I have a beautiful 57 Ranch Wagon that I only drive it a few times a year. I drove it for awhile yesterday. I have finally decided to do what I have to do to fix the clutch problem it has because it is a shame that I do not drive it more and would like to. The issue is that It goes though a clutch every 3 thousand miles or so. I pulled the engine and had it rebuilt about 15 years ago when I was restoring it. At that time, I also put in a t86 with an R10 to replace the regular three speed it had in it. The clutch constantly makes noises when it is not depressed and different noises when it is depressed. Something is not lining up right. It does not depress smoothly. I have  tried different things to fix it every time (about 3 or 4 times) that the clutch has failed. The last time it failed (two years ago), the clutch plate broke in half right where the facing begins. When I replaced it, I also replaced the flywheel and bell housing to see if that would make a difference. It did not.  I will probably take it into a clutch/ transmission shop and have them look at it. I am a little concerned however, about them working on a vehicle of this age. Any thoughts?

It sounds to me that the front bearing in the trans is bad and/or the trans shaft is not going into the pilot bearing in the flywheel.Pull the trans and check both bearings.

Did you change the throw out bearing? That what it sounds like to me.

Thanks for your replies. I will check everything soon. I have put a new throughout bearing on it every time I replaced the clutch.  I will also check the bearings. I will dial indicate the bell housing and make sure it is within tolerances. The multiple videos I have watched on clutch misalignment seem to point me in that direction. Have any of you experienced that, and had to use offset dowel pins? 

Use of offset alignment pins is common.  Correct alignment is critical when installing a Tremec...not so much for Borge Warner or Toploader.

JWAG could the pilot bearing be incorrect or missing? If its not engaged it would cause the clutch plate to rapidly oscillate on the input shaft. When the clutch engages it would then be out of alignment and could crack that spring plate. The input bearing alone would not keep the input shaft and clutch running true. Just a thought.

Quote from: Jaybird on 2023-10-19 18:21JWAG could the pilot bearing be incorrect or missing? If its not engaged it would cause the clutch plate to rapidly oscillate on the input shaft. When the clutch engages it would then be out of alignment and could crack that spring plate. The input bearing alone would not keep the input shaft and clutch running true. Just a thought.

  I must have forgot to hit 'post' when I wrote about the same thing in this thread weeks ago. I suggested that maybe the pilot bearing/bushing had too large of an inside diameter for the input shaft.