Hi Guys,

The engine is out on my '74 and I'll be refreshing my trans with the evil one at his clinic in December.

My question is...should I replace the clutch "while I'm in there?". The car unfortunately has limited service records. It drives well and I haven't experienced any clutch-related issues so part of me is in the "if it ain't broke...." camp. Especially since I don't know if the flywheel has been previously resurfaced and buying a new flywheel probably means splitting the case so everything can be properly balanced, no?

That said...the date on the pressure plate is 1991. I know the car was in long term storage before I got it, so my rough guess is that the clutch has 15K miles on it. But it IS 26 years old.

One other tidbit...

Although the case is original (per COA), some SOB converted it to hydraulic lifters. It runs excellent so my thinking was to just keep it that way until something wears out and I need a full rebuild. But I couuuuuld use this opportunity to go back to a good cam and solid lifters.

Clearly this is a rabbit hole. Please keep me from falling in!

Stay away from the hole

If the clutch disc and flywheel don’t show unusual wear or heat problems then reuse it

^^^ This.

Measure the disk and flywheel, inspect the plate and bearing. Leave it alone if it aint broke. Also, you don't have to split the case to balance the wheel, the wheel can be/should be balanced and you should be able to bolt it on. Changing the parts takes an afternoon, so consider if your time is worth more or less than that should your parts wear out before you expect.

Thanks Doc. I thought the flywheel needed to be balanced together with the cam? or is it cool for it to just be balanced to itself?

Clutch discs often have the date of manufacture stamped into one of the rivets or
stenciled on.
There is a mjn. thickness wear limit.
I think new they were 10 mm ? .....from memory.
Previous cuts on the flywheel are easily determined....and often done wrong.

I suppose a good hedge would be to take off the flywheel and pressure plate to inspect. I can always reassemble if all looks ok. Just need to get an alignment tool.

I still do wonder about balancing...does everything (flywheel, cam, fan, etc.) need to be balanced together at the same time? Or can you just add a balanced, new flywheel to the rest of the party?

You don't have to balance all of that stuff together. Just toss on new parts, no worries many don't even balance the flywheel. It's an optimal v nominal situation at best. I have flywheel balanced because it's cheap and easy, before install. I haven't had to change on in 12 yrs, though