clutch pack clearnce

i have a c5 reverse drum with 5 frictions and a .035 clearnce has anyone had good luck with this kind of clearnce on a c5 reverse drum? its used with a 77 valve body and a non-lok converter...
thanks

That will work fine ..035" is good .
What frictions and steels and pressure plate thicknesses you use to get there ..

Originally Posted by gregaust

That will work fine ..035" is good .
What frictions and steels and pressure plate thicknesses you use to get there ..

the frictions are wafle's, the steels are .76 and i used the bottom plate out of a forward drum flip it over and its .125 with a .64 snap ring,, and fits nice and tight...

and of course a c5 drum, i cant get a c4 reverse to do that for some reason...

Ok nice work.. You can do it with a C5 drum since the snap ring groove is .060" higher than C4 combined with the step plate that is .095 thinner gives you .155" extra space,perfect for friction @.078 and steel @.076..

Originally Posted by gregaust

Ok nice work.. You can do it with a C5 drum since the snap ring groove is .060" higher than C4 combined with the step plate that is .095 thinner gives you .155" extra space,perfect for friction @.078 and steel @.076..

i had a forward drum out of a 4 or 6 cyl car that had the 4-pack in it and i sent it to a machine shop that i deal with all the time and had him cut a groove in it higher up than the orig, but when i stuck the steels and frictions in it the steel seemed to hang up on the lower groove so i did'nt try to use it.. have you done that before??

No i haven't. Luckily every forward drum here uses 5 clutches anyway ...

I have never tried to relocate the groove either. I can get 5 or six clutches into the standard four clutch drum by machining the pressure (top) plate and using the AOD direst clutches. Sometimes I have to cut the piston for the proper clearance but never more than .030" so the bottom steel is always fully in the splines.

Originally Posted by PaulS1950

I have never tried to relocate the groove either. I can get 5 or six clutches into the standard four clutch drum by machining the pressure (top) plate and using the AOD direst clutches. Sometimes I have to cut the piston for the proper clearance but never more than .030" so the bottom steel is always fully in the splines.

paul, so you can mod the piston? no more than .30?? also whats the most you take out of the pressure plate? or whats the least amount can you get away with?

The thinnest pressure plate that Ford used was .110" and that is as far as I ever take them. I am not sure how far you can take the piston before the steel plate loses contact with the splines but I stay far away from that area. You should use a magnetic chuck to turn the plates and I had to build a special jig to turn the pistons. If you try to use the jaws of the lathe the jaws get in the way of turning the part and you end up with junk. I used to buy the .110 pressure plates but I can't get them anymore - not even used.
(there are dealers on the net that sell new manufactured .110 plates but not at the price I can make them for.