plate and t/o bearing are
> included.

I take it that FMS M-7560-A302 is the Motorsport clutch kit? (Sure
looks like a Morotsport number. Hmm... FMS = Ford Motor Sport?)


> The flywheel that you have in your car is a nodular iron piece. This
> is by far the best one for your purposes as an aluminum one will not
> offer you (or your engine) the inertial mass needed for smooth
> launches. You really need that heavy spinning mass to move off from a
> stop light or starting light smoothly without slipping (and ruining)
> the clutch at 4000-5000 RPM! Jim Dingell, Mustang Dynamics

The stock fluwheel in an 88 GT is *nodular*?!? That's news to me!
My flywheel has been resurfaced at least once due to heat cracks. I'm
nervous about using it again because of that. Any recomendations?

- -- Robert King


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| Robert A. King | |
| Systems Software Engineer | |
| Kodak Health Imaging Systems | "I drank WHAT?!?" -- Socrates |
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This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: (email redacted) (Robert King)

>
>
> Robert, the M-7560-A302 is the Ford Motorsport clutch kit. My rule of thumb is
> to resurface the flywheel once and then replace. It is cheap insurance. JD,
> Mustang Dynamics

Well, my flywheel has been resurfaced at least once, so its time to replace it. Do I really need the nodular one, or will the cast iorn one do? I'm kind of hesitant to lay out $200+ for a flywheel.

- -- Robert King

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Mail From: (email redacted) (Benjamin Levy)

Could someone explain to me the difference between ordinary cast
iron and "high nodular" iron?
Thanks,
---Ben Levy FTP Software Inc. (email redacted)
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Member of the International Ameoba Society:
"United We Stand, Divided We Multiply"

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Mail From: Eugene Y C Chu <(email redacted)>

Ben Levy asked:

> Could someone explain to me the difference between ordinary cast
>iron and "high nodular" iron?

I think "high nodularity" refers to the types of higher strength crytals
that are formed when cast iron is quenched properly. The formation of
the strongest crystal structures occur over a very narrow temperature
range. Adding other metals such as nickel or manganese expands the
temperature range, allowing a greater percentage of the crystals formed
to be of the high strength structure as the metal is quenched.

eyc

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Mail From: David J Heisterberg <(email redacted)>

Ben Levy writes:
> Could someone explain to me the difference between ordinary cast
>iron and "high nodular" iron?

Cast iron is iron with more than about 1.8% carbon; less than that
you get steel. Cast iron is nice because it has a sharp melting
point and can be cast precisely. When cast iron or most steels
solidfy you get a mix of crystals of ferrite (nearly pure iron) and
cementite (Fe3C), a structure called pearlite. But because cast
iron has more carbon one gets crystals of graphite as well. In
cast iron the graphite crystallizes in flakes that are weak points
and cause brittleness. Nodular iron has calcium (usually) and some
other additives and is allowed to cool in such a way that the graphite
deposits as nearly spherical nodules. So nodular iron is really
nodular-graphitic iron. The spherical nodules don't induce the
kind of stress cracks that the sharp flakes do, so the iron has
a lot of the properties of a mild steel.
- --
David J. Heisterberg ((email redacted))
Department of Chemistry
The Ohio State University Leave no cone unturned!

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Mail From: (email redacted) (Dave Williams)


-> Could someone explain to me the difference between ordinary cast iron
-> and "high nodular" iron?

The "nodular" part refers to the distribution of carbon in the casting.
There's white cast iron, gray cast iron, black cast iron, nodular cast
iron, etc. For cars you normally see gray or nodular, known as
"spheroidal graphite" in England.

Iron does strange and wonderful things when mixed with carbon in
various proportions. Entire *sets* of books exist, not on the whole
subject, but various *types* of ferrous metallurgy.

Steel is, of course, iron. The practical difference between a cast or
forged steel crank and a cast iron crank is that the iron is not
malleable. That is, it cannot be forged or hammered into a different
shape unless near its melting point. There is often no *chemical*
difference between a forged steel and a cast iron; the vast differences
in structure are due to how the metal was processed.

Every now and then I get the urge to learn more about the subject, but
after a few hours of reading about crystalline structures and looking at
etched photomicrographs, I fall asleep.