I put together my own 385 clutch kit out of cheap parts. as long as your working with a neutral balance engine, this works great. I completed this swap after months of trial and error with my 74 F-350. The engine will soon be going into my 81 4x4, and the clutch will not even be touched it worked so well. No slippage noticed, although traction with tore up offroad tires is rather limited.
You need a 400 bellhousing. Also will need the block plate for the bellhousing. You will have to enlarge the opening in the plate for the crank, the diameter of the 400 crank flange is much smaller than the 460. The bolt pattern is the same as almost any other ford transmission, with the exception of the narrow pattern stuff from the early 60's.
You will also need a 390 flywheel. The 360 will not work because the bolt pattern for the pressure plate is too small. A 400 flywheel will not work because despite what some may say, the bolt pattern for the crank is too small on a 400. The only change to be made to the flywheel is that you will need to use an L&L ring gear. The toothcount on the 390 flywheel is wrong, and you WILL eat starters. Been there done that. The L&L gear can be bought from L&L for approx 60 dollars, and will drop right onto the 390 flywheel. I have not yet tried, but for a 20 buck investment, you can see if a 400 ring gear will fit the 390 flywheel as well. If it does, let me know and save me 40 bucks next time I do one of these [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
You will need a diaphragm clutch for the 400 bellhousing, and the cheapest, easiest way is to use a 400 clutch, as its a diaphragm, and will bolt right up to the 390 flywheel. I was able to use a 400 pilot bushing, but I have heard that not all cranks for 385 series engines will accept this without modifications. So check!!
You will need to check your input shaft and bearing retainer to assure that the lengths are compatible, but in my situation, a small block truck tranny went right into the 400 bell from a bronco.
As near as I can tell, The truck 400 bell WILL work in a car. I've only done some rough measurements underneath monstermach's 73 mustang.
As far as the starter goes, a 400 or 460 starter will work, I recommend the 460 starter, as the solenoid actuated bendix is less likely to fail then the mechanical style IMHO.
The biggest benefit of this combination is although you have to round up a variety of parts, it costs less than half of what the L&L kit will cost, and it uses stock ford parts, so you wont be callin L&L everytime you need a clutch. In my case, the cheap lifetime warrenty clutch from Autozone has held up fantasticly, and if I ever have it go out, its a free replacement.
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<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Luv70sFords on 7/14/04 6:56am ]</font>
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