Clutch Confusion

The clutch in my '63 E-Pup is starting to slip and shudder a little - Time to replace it.

After spending the afternoon on the interweb, I'm even more confused about what should be lurking in my bell housing.

I'd rather not take the thing apart and then go fishing for replacement parts, so I'm trying to do my due diligence on what parts I need. This is where I need your help.

What I need to know is what diameter clutch and spline size for stock 1963 E-Pup with a 170 and 3 speed 3.03 synchro trans?

Should be an 8.5" clutch. They can be hard to find listed for econoline, you may try falcon or mustang

Should correct:

https://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1135184&cc=1334045&jnid=644&jpid=0

Thanks! Yeah, i was kind of thinking it should be the 8.5" with 15/16" 10 spline...

If only because Amazon lists the wrong part about 70% of the time (they list a 10 inch with 1 1/16 spline) Heh!

Woah!  Hold on!
If you have a 3.03 and a 170 it should be an 8.5" clutch disc with a 1-1/16" diameter, 10 tooth spline.  It's almost identical to a Falcon clutch set except for the diameter of the spline on the disc.  A Falcon (and everything else that uses the small six) uses a 15/16" 10 tooth and an Econoline uses a 1-1/16" 10 tooth. You have a couple of choices:

What I Did:
Got a pressure plate, throw out bearing and pilot bushing for a Ford Falcon
Took my disc to a local shop and had it resurfaced

-or-

You can use a clutch disc from an early eighties 2.3 Mustang, but it will require you to have the flywheel machined.  The diameter of the spring area on that disc is a little larger than original and it will rub the flywheel if it is not cut down.

For an alignment tool, I used the one for the Mustang.

Hope this helps!

-Brian

Too late! Parts are here. I guess we'll have the answer this weekend.

I poked around the econoline.org site and it says a truck  with the 170 and the 3.03 (synchro) should have a 15/16" spline... But, it may not be right.

Now the BIG question is how mad will my wife get if her car has to sit outside of the garage next weeK while I wait for more parts?

That's why I said should. I've been told they're getting harder to find. Let us know what comes of this DaGroats. I sold mine to a member on the east coast so I don't have one to measure for you. He needed the flywheel, which is like hens teeth. I gave him the clutch. I do still have the 3.03 but it's outside... I'll measure it when I get a minute. Hopefully it's all good, it'll work out one way or another. It's hard to imagine Ford would put different input shafts on them but it wouldn't be a big surprise either. And that's why this forum is such a great wealth of knowledge. Sounds like Brian know's what he's talking about.

I can't find my calipers but a compass then ruler in the dark says 15/16" on my 3.03

Check this out, see 15/16 anywhere?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Toploader_transmission

I think all 9" clutches used the 1 1/16 spline? Which is most everything after like 65. The dual pattern 200 blocks were created for this reason, to accommodate the 9" clutch and bellhousing

I'll keep Y'all "posted" as it were...

Too bad we don't live a little closer. It would be fun to have a friendly malted adult beverage wager over this!

I plan on pulling it tomorrow while the wife is at work

I found my calipers and checked it just now in the daylight and mine is definitely 15/16"

Yep 15/16", 8.5" disc...

Except I managed to break the nose off the front bearing support trying to remove the old throw out bearing... D'oh!

OK, so now I know way too much about Ford part # C3UR7050A Front bearing support.
It is 4 11/16" overall diameter.
The inner dia is 3 5/16.
The outer dia of the "snout" is 1 1/4"
The inner dia of the "snout" is 1 1/8"
It is about 4" inches long overall
Older 3.03 top loaders ('63, '64) have smaller input bearings than new ones and take a different bearing support. The distinguishing feature to tell if you have an older one vs new is the older case has 4 bolt holes for mounting the bell housing and the newer one has eight.
Most importantly David Kees Toploaders can sell you a new one if you break yours

OK... The after action report:

I had to get a different throwout bearing because the new front bearing support had a larger diameter "snout". No biggie - the one for a 10 inch clutch fit great. Trans installed with no issues.

Clutch is now smooth with no shudder or slipping - like butter

Great info DaGroats. Thanks for the updates, might save someone alot of trouble someday.