Does anybody know when Ford change the clutch fork angle in the bellhousing on FEs? When I was mocking up various bellhousings in my 59 2 door, using factory 58/59 mechanical clutch linkage, I had 3 different bellhousings on hand. One was a C5T PU bell, a Lakewood scattershield, and a C0 bell with a late 61 casting date, so for a 1961 model car. Both the C5, and the Lakewood, had the clutch fork angled downward, at approx. 8 oclock, which was over an inch below the position where the clutch rod from the Zbar to the fork would be level. With the C0 bell, the clutch fork was higher, at closer to 9 oclock, and the clutch linkage worked out perfectly. And by adding the later style plate between the block and bellhousing, the later 184 tooth flywheel and short shaft starter motor. The downsides of the C0 bellhousing, was that the center bore for the front bearing retainer was smaller diameter, which was corrected by having a machinist open up the bore to the 65 and newer dimension, and the fact that the early bell only has provision for the narrow transmission mounting pattern. Not a big deal, as I just used the inner bolt pattern of my 1966 Fairlane Toploader. However, if I wish to convert to a new Tremec TKX 5 speed, I will need to use a bellhousing with the wide bolt pattern, which if they have the lower clutch fork angle, wil require modifying the factory clutch linkage, which I want to avoid, as it currently works perfectly. I know that I could buy a new QuickTime bellhousing, and convert to an aftermarket hydraulic clutch, but due to cost and such, I have no interest in doing. So anybody aware of a wide pattern, factory bell that uses the early clutch fork position, and has the larger bore for the transmision front retainer?
