and then i wll quit for a while. I have discovered there are two types of pressure plates. Long which are in our old cars, and then newer which are diaphram. What are the differences? I am guessing diaphram holds better? And less pedal effort? What are the other differences?? The long looked kinda triangular? Could that be why the clutch felt so different in the old 72 i drove today?? And something else i was wondering, the front drums, do they come off seperate from the hub? Or is the hub built into the drum? Mainly do you have to fool with the wheel bearings to get the drum off?? Later!! chris And thanks!!!
The "Long" presure plate increases the grab on the clutch with RPM and the diaphram type loses clamping force with RPM. Both do so because of cetrifugal force. There are weights on the levers of the long that cetrifugal pressure pushes outward to tighten the clamping force. The diaphram type uses a diaphram type spring that acts as a lever too. Centrifugal force tends to flatten the diaphram which is the same thing that the throw-out bearing does to it as the pedal is pressed. The higher the RPM the less force is clamping the clutch disk. T extremely high RPM the clutch will slip and heat up. Too much of that and you get to test your scatter shield.
As for the brakes - the hub and drum are one piece so you will need to repack bearings and put in a new seal when you do your brakes.
pressure and braking The long is the older style heavy duty with lots of spring pressure and will bend clutch linkage if it's not beefed up. Been there, done that. Diaphram was the old style kindler, gentler clamping force but would release with high rpms, 5500+. The newer diaphram pressure plates have weights on them to actually provide extra clamping force at higher rpms and still not required heavy duty left leg to release it. The front hub is "swagged" to the front drum. You do have to remove the outer wheel bearing to get it off. You can pay a drum only and then have it swagged to the old hub, no big deal. Or buy them both for some big bucks. The only time yo need to buy a new hub is if the bearing races area is damaged.
Check with your parts supplier. Last front drums I bought (for a Cougar - not a Maverick) came with the hubs already and that is the way they wanted the core back, with the old hub. You are right, they were not as cheap, like around $100 for a pair instead of $60-$70 for just the drums. His main question was: Mainly do you have to fool with the wheel bearings to get the drum off?? Yes, even if using your old hub over again, you will need to repack bearings and replace the rear grease seal.
Not sure what you want in clutches. Check out Centerforce clutch and Hays web sites. Old schooling don't work any more in clutches. Lots of new tech. (of course to me if it's 25--years or newer, it's new tech!) Higher horsepower and the use of hydraulic clutch, there is a bunch of neat new stuff!
