I've finally got my 69 back on the road again and I've been getting a chance to break in the newly revamped 350. The motor is now pushing around 400hp, out of everything I fixed or rebuilt on the car... the one thing that is still original to when i bought it in 98, and the car had been sitting before that in a barn for 12 yrs.... is the clutch. When i had the muncie 4 spd built in 2000, the fellow that built my transmission put my original clutch back in saying it was fine. Yesterday while shifting from a nice burn out in first to second... it felt like the car was spinning tires because it was revving but not pulling hard, shifted to 3rd and punched it and the same thing. Pulled over and the smell was overwhelming, now other than straight driving, any load i put on the clutch is met with slip and stink. I can't believe I killed the clutch in this car by driving it hard one time. Do these things deteriorate with age? Question now is what do you experienced guys recommend to put back in it. I don't race or strip the car any, just like to punch it every so often, and i'd rather not have one of those clutches that takes a weightlifter to push.
