Check your clutch cable Dogbone.....

[BBBAD SVO]

Driving along and shifting into forth, and *booooinnng*, no clutch. Luckey, was able to pull over into a parking lot, and look under the car and that 'dogbone' cable broke in two. Good thing I had a spare, took 10 minutes to fix and I was back on my way.

Moral of the story, carry around a spare, or swap over to the V8 bellhousing and you won't have these dogbone worries.

[svocudd]

V-8 Bell Housing

The V-8 bell housing bolts up to the 2.3? I didnt know that.

I always carry a spare dogbone. The day I bought my SVO I came and picked up my wife and kids and we went for a little drive. Stopped at a buddy's house and was showing off the car to him. Went to leave, pushed in the clutch and boom the dogbone cable broke. My wife was less then impressed.


Cudd

[BBBAD SVO]

Whoops, didn't mean V8 bellhousing (that would be too easy), I ment to say the conversion to 1979 2.3T bellhousing that had the 4 speed manuals in them. I didn't think a T5 bolted to one, but my friend converted over to this bellhousing with an adj V8 clutch calble running a T5. I thought the T5's didn't bolt to them, but his did. Weird. Don't know if they are all over the boneyards tho.

[svono50]

If your car regularly breaks the dogbone cable you probably have a worn/grooved front bearing retainer (the piece the throwout bearing rides on). I used to go through one every 6 months on a former 4cyl Mustang. I finally pulled the tranny to find my factory aluminum retainer had a very deep groove worn into it that prevented the throwout bearing from easily moving. I installed a steel retainer from D&D and never looked back.

My SVO also sports a steel retainer that went in when I did a clutch replacement a few years ago...well worth the $50 investment.

[BBBAD SVO]

Here is what I'm talking about in the pics below. Both bolt to the 2.3/T5

[svono50]

Hey, I have one of those bellhousings sitting in my parents' garage with the original Hummer 4-speed still bolted to it! I even still have the entire pedal and cable assembly, too.

It came out of a former 80 4-cyl Mustang that I converted to an 84 SVO T-5 setup years ago. That was quite the project, since it took 3 tries to get everything I needed to convert it over. Like they say, 3rd time is a charm.

If anyone is interested and can give me measurements for the trans bolt holes (to verify it will work with a T-5), let me know. I can bring the bellhousing to the Reunion. I might bring it to the Reunion if Paul wants it to play around with to verify, too. Let me know.

[BBBAD SVO]

The thing about switching is the pedal effort. My friend with the bellhousing with the pivot ball on the pass side has a much lighter effort with his stage 3 spec clutch, than my stock clutch with the pivot ball on the driver side.

One weird thing I saw at the boneyard, an 85 mustang with a 2.3 hooked to a 4 speed manual, with the V8-type bellhousing (pivot ball on the pass side). The bellhousing bottom was smooth (normally ribbed), and the bottom bolts to the trans was alot closer than the std T5. I have no idea what trans was in that car.

Here is another pic:

[svono50]

It is funny you mention pedal effort, since I don't think his lighter pedal pressure is all the fork/cable layout. Here is why; I just installed a stage 2 SPEC clutch and can say it only requires about 1/2 the pedal pressure to disengage it as compared to my FMS clutch (same as stock). The darn pedal is so light that even the hydraulic clutch in my Contour feels heavy compared to it.

Once I get a few more miles on the clutch I will turn up my boost a bit and see if it can handle what I throw at it. My old clutch was slipping when I got above 10psi of boost in 3rd-5th gears...you gotta love the extra punch a T3/T4 hybrid puts out! :p

[SVOeric]

Ted you are going to be DANGEROUS at the reunion this year

I LOVE IT!!!

[BBBAD SVO]

Ted, you could be right. I'm just looking at it from a pure physics viewpoint. Having the pivot arm farther away will always decrease the effort. Of course, I'm not a physics professor.....

[xgap]

T5 into svo

What about the t5 trans having a input shaft that is shorter and a larger in dia. pilot surface?? I am thinking about the swap. My 5.0 shifts its self compared to my SVOl

[SVOeric]

shifting should be no different from a 5.0, to a 2.3, they are the same trans with the exception of the input shaft diameter, and 1st gear.  neither of which would make a difference.

[BBBAD SVO]

Re: T5 into svo

Originally posted by xgap
My 5.0 shifts its self compared to my SVOl

Ditto. My Blown 5.0 (500.3 rwhp) with its dual friction centerforce clutch is way lighter than my SVO stock clutch.

[jalmirol]

clutch cable

Read your post & went out to check my cable. Sure enough it was frayed. My problem has been where to find one. Are they interchangable with the GTs?

Some of the parts depts. I've checked with don't know if the item is a bare cable or if it comes with the housing. Any help you can give will be greatly appreciated.

[SVOeric]

If I am reading my notes right... this is the part #


E6ZZ-7535-A

Someone please check me

It should still be available from ford.