69 SS 350/300 4spd: I recently acquired this car and the previous owner told me that it was started occasionally but not really driven for several years. When I let clutch out in 1st gear it stutters and shakes until RPMs get up. This is improving as I drive it. Could the pressure plates be rusted or glazed? Will this go away with driving or do I need to service the clutch?? It also makes a "chirping noise" at low RPM in 1st & 2nd gear, Chirping stops when clutch depressed. Trying to learn..Anyone got any thoughts.



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69SS 350/300 Z10 Option

It sounds like the flywheel and pressure plate have corroded over the years. The first thing that I would do is adjust the clutch. You should have 1 to 1.125" of free play at the pedal. An out of adustment clutch could explain the clutch chatter and the chirping noise. The chirping sound that you are hearing could be the throwout bearing lightly contacting the pressure plate which would cause it to spin all of the time. When you push the clutch in, the pressure against the bearing would stop it. I would also check the transmission fluid, it could be low or you could even have a bearing in the transmission that is going bad. If the clutch adjustment doesn't get rid of the clutch chatter, you might try slipping the clutch at a somewhat higher RPM(3000 or so) for short bursts. You just want to clean off the the flywheel and pressure plate. Don't get the clutch too hot by slipping it for prolonged periods of time. If that doesn't do it, you might have to replace the clutch.

Here's three things that would cause chatter...poor pressure plate/disc/flywheel alignment, contaminated disk, weak pressure plate. Regardless, I'd take it all apart and put in new stuff. Your 69 SS-350 has the bigger 11 inch clutch with a 10 spline input, so order accordingly. I too have a 69 SS-350 and use the CenterForce II package. It's fantastic! 60% more holding power than stock, pedal is lighter than stock. About two onions for the parts.

The chirping?...who knows. You have three bearings that could be worn...pilot, throwout, input shaft bearing. You'd replace two of these with the clutch job, so that would probably fix it.

Good luck!

I'd say replace the disc, press plate, t/o bearing, pilot (use roller), resurface the flywheel, and replace the motor/ trans mounts with the poly ones from Energy Suspension.

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