VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1933-1936 1936 Pressure Plate Assembly

Seems like there's something new every day. I'm ready to put the clutch disc and pressure plate assembly in, but I noticed that the 3 levers that hold the throwout sleeve are at different heights. Two are close, but one is quite a bit higher. The repair manual says you can put shims under the lever plates at the attaching bolts to lower the lever. I have tried that but it doesn't seem to do anything other than make the cover and pressure plate uneven. Is it possible the levers are worn unevenly on the ends. If so, can you buy replacements? Are there other reasons why the levers are at different heights? Thanks.

It is possible that the levers are worn. Chevrolet made a lever kit for the 1934-1937 models. It came with the throw out bearing, levers, lever pins, retainers and the bearing plate. The part # was 609166 and I had one at one time.
I do have a new Borg & Beck pressure plate with adjustable levers if push comes to shove.

Thanks, Gene. I would like to work with what I have if possible. I've had the flywheel and pressure plate resurfaced and balanced so it would be nice to just have new levers. I've got another pressure plate on an old engine, so I may try to use some parts from it. Is it possible that some of the 9 springs could be worn, causing the unevenness in the levers, or is that not related?

I have 3 new levers and a plate if you need them E-mail me bwbugay@aol.com

If the levers are worn then Chevy B has your answer. If you have a bunch of pressure plate springs go through them and check the height and you may see a pretty wide range. The objective is to get as many as you can as equal in length as you can. Also, you mentioned another pressure plate...might want to check and see if it has the adjustable levers instead of shims. Makes the whole process a lot simpler.

I did talk to Chevy B about the levers. The other pressure plate does have adjustment screws, but, I can't get the screw freed up on 2 of them. And, I'm not smart enough to figure out how they should adjust. It's probably not worth mentioning what I've tried but here goes. With the cover bolted tight to the plate, the levers are up as high as they will go. I need to lower one lever or raise the other 2. If I screw the adjustment screw down I would think it should raise the lever, but it just compresses the cover and plate. What problems do you have when the levers are not even. The book says no more than .020" runout on the throwout sleeve. I don't have a tool to measure that, but just measuring the height, one lever is 1/8 high. I'll see if the new levers help.

Among other things the throw out bearing will rattle around if the levers are not even.

A final update, I hope, on my pressure plate problems. I've tried mixing and matching springs and levers from 2 plates but couldn't get the levers even. Even bought new levers and same problem. The plate when assembled and sitting on a flat surface is the same height all the way around. It must be worn where the levers contact the cover and I just can't see it. I finally ground the high lever down on the end and the throwout sleeve seems to be within 1/32 all the way around now. That's still not within specs, but that's as good as it going to get from me. Thanks everyone for your help.

Guess my last update was not the final one. I've installed the flywheel, clutch disc, pressure plate assembly (with adjustment screws for the levers), and clutch fork with the throwout bearing. It wasn't easy getting the fork and throwout bearing in place. The way things are sitting the fork is hitting the clutch housing opening and the throwout bearing is almost touching the throwout sleeve/collar. Does this sound acceptable? It was hard enough getting everything together with the engine on a cradle and I don't see how I could replace the throwout bearing or disc with the engine mounted to the frame.

Fork hitting the opening---front or rear of the opening?

The "hitting the clutch housing" is a little disconcerting. The arm must be able to move fore and aft without hindrance. The gap between the throwout bearing and sleeve/collar does not need to be more than required to position the pedal correctly.

It is a bit difficult to wiggle the arm into the slot. As my grandpop used to say, "Not a problem if you hold your mouth right."

I've added some pictures to show how close the fork is to the housing.

http://rides.webshots.com/album/570639729euhrsp

Did you reuse the fork, fork pivot ball, T.O. bearing and T.O. bearing plate?

The pivot ball was badly worn, so I bought a good used fork and pivot ball, reused the T.O. bearing and bearing plate. I also have new levers. I borrowed/made adjustment screws for the levers from another plate. I raised the levers a little to get them even, maybe I raised them more than I thought. The way it sits now I'm just not sure if it will function properly. Seems like it would be okay, just not much clearance.

Was the "good used fork" from a 1936 and exactly the same as the original?
The levers being too high could also cause the problem.
I would suggest also that you remove the paint on the back of the bell housing where the transmission contacts the housing. Could cause problems in the future.

Just to amplify Genes advice. The reason to remove the paint is that it could interfere with the flow of electricity for the starter. If the ground strap is attached to the transmission cover bolt or mounting bolt the current must flow through the transmission to the bell housing and then to the starter. We don't want any weak points in the system.

Good advise about removing the paint, I will do that. Gene, the fork and ball were from a 35 master, but they looked the same to me as the 36 standard. Thanks again.

Your OK ther, they are the same.
If you need to remove the pressure plate again back out the ball from the back of the flywheel housing and remove the fork to make more room for removing the press. plate....you may know this already.