Out of balance pressure plate???????

So no more vibration by removing the trans? You remove the clutch kit too?

 

No, like a dummy I didnt think about that at the time, just reassembled the trans back onto the engine

 

Try it with out the clutch kit and that will really tell you what direction the vibration is at - if it goes away then I would say you might have been right all along - then I would think about a worn out egg shaped pilot bushing, some plate mounting bolts longer than others throwing the balance out or possibly a rear transmission rubber mount

 

ive delt with a few 302/5.0s that have vibration problems due to flywheel/flex plate issues.
i had one that had an aftermarket replacement flywheel. it was supposed to be a 50 oz but it vibrated. we got ford motor sport flywheel that was 50 oz. the owner wanted them compared to verify that was the problem. i sent them to my engine shop to compare and i dont remember the exact difference but it was something like 2 oz i think. the motorsport flywheel did fix the vibration completely.
i had another that was a flex plate that the engine builder tried to cut a big window out of the flexplate to create more weight on the opposite side. i had the engine shop check it and it came up with a weird number. we replaced it with a new flex plate with the proper balance weight and it was smooth.
i would suggest getting a ford motor sport flywheel and try that. they dont cost alot compared to the aftermarket ones either. the other option is to find a engine shop that can check the balance of your current flywheel and correct it if necessary.
the last option is go to an aluminum flywheel. i love my aluminum flywheel. i really noticed a difference on the first engine i swapped to an aluminum flywheel. on my last motor i had it match balanced to the balanced flexplate it replaced. on my first motor i just installed it with the included 50 oz weight and had no problem.

 

can you run it with the same parts as it had when you got the combo?

 

Just a question, but did you use the correct guid dowls for the pressure plate? I used the wrong ones once and had a vibration. When I tore it back down I noticed that when I loosened the bolts I could move the pressure plate side to side about 1/16th". It went away after I got new dowls.

 

My pressure plate fits nice and snug onto the pins in my flywheel, I have changed the flywheel from an aftermarket one to the original one and no difference in the vibrations,

Bryant......do you think there is a possibility that a new ford motorsport flywheel can fix this? I do have the original on there now.

 

i reread your posts and i dont think the motorsport one will fix it due to you having run the original flywheel that came with the motor.
i suspect 2 possibilities. the clutch pressure plate or a problem with the motor it self.
before pulling the trans and taking off the pressure plate, you need to be confident that the motor is running right. all cylinders need to making the same power. something like a bad spark plug, plug wire, vacuum leak at an intake gasket or vacuum port in a runner, crossed plug wires, blown head gasket, cracked cylinder wall or head could cause a vibration.
i would start by getting a spray bottle of water, staring the engine and spraying the manifolds or headers right at the ports to verify that they all are heating up at the same rate. if one doenst cause the water to boil off quickly thats a problem cylinder. if they all seem to boil off at the same rate. next i would pull the spark plugs to see if one looks different from the rest. if they all look the same the last test i would try is a cylinder power balance test. this is tricky. you need to disable one spark plug wire at a time and using an accurate low rpm tach check how many rpms drop when that cylinder drops.
ive done this several ways in the past. i have used spark plug boot pliers and pulled the wires off one at a time. i have put paper clips on each post on the distributor then shorted each one out with a wire to ground. what your looking for is a cylinder that doesnt drop rpm when shorted. if you find one thats the cylinder that is causing your problems.

if every thing checks out on the motor then i would pull the pressure plate off and start the motor to see if it vibrates.