I have a '65 Barracuda with a 360 and an A833OD gearbox. Both have recently been rebuilt. When I installed them I also put in a new Centerforce clutch, pivot, fork, and throwout bearing. Lately I've been reading about proper clutch adjustment and I just can't seem to get mine correct.

With the inspection cover removed, I can measure out 0.060" clearance between the clutch disc and the flywheel. But when this is so, the throwout bearing rides on the clutch fingers. If I adjust it the other direction to just have the smallest gap between the throwout bearing and the clutch fingers, the gears grind.

Any ideas what's happening here?

Thanks,
Marcus

Sounds like something could be wrong with the geometry of the "Z" bar. Are you sure that it's the right one? Is the engine and "Z" bar at 90* to each other? What about the clutch fork pivot? Is it adjustable? If so, move it closer to the pressure plate. These are just a few suggestions and areas to look at.

http://www.brewersperformance.com/proddetail.asp?prod=TS636

The clearance you are trying to set is the gap when the clutch is released.
If the gap is too small the throwout with ride constantly and the clutch might slip.
If the gap is too big the clutch will not disengage with the pedal all the way down and your gears grind.
The other issue you may have is the overcenter spring on the pedal assembly. The centerforce clutch does not want that if I recall correctly.
On my Mcleod Twin I removed the overcenter and added a smaller spring on the clutch release lever to pull the lever away from the throwout bearing with the clutch released.

Okay. I've spent most of the evening trying to sort this out. For those that asked, I do have all 10.5" bellhousing conversion parts from Brewer's. I have the z-bar, bellhousing pivot adapter plate, new clutch rod, etc. Disregard the bronze washer in these photos. I was just trying different sizes to see if I could expand the gap. I have the correct washer, nut, grommet.

The geometry looks like 90 degrees between the bellhousing and z-bar. But here's a couple of pics in case somebody sees something amiss.

Good call on the pivot. It is adjustableside to side, but not fore to aft. Thinking the fulcrum could be adjusted to give a little more advantage I moved it as far as it would go - but still not dice. Ack.

I'm wondering about this article from Mopar Muscle:

http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/techa...dal_adjustment/

I know it says that it's mostly for high speed shifting, but what it does is to provide more throw on the clutch fork. To my way of thinking, that's exactly what I need. Has any one done this? Other thoughts?