so me and my dad are almost done with a 302 swap and have run into a big problem. the clutch is so heavy its not safe to drive. the throw isnt smooth either. it get even heavier right at the point of engagement, heavier than you can hold with your leg so its impossible to start moving without slipping. the engine sits farther forward than the old I6 so the pivot bracket for the z bar on the frame was re-done to make it straight. would that throw off the geometry enough to make it super heavy? the clutch itself is a re-man from autozone so that might be my problem right there and it may not even be the right one as i think i have a 289 flywheel and i dont remember what car i ordered the clutch for lol. its getting to be a mutt next weekend me and my dad are pulling the tranny to see whats going on
Could you be out of alignment with your reworked clutch z-bar causing that throw not to be smooth - also what are you running for a return spring? It can be a bear to keep the clutch pedal down with a way too heavy return spring. I would expect a heavy pressure plate with a Zoom or a Centerforce but not a stock replacement
If you managed to make a 6 cyl clutch equalizer bar work with the V-8...Its not the same as a V-8 set up, and doesnt provide enough leverage for the bigger clutch/pressure plate. Hence the extreme effort. You need the proper V-8 parts.
If you ever replace the clutch again, CenterForce makes a diaphram clutch that bolts right up to your early flywheel and comes with a special length release bearing. So much easier and smoother than the old Long-style clutches.
I made some phone calls to Summit before I finally bought my Zoom clutch. It has some heavier release pressure and that is exactly what Summit told me about the diaphragm type pressure plates. Also what also helps is the use of a hydraulic slave cylinder
