429 and top loader 4 speed conversion

call the salvage yards. i needed clutch linkage for my 66 galaxie and my 66 ford country sedan wagon and kept searching the web and salvage yards and after a while found 2 set of linkage. i dont know what 351m-400 came with a manual but quit a few 429 came with them. when i need hard to find parts i search the web,e-bay,salvage yards or find a specialty company and buy new and i am on a limited budget but i learned long ago that some of these parts can be very expensive. i thing Mcleod clutches sells a hyd throw out bearing but this is gonna require a little custom work to install like fabrication a linkage rod for the master cylinder etc. and since i dont use hyd. bearing some else will have to supply the info for that mod.

While I was searching for a flywheel tonight, I ran across one at Hawks Racing at a good price and it said Clutch type: Long. I ran into this years ago, but I never really investigated it. Now I know the long type clutch is the 3 finger pressure plate right? What are the other differences between the "Long" type and the "Diaphram" type other that the amount of fingers on the pressure plate? And also, why does the flywheel determine what clutch type you can run?

the long type keeps more pressure on the disc than the diaphram does but is a little stiffer pedal pressure than the diaphram does but i have run 3200 pound long style pp's without my foot ever noticing it. the long style pp has 6 bolt holes in groups of 2 and the diaphram has 6 bolt holes spaced further apart. i highly recomend a 2400-2600 pound long style pp for better constant pressure against the clutch disc to prevent slippage.

But can either clutch type be run on the same flywheel?

if its drilled for both patterns. most aftermarket flywheels are drilled for multi pattern pp's but ask before you buy. you can always have a flywheel redrilled for about $50

When I bought my 66 Fairlane it had a 460 with a 4 speed toploader, it had a 70 Torino GT 351C 4 speed trans (small input/large output), 351M/400 truck bellhousing,11" clutch, and early factory Lincoln 460 manifolds and it ran great! Had a modified clutch linkage and cable throttle. I wanted an automatic so I put a TCI SSF trans and TC and bought Crites headers.

that truck bell housing you are using may or may not allow the input shaft pilot to stick in the pilot bushing far enough and that can cause damage to the trans input gear and cluster gear. the truck bellhousing is about 1/2 deeper than the car car bellhousing. toploader 4 speeds were never put in trucks and the transmissions that were had an input shaft thatw as about 1/2 longer for the thicker pp ans flywheel. according to dan williams it is possible to have a longer pilot bushing custom made but it can still cause problems. i found this out the hard way about 13 years ago. if i still had my busted input shaft i would post a foto. must use a lakewood-mcleod-rare ford 429 car bellhousing.

Try these guys, they have lots of odd bits and pieces and may have your linkage pieces and other stuff. Good luck

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