Reply to "Pressure plate 3 finger long style"

There are three basic types of pressure plates:

1. Diaphragm
2. Borg & Beck
3. Long

The Borg & Beck design is a three finger (lever) design. The levers compress
a series of coil springs to release the clutch. The clamping force is a
function of the spring rate and the installed height of the springs. There
is no centrifugal assist. The Long design is a similar 3 finger design that
uses levers that apply centrifugal clamping pressure. As engine RPM increases,
the levers in the plate pivot against the cover and apply additional clamping
force to the clutch disc. There are counterweighted and non-counterweighted
versions of the Long pressure plate. The counterweighted levers have weights
to the backside of the levers that apply additional centrifugal assist over
and above that inherent in the Long design. The Long design is used
extensively in drag racing and often have adjustable base pressure via screws
which adjust the spring height. Back in the 4 speed days, GM used Borg & Beck
and Ford used Long. The diaphragm pressure plate uses a single, large
Belleville spring to load the pressure plate. The Belleville spring over
centers when the pedal is fully depressed which makes it easier to hold
the clutch pedal in at a stoplight. That isn't much of a selling point for
me as I generally unload the transmission and slide it out of gear at a light.
One downside to diapragm pressure plates is they tend to stay over-centered
at high RPM. There are specific high RPM versions. There are also
aftermarket versions of the Borg & Beck and diaphragm designs that add
centrifugal assist.

> A 3 forged finger Pressure Plate, Style; Borg and Beck LONG and a 11" disk.

Just so no one gets confused, Mcleod makes a hybrid Borg & Beck/Long design
that uses the Borg & Beck heavy duty hat and the Ford long style fingers
(which have a quicker ratio and inherent centrifugal assist). The bigger
ratio means not as much pedal travel is required for the same engagement,
a good thing for stock slave cylinders.

> the Original Flywheel does NOT have to be redrilled for the 11" clutch and
> Plate

Correct. My low mileage Pantera had an 11" clutch and was drilled for a
standard Long style pressure plate. The flywheel is a 164 tooth Ford part.
The factory manual says the disc and pressure plate were sourced from Italy.

> I got my clutch parts from Pantera Performance Center and it all bolted up
> and works perfect with the STOCK clutch master and slave.

PPC uses the Weber/Mcleod pressure plates.

> I really thought the counterweights were a solid no-no. Perhaps you were
> lucky? Anyone else have counterweighted pressure plates that are not banging
> on the bellhousing?

Where the counterweights are located depends upon the design. Not all
would cause interference. For instance, the type used with Borg & Beck
pressure plates use rollers inside the cover. The original pressure plate
was a Long design which has assist that clears.

Dan Jones